Russell Wilson is the greatest quarterback in Seahawks’ history by almost every measure. Not only is Wilson No. 1 in most of the franchise’s relevant passing statistics (yards, touchdowns, passer rating, completion percentage, etc.), he’s the only Seattle quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl. If someone told me the nine-time Pro Bowler was the face of a truly golden era in Seahawks football over the last decade, I’d find it hard to argue with.
Yet, despite all the accolades, records, and memorable moments, it never felt like the Seahawks entirely appreciated the talent they had in Wilson. Their apparent divide looms large as Wilson makes his return to Seattle (+6.5) on Monday Night Football in a Broncos uniform tonight.
A recent ESPN report detailing why Wilson and the Seahawks split this offseason was enlightening. Aside from the Seahawks’ pot shots at essentially saying Wilson wouldn’t be the same or as “mobile” anymore, there was frustration oozing from the star quarterback all over.
One of the more well-documented complaints was the contention over “Let Russ Cook,” an offensive mandate built around Wilson. After a spate of unfortunate turnovers during the 2020 season, Pete Carroll would pull the reins back, much to the chagrin of their quarterback — who just wanted to carve out his place in history while still winning games.
“What are we doing here?” one source in the Seahawks’ front office remembers thinking at the time. “Are we trying to win games or are we trying to win MVP?”
What about when the Seahawks and GM John Schneider started openly scouting young quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft process? Schneider would write off his efforts as doing his due diligence, but Wilson and his representatives were reportedly not happy in the least:
“They were f—ing pissed,” a Seahawks’ front-office source said.
The most egregious oversight was the effort, or lack thereof, to build a competent offensive front for Wilson. You know, to keep him upright, so he can throw touchdowns and play well?
In 2015, in the first significant symbolic shift away from focusing on the “Legion of Boom” defense, Seattle made their talisman the NFL’s highest-paid player at the time. Rather than start to invest in some premium linemen for Wilson moving forward, letting him play from the pocket rather than run around more, the Seahawks never made a massive investment. In fact, aside from a relatively big trade for Duane Brown in mid-2017, Seattle never completely sanded over its porous offensive line hole. It showed with Wilson being the NFL’s most-pressured quarterback in the NFL during his decade in the Pacific Northwest.
When they have a star quarterback, most NFL teams typically want to improve the offensive line. Meanwhile, the Seahawks were seemingly content with Wilson doing absolutely everything in the passing game as often as possible. A depressing thought to consider when thinking about how much Wilson likely still has left in the tank and how much better the Seahawks could have been once it was definitively his team.
I mean, the Broncos certainly don’t give Wilson one of the richest extensions in NFL history if they thought he couldn’t still be excellent well into his 30s.
Watching the entire Russell Wilson Seahawks era from afar was the definition of banging your head against the wall. Talents like him deserve better. You wanted to see Wilson throwing dimes as an MVP candidate while consistently staying upright. You wanted Carroll, Schneider, and Co. to do more for the franchise’s arguable best-ever player in their four-plus decades of existence.
You just wanted better for Wilson. Evidently, that’s not something the Seahawks were willing to do for whatever reason.
The pick: Broncos 38, Seahawks 10
This matchup has the perfect “Revenge Game” written all over it. The Seahawks are one of the NFL’s worst teams on paper, while the Broncos have the talent of a bona fide contender. Wilson gets his flowers from Seahawks fans and dices up the squad that he feels gave up on him. Vengeance will be achieved.
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