What was the exact moment the Seattle Seahawks knew they had to trade away franchise quarterback Russell Wilson? We’ll never know for sure, but a new report from The Athletic suggests it probably happened right around the time he advocated for his head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider to be fired.
The Athletic staff reported Friday that Wilson’s deal to the Denver Broncos — one that delivered a top five draft pick in 2023 and cleared the runway for Geno Smith to be named the Associated Press’s Comeback Player of the Year — was preceded by the Pro Bowl quarterback privately throwing his longtime head coach and the man in charge of building the Seahawk roster under the bus. Per that report, the veteran quarterback “was convinced that Carroll and Schneider were inhibiting his quest to win additional Super Bowls and individual awards.”
Wilson even had a replacement in mind. His top choice was then-newly retired Sean Payton, who’d previously led the New Orleans Saints to the most prosperous stretch in franchise history.
Instead, Seattle opted to deal Wilson and a fourth round pick for two first rounders, two second rounders, a firth round pick and active players Drew Lock, Noah Fant and Shelby Harris. The Seahawks took that haul and a revitalized Smith and made the postseason with a 9-8 record. The Broncos began 2022 with the eighth-best odds to win Super Bowl 57, then cratered behind a broken Wilson en route to a 5-12 campaign.
Wilson took to Twitter Friday to deny the report.
I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and drafted me as well. I never wanted them fired. All any of us wanted was to win.
l’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle.
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) February 24, 2023
Whether Wilson’s request was legitimate, embellished, completely made up or merely a ploy to force a trade, it eventually worked. Denver fired 2022 head coaching hire Nathaniel Hackett after less than a year on the job, then drew Payton out of the broadcast booth as his replacement. Now the New Orleans stalwart will have to work similar magic in Colorado as he did late in the Drew Brees era when his Saints soared to the postseason despite diminishing returns from their quarterback.
It’s clear the relationship between Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks was untenable in its final stage. But it’s also clear the Seahawks made the right decision, at least in the short term, by jettisoning their QB and keeping the roster-building brain trust behind him. Now it’s up to Payton to prove that Wilson had a point, too.