Bobby Wagner’s primary goal in free agency wasn’t to sign with a team that afforded him the chance to face the Seattle Seahawks twice a year. But after the team cut him without so much as a phone call beforehand, he didn’t love the way things went down.
Now a member of the Los Angeles Rams, Wagner will go up against his former team twice a year in the NFC West. He’ll make his presence known in those contests, too, saying “it won’t be a quiet game.
“A lot of people think that it went into my decision, being able to play the Seahawks, but I don’t have that much hate in my heart,” Wagner told reporters on Monday. “I really wanted to be happy, and I wanted to be close to home, and stay on the West Coast. That was important to me, but playing the Seahawks twice a year was the cherry on top. And I’ll make sure they see me every time we play them. Y’all know where I’m at, and I’ll tell them, it won’t be a quiet game for me.”
Wagner spent 10 years with the Seahawks and would’ve appreciated a conversation with GM John Schneider or coach Pete Carroll before they decided to release him. He didn’t get that, and he believes representing himself without an agent played a part in the Seahawks’ decision to cut him.
“I just think that after 10 years, it could have been a simple conversation,” Wagner said. “Even if they wanted to go in different directions, I don’t think me representing myself played any part on my end. It was more on their end. Maybe they didn’t want to do it. Maybe they want to kind of burn that bridge.”
Wagner will be a centerpiece of the Rams defense for the next few years. He always finds himself around the ball, making a career-high 170 tackles last season with Seattle.
He’ll wear No. 45 after wearing 54 with the Seahawks, ushering in a new era in his hometown of Los Angeles.
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