Russell Wilson became the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time he signed a four-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019, but it does not sound like the team was fully committed to him before that deal came together.
ESPN’s Brady Henderson published a feature on Wednesday that provided an in-depth look at what led to Wilson being traded to the Denver Broncos. While Wilson made it no secret that he was frustrated with the Seahawks following the 2020 season, the issues between him and the team’s brass were festering long before that. General manager John Schneider was exploring other quarterback options as far back as 2017, and he reportedly offered Wilson in a blockbuster trade proposal in 2018.
Schneider attended Patrick Mahomes’ Pro Day at Texas Tech in 2017. Sources told Henderson that the GM was so enamored with Mahomes that he would have taken him if Mahomes was available late in the first round. The next year, Schneider attended Josh Allen’s Pro Day at Wyoming. Wilson was 29 at the time and coming off one of his best seasons. His camp was said to be “f—ing pissed.”
Then came what Henderson described as the clearest sign that Schneider and the Seahawks were not merely doing their due diligence with other quarterbacks. A member of Wilson’s camp and someone in Seattle’s front office told Henderson that the Seahawks called the Cleveland Browns before the 2018 draft in an attempt to swap Wilson for the No. 1 overall pick.
The Browns declined, but Wilson’s agent found out. That is one of the reasons Wilson insisted on a no-trade clause when he signed his big extension with Seattle the following offseason.
Pete Carroll never really seemed to want to part with Wilson, even if Wilson felt the coach was holding him back. Carroll tried to make it clear until right up to the Broncos trade that Wilson was his guy. The same obviously cannot be said for Schneider.
