Russell Wilson is right, Hall of Fame quarterbacks deserve to be heard by their front offices

Wisconsin legend and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has made waves recently when he said wanted to have a 20-year NFL career

Wisconsin legend and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has made waves recently when he said wanted to have a 20-year NFL career, leaks from his camp said he has grown frustrated with the Seahawks’ inability to protect him and when he went on the Dan Patrick Show and made what some people see as questionable comments.

Before I get into the specifics, I’m going to make this point very clear: he is completely in the right and these words are being said on purpose and for a very specific reason.

So first, the leaks.

On Monday, Jason La Canfora tweeted that he’s heard Wilson’s camp “has grown increasingly frustrated by the Seahawks’ inability to protect the 8-time Pro-Bowler.”

While leaks aren’t the most ideal way of being heard, Wilson is completely right. The former Badger is already the all-time leader in 40-sack seasons, led the NFL with 51 sacks in 2020 and has dealt with some of the more questionable offensive line play of the last decade.

And he’s Russell Wilson, one of the most elusive quarterbacks in NFL history.

So after this Tweet, Wilson went on the Dan Patrick Show and talked about whether star players should have a say in personnel decisions.

While he worked hard to avoid the question, there were some valuable points that speak volumes on how he feels as a player—comments which come down to paths of the two greatest athletes of this generation: Lebron James and Tom Brady.

“I want to be able to be involved,” Wilson said. “At the end of the day it’s your legacy, it’s your team’s legacy, it’s the guys you get to go into the huddle with…One of the reasons that Tom [Brady] went to Tampa is he felt that he could trust those guys and Bruce [Arians] was going to give him an opportunity…You think about guys like LeBron [James], he was around great players that he can trust.”

Now I’m not here to say Wilson should make draft picks and iron-out contracts, but he, Brady, Aaron Rodgers and any other Hall of Fame quarterback still in their “prime” deserves to have their voices heard.

There was one word the former Badger used constantly that I think is really important here: trust. We’ve seen what happens when Rodgers and Brady don’t trust the coaching staff and front office. In short, it isn’t good.

Now Wilson caught some criticism for these comments, criticism which I understand because these things usually work better when they’re done behind closed doors.

But if you as a franchise have your star quarterback, a Hall of Fame player that has led you to more success than you’ve ever had, going on shows and hinting towards his distrust in what the franchise is doing, you know there’s something wrong.

“At the end of the day you want to win,” Wilson said. “You play this game every day to wake up to win. You play this game to be the best in the world. You know what I hate, I hate sitting there watching other guys play.”

Guess what, Seattle hasn’t done the winning you’d expect with a guy like Wilson under center. And if they want any moving forward, listening to their star and giving him a say is what they will need to do.

As FOXSports’ Nick Wright so perfectly put it: “Without Russell Wilson, you don’t matter… If you’re worried about setting a precedent, there isn’t one. He is the precedent. He is the franchise.”

Russell Wilson is the Seattle Seahawks franchise. And having his needs met should be their first priority.

So the Seahawks now have a few options. They can trade Wilson and sacrifice any future success, or they can understand his value, listen to what he has to say and use this situation to move forward positively.

To say this is a story to watch is an understatement. This isn’t some insignificant gossipy rumor, this has a chance to become the story of the NFL offseason.

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