The first page of the next chapter of the NFL has been turned, as the 2022 league year has officially begun. Free agents can be signed, and trades can be ratified… including the Russell Wilson trade heard-round-the-world.
On Wednesday, both Russell Wilson and the Seahawks brass gave opening press conferences to kick off the 2022 season in their respective cities. The immediate fallout is sure to make headlines as both sides seemed to disagree on how this went down.
Owner Jody Allen, general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll all had official statements released and there was certainly a theme. In all three statements, Allen, Schneider and Carroll all directly mention Russell Wilson made it clear he was the one to initiate the change.
Statements from Jody Allen, Pete Carroll, and John Schneider. pic.twitter.com/qrDbdXVqQZ
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) March 16, 2022
Meanwhile, in the Mile High City, Wilson offered a different perspective. According to him, the trade was mutual. He even playfully hinted at elaborating on certain stories in a potential future book.
Russell Wilson says he didn’t initiate a trade, it was definitely mutual.
“We’ll have to read about it later, we’ll have some fun with my book one day, we’ll have some good stories.”
👀👀 pic.twitter.com/LyzfiJhAWj— Alyssa Charlston (@Alyssacharlston) March 16, 2022
As is often the case, there are two sides to most stories. Perhaps there truly is more, on either end, that is still unrevealed… and may never be uncovered. Yet, the 12th Man might find Wilson’s comments about mutual interest to be a tad disingenuous.
If this were truly the case, it would directly contradict several well documented reports, as well as Wilson’s own camp’s groundwork laid out for a potential exit. Such as last winter’s report about the four teams Wilson would want to be traded to if the Seahawks were to move on, coming directly from his own agent.
Other recent reports state Wilson was looking into at least 14 other teams as trade destinations. He even picked the brain of former Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning for insight into the Denver organization before the trade.
The Seahawks had very limited, if any, incentive to outright trade Wilson without a request coming from him directly. Wilson still had two years left on his contract, and with the quarterback market continuing to rise exponentially, his then-record setting deal is slowly becoming a bargain by comparison. Even if the Seahawks wanted to trade Wilson, they were contractually prohibited from doing so thanks to the no-trade clause he negotiated.
Whatever the truth may be, both sides did seem to get what they were after in the end. Pete Carroll is now free to run the Seahawks with his ironclad philosophy without pushback from a star quarterback and the Seahawks have new draft capital to revamp their roster. Meanwhile, Wilson has an opportunity to play with an offensive minded head coach and be the focal point of an offense.
Both sides are going to have their shot at proving the other made the wrong decision this fall.
