Thursday saw the Los Angeles Rams make a relatively surprising roster move.
As the Super Bowl 56 champions work to clean up a messy salary cap situation that might require a few hard decisions, they released Bobby Wagner. The veteran defender was originally acquired by L.A. last offseason as part of plans for a championship defense. That reality never manifested as the Rams finished with a paltry 5-12 record.
Nonetheless, at 32, Wagner still garnered a Second-Team All-Pro selection and showed he remains one of the NFL’s better linebackers. Now a quality free agent, Wagner will likely again try his hand at joining a perceived contender.
One cornerstone on a 2022 playoff team, the Seattle Seahawks’ Quandre Diggs, made his desire to reunite with Wagner rather obvious. The pair previously played together in Seattle from the tail end of the 2019 season to 2021. Meanwhile, Wagner was one of the original key cogs in the Seahawks’ famous “Legion of Boom” defense that won Super Bowl 48.
And Diggs, a Pro Bowl-level defender in his own right, appears to want to create defensive magic with Wagner again.
Just look at this captionless photo Diggs shared of himself with Wagner right around the time his Rams release was made official.
— Nino (@qdiggs6) February 23, 2023
Hmm. What could this Seahawks-centric photo — again, posted right after Wagner hit the open market — possibly mean?
For what it’s worth, one of the Seahawks’ biggest 2023 NFL Draft needs is at linebacker. The NFL’s 21st-ranked defense (25th against the run) by Football Outsiders’ DVOA desperately needs an infusion of off-ball defensive talent. Bringing the familiar Wagner back into the fold as Seattle tries to reestablish consistent January excellence almost makes too much sense.
In more ways than one, Diggs probably knew what he was doing with his picture.