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Brady HendersonESPN
Seattle – The Seattle Seahawks’ franchise change day continued on Tuesday evening as the team reported its All-Pro linebacker player Bobby Wagner A source told ESPN, Adam Shifter, that he will be released.
The news came hours after Shifter reported that the Seahawks had agreed to trade the midfielder Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. The cornerstones of the two franchises that were drafted on the same day in 2012 are now leaving Seattle on the same day after 10 years.
In Wagner’s release, the Seahawks go from their longtime defensive leader and another player who has been among the most influential in franchise history.
The move would save the Seahawks $16.6 million in cash and space for a salary cap while leaving a massive hole in the middle of their defense. It was no surprise given Wagner’s contract and age (he will turn 32 in June) and the non-committal comments made by coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider at a scouting meeting last week.
Wagner himself wondered aloud about his future as the Seahawks were wrapping up a disappointing 7-10 season that led to several changes to Carroll’s coaching staff. Among them was the firing of defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr., former Wagner coach and one of his strongest supporters in the organization.
It’s not clear if a return to Seattle with a less expensive deal is in the works.
For now, only the defensive end Benson Maywa – who left Seattle and returned in 2020 – the remains of the 2013 Seahawks that won Super Bowl XLVIII. Wagner, who was selected with Wilson on day two of the 2012 draft, was the last remaining member of the star-studded defenses that led Seattle to its only world championship and a trip back to Super Bowl XLIX after the 2014 season.
Wagner, who was selected with Wilson on day two of the 2012 draft, was the last remaining member of the star-studded defenses that led Seattle to its only world championship in Super Bowl XLVIII and the trip back to Super Bowl XLIX after the 2014 season.
Wagner will become a free agent for the first time in his career. That comes with an interesting development, as he continues to act as his agent, which he did when he negotiated his three-year, $54 million extension in the summer of 2019. $18 million a season is perhaps the best-known success story for a high-profile player in the Football Association. American Football is handling its own contract talks.
Two and a half years later, this contract helped set him free.
Wagner, the all-time leader of the Seahawks, was entering the final year of the deal with an unsecured base salary of $16.35 million and another $250,000 available on the per-game bonus list. His $20.35 million fee was a tough figure even with the Seahawks in good hat shape — and even as Wagner exited a 170 tackle season that earned him an eighth Pro Bowl nod in 10 seasons.
Wagner posted this to his best despite missing all but one of his last two games with a knee sprain. Carroll said he wouldn’t require surgery.
When asked about Wagner last week in Indianapolis, Carroll provided a conflicting answer that ultimately cemented the uncertainty over whether he would return in 2022.
“We expect to play with Bobby,” Carroll said. “We love playing with Bobby. He’s been a great player, and he’s had another great season. At this time of year there are a lot of players in a position where we have to figure out where everyone fits. That’s a constant part of him and we’d love to be able to play with him. , so we’re going to make it happen. If we can do it, we’ll do it.”
Wagner’s release leaves $3.75 million in dead money behind.
The most reasonable candidate in the house to replace Wagner is Cody Barton, the selection of the third round of 2019, who participated in five matches in three seasons. Barton started in Week 18 after Wagner injured his knee in the opening play the previous week when his foot slipped while trying to plant it on wet grass at Lumen Fiend.
Before his injury, Wagner missed a shot in 2021. His 170 attempts going into Week 17 were leading the NFL and breaking his franchise record for one season in 2016. Teammate Jordan Brooks (184) broke the record in Week 18 with Wagner on the sidelines.
While Wagner hasn’t made as much of an impact as in some of his best seasons, he netted a interception, a sack, a forced fumble and five assists defended in 2021 en route to the All-Pro selection for the second team.
In 2020, Wagner was one of 22 defenders named by the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the 2010 All-Decade Team. His Hall of Fame-winning resume includes six First Team All-Pro picks, and two Second Team picks All-Pro and eight Pro Bowls nods, which have been tied for second place in franchise history.
By team count, Wagner’s 1,381 career tops the all-time franchise list with nearly 400. He leads the NFL in tackles with more than 150 since the Seahawks drafted him in the second round of Utah State in 2012.
In late December, Wagner answered in the affirmative when asked if he was wondering about his future in Seattle.
He said, “You’re thinking about it.” “You think about what next year will look like and what the future holds because this has been a season that I don’t think we all planned. We didn’t plan for the season to go like that, so obviously there will be some changes and whether I was part of those changes or not, I don’t know.”
At the same press conference, Wagner made it clear that he was not thinking of retiring. A week later, he struck a more optimistic tone about staying with the Seahawks.
“I understand there is a commercial side to this, but there is a lot of optimism on my part that I will be back,” Wagner said in early January. “So I’m not worried about it. Obviously, I can’t control everything. I can just control my part. And my part about this is that I feel like I love this city. I love this team, I love the Seahawks. So I always wanted to be Part of the good times and bad times of the franchise and every time.So this is a team that I’d love to be part of for a very, very long time.
“So on my part, that’s where I am, that I’m a Seahawk until they tell me I’m not. That’s my mentality. So I don’t see it was my last game or this next game could be my next game.”
Wagner was asked what made him so optimistic that he would be back.
“I would say I am a good businessman and I would say I have a lot of respect here,” Wagner said. “So I’m just going to go into my entrepreneur’s mindset and work on a few things.”