“Well, we expect to play with Bobby. We love playing with Bobby. He’s been a great player, another great season. At this time of year, there’s a lot of guys that are in the position where we got to figure out where everybody fits together, and Bobby’s been such a steady part of it. We’d love to be able to play with him, so we’ll work towards that. If we can do that, we’ll do it.”
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said that at the scouting combine last week when asked about the team’s future with linebacker Bobby Wagner, the eight-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro who was drafted in 2012, the same year in which the Seahawks got Russell Wilson.
Now, with Wilson traded to the Broncos in the same day it was revealed that Wagner will be released, Carroll and general manager John Schneider are the only major players left from the team that won Super Bowl XLVIII over those Broncos on February 2, 2014,
It doesn’t take long for even a great team to fall from grace, and the Seahawks have done just that over the last few seasons. Bad trades (Jimmy Graham, Jamal Adams) and a truly execrable series of drafts over the last five years leave Carroll and Schneider in the lurch. The eternally optimistic Carroll will no doubt paint this as a new vista and a golden opportunity to rebuild, but in truth, this resembles what Carroll and Schneider had to blow up when they took over in 2010, and the mistakes of former general manager Tim Ruskell had to be addressed.
At that time, the Seahawks were mostly bereft of talent because Ruskell did not know how to build a team. Now, Carroll and Schneider are entrusted to correct their own errors, and there have been a lot of them in recent years.
The Wagner release, first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, will save the team $16.6 million in 2022 cap, and gives them the opportunity to be bold in free agency. But again, the missteps performed by Carroll and Schneider make it tough to believe that the same guys who burned this near-dynasty to the ground should be the ones who can return it to greatness.
The Seahawks now have precious little elite talent at any position. Wilson and Wagner are clearly out. Left tackle Duane Brown and safety Quandre Diggs are upcoming free agents. You could argue that in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, Seattle has one of the NFL’s most dynamic receiver duos, but outside of that, there isn’t much to go on when it comes to tentpoles you need to build a championship team. The offensive and defensive lines are average at best. The linebacker group without Wagner, and with 2020 first-round pick Jordyn Brooks now in charge, has serious question marks. The secondary is a problem if Diggs isn’t resigned, and help isn’t acquired at cornerback.
Clearly, with the players and draft picks Seattle got in the Wilson trade, and the free cap space presented with Wagner’s release, the Seahawks have the tools to construct another championship team. The question is, can Carroll and Schneider be the architects, when they were the demolition crew?
Generally speaking, the answer though NFL history has been, “No.”