One of the reasons for the trade rumors swirling around Seahawks QB Russell Wilson — and perhaps the primary reason — is Wilson’s relationship with head coach Pete Carroll, which appears to be strained. Apparently, his relationship with Carroll’s sons hasn’t been much better.
According to a tweet from The Athletic, Wilson believes Carroll and his sons, Nolan and Brennan, answer to no one (Nolan serves as the team’s WRs coach, and Brennan had been working as the run game coordinator before accepting a position at the University of Arizona). And, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Wilson is 100% correct.
Former owner Paul Allen “stayed deep in the background” when he was alive, and his sister, Jody Allen, has largely done the same since she inherited the team. Some league sources believe the Seahawks are essentially run by the Allens’ parent company, Vulcan Inc., which in turn defers to the head coach as the club’s de facto CEO. So while Jody Allen could intervene in light of the Wilson trade rumblings, her track record suggests that she will not do so, and that Pete Carroll will ultimately be the one to decide whether to deal Wilson.
While Wilson himself has said he does not expect to be dealt, Florio believes the 32-year-old will ultimately request a trade either this year or next. If QB and HC do not mend fences soon, it’s easy to envision such a scenario.
Now for more from the Emerald City:
- Unlike Florio, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com does not believe Wilson will be traded. One of the reasons for that is the fact that — as our Sam Robinson wrote several days ago in the piece linked above — a trade will leave $39MM in dead money on the Seahawks’ cap. While a post-June 1 trade will allow the team to spread out that hit and actually create $19MM in 2021 space, Seattle is lacking a first-rounder and third-rounder this season, so a Wilson trade might be more beneficial if it happened prior to this year’s draft and not after June 1.
- Still, Henderson believes the ‘Hawks will make a trade that both sheds some salary — the team has less than $8MM of cap space relative to the $180MM floor — and adds some much-needed draft capital. There is no indication as of yet that Seattle will look to trade players like Carlos Dunlap, Bobby Wagner, or Jamal Adams, but Henderson could see it happening.
- As of now, though, Henderson predicts that the club will cut Dunlap and look to re-sign him to a less expensive contract — the former Bengal is due to carry a $14.1MM cap hit in 2021 — while restructuring the contract of franchise icon Wagner and extending 2020 trade acquisition Adams.
- Proven performance escalators for several 2018 draftees have played a role in Seattle’s cap crunch. Since he earned a Pro Bowl nod in his rookie season, punter Michael Dickson has a $3.384MM salary for 2021 — the amount of the second-round RFA tender — while cornerback Tre Flowers is due to earn $2.183MM since he met the snap count requirement for the Level One PPE (Twitter link via Henderson). If you need a refresher, OverTheCap.com offers a comprehensive explanation of PPEs.
- Presently, the Seahawks’ highest draft choice is their second-rounder (No. 56 overall). Given the state of the club’s offensive line, and Wilson’s recent comments in that regard, most mocks have Seattle selecting an OL with that pick, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times observes. Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis and Tennessee guard Trey Smith would be worthy Day 2 selections.
Florio has no cred he’s the nightengale of football
Lmao
Society would be better off if megalomaniacs forced fewer of their useless progeny upon us.
Wilson has a point there.
Amen
breaking news: every sports team is a dumpster fire if you use enough mental gymnastics
This will be Daks last year as a Cowboy and Wilson will take over.
Oh so you must’ve spoken with Jerry Jones recently
Can teams designate a trade as post June 1 as they can, in limited fashion, a post June 1 release to spread out the cap hit?
it’s not like the nba where those types of trades happen, now if you agreed to the trade end of May barring the physical which happens after june 1, maybe. but I really have no idea
Wilson is a first class Simp.
If Mr. Wilson is upset that the Carroll clan has too much power in Seattle and they answer to no one….
Then Mr. Wilson clearly needs to remove the Raiders from his wish destination list. Jon Gruden has created and re-written the definition “Coach Centric” leadership. I highly doubt that Mr. Wilson is able to handle the look, let alone the verbal retort when Spider Y 2 Banana is not executed properly.
Nobody’s ever executed Spider Y 2 Banana properly. It cannot be done.
“ and that Pete Carroll will ultimately be the one to decide whether to deal Wilson”
…uhhh, last time I checked they had a GM and his name was not Pete Carroll.
Well, you don’t understand how the Hawks work. It’s common knowledge Carroll has final say on the roster.
Schneider reports to Carroll
John answers to Pete
Pete is the president, John S the GM works hand and hand with Pete, plus the salary cap team all add to the discussion. Wilson will not be traded especially before 6/1. Next season it may be a discussion but I don’t see Wilson going anywhere. Especially with Wilson no trade clause…