Latest On Seahawks’ Russell Wilson
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson underwent two surgeries to repair his right middle finger, per an announcement from the team. No timetable was given for his recovery, but the Seahawks say “it is highly anticipated that he will return to play later this season.” 
“Russell Wilson injured his right middle finger during last night’s game versus the Rams,” the statement read. “He sustained two injuries to the finger: an extensor tendon rupture (mallet finger) and a comminuted fracture-dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joint. He had successful surgery today in Los Angeles by hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin…to repair both injuries. He will start therapy this weekend and it is highly anticipated that he will return to play later this season.”
Dr. Shin echoed those sentiments, adding that he is “fully confident” that Wilson will return this year. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com initially reported that Wilson will be out for about six weeks (Twitter link), though Adam Schefter of ESPN.com hears that Wilson could miss as little as four weeks and could return for Seattle’s Week 10 matchup against the Packers.
One way or another, Wilson’s ironman streak will end at 149 games. The Seahawks will now turn things over to Geno Smith, beginning with their Week 6 tilt against the Steelers. After losing to the Rams, the 2-3 Seahawks are in last place in the NFC West.
Seahawks Preparing For Extended Russell Wilson Absence
Russell Wilson‘s finger injury looks likely to stop his start streak at 149. The Seahawks are bracing for at least a four-week absence for their perennial Pro Bowl quarterback, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Aiming to prioritize Wilson’s long-term health, the Seahawks are prepared to sit their future Hall of Fame passer for perhaps six to eight weeks, Fowler adds. Wilson suffered a ruptured middle finger tendon in Thursday’s loss to the Rams. He is likely to undergo surgery.
Wilson’s hand slammed against the helmet of a Rams defender last night as he was throwing to wide receiver Tyler Lockett. He managed to finish out the drive with a handoff but could only attempt one pass on the following possession. Wilson was ultimately forced out in the second half, a rare sight for one of the league’s few ironmen. Geno Smith stepped into Wilson’s nine-plus-year spot as Seattle’s QB1. It is likely Smith, who made one start from 2015-20, will move up into that spot for a lengthy stretch.
This is new territory for the Seahawks, who drafted Wilson in the 2012 third round and saw him take the reins in Week 1 of his rookie season and never relinquish them. A few backups have passed through Seattle without playing many meaningful snaps during Wilson’s tenure. A 2019 free agent signing, Smith attempted just nine passes during his first two seasons with the Seahawks. He surpassed that Thursday night.
In a stacked NFC West, this spells obvious trouble for the Seahawks. Their Week 5 loss dropped them to 2-3. The franchise dealt with a disgruntled Wilson this offseason and moved to placate him, to a certain degree, by hiring Shane Waldron as OC and trading for veteran guard Gabe Jackson. While the sides patched things up and moved forward this season, Wilson’s long-term Seattle status is uncertain. Although his contract runs through 2023, Wilson listed four trade destinations this offseason and briefly came up in trade rumors with the Bears. Now, the soon-to-be 33-year-old QB’s short- and long-term statuses are somewhat uncertain.
The Seahawks have three more games — against the Steelers, Saints and Jaguars — before their Week 9 bye. Games against the Packers and Cardinals follow the bye, should Wilson’s timetable move into that six- to eight-week range.
Smith, 31 on Sunday, spent two seasons as the Jets’ starter but saw a strange 2015 offseason event — a locker-room sucker punch from teammate I.K. Ememkpali — halt his run as Gang Green’s starter. Ryan Fitzpatrick took over that year, and Smith then bounced from the Giants to the Chargers to his current post. Smith’s lone start over the past six seasons came when he ended Eli Manning‘s ironman streak in 2017.
Latest On Seahawks’ Russell Wilson
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will have an MRI on his finger and a consultation with a hand specialist later today (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Early tests indicate that Wilson is dealing with mallet finger — a sprained joint that makes it hard to flex a finger. But, even if there’s no fracture, surgery could still be in Wilson’s future. 
Wilson’s hand slammed against the helmet of a Rams defender last night as he was throwing to wide receiver Tyler Lockett. He managed to finish out the drive with a handoff, but could only attempt one pass on the following drive. Wilson was ultmately forced out in the second half, a rare sight for one of the league’s few ironmen.
Up until that point, Wilson completed 11 of his 16 throws for 152 yards and a touchdown with one interception. He was replaced by backup Geno Smith, who completed each of his five pass attempts en route to a touchdown on his first drive of the game. Smith later threw the interception that sealed the game for the Rams, but that pick couldn’t be pinned on him as Lockett tripped en route to the ball.
If Wilson is forced to miss any time thanks to the injury, it will be the first regular season game he’ll sit out since entering the league in 2012. Smith stands the only other QB on the depth chart, but he hasn’t started a game since 2017. For now, Smith seems likely to start for the Seahawks next week while practice squader Jake Luton could be called up to hold the clipboard.
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson Exits Thursday’s Game
Russell Wilson is one of the NFL’s few iron men, but the Seahawks quarterback was forced to exit tonight’s game against the Rams. Wilson was pulled in the second half of tonight’s contest after suffering a hand injury, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (via Twitter). The QB was officially listed as questionable to return.
Before exiting the game, Wilson had completed 11 of his 16 pass attempts for 152 yards and one touchdown (vs. one interception). While attempting a pass to Tyler Lockett during the third quarter, the QB’s hand slammed against the helmet of a Rams defender. Replays showed Wilson walking toward the sideline with a mangled hand, and after getting some quick treatment, he finished the drive with a hand off. He came back on the field for the next drive but only attempted one pass.
Wilson was finally replaced by backup Geno Smith, who completed each of his five pass attempts en route to a touchdown on his first drive of the game.
If Wilson is forced to miss any time thanks to the injury, it will be the first regular season game he’ll sit out since entering the league in 2012. Smith is the only other QB on the depth chart, but he hasn’t started a game since 2017. The Seahawks are also rostering quarterback Jake Luton on the practice squad.
Seahawks May Not Want To Give Duane Brown New Deal; Jamal Adams Negotiations Stalled
As you probably know by now, Seahawks left tackle Duane Brown and safety Jamal Adams are seeking new contracts and are “holding in” in an effort to make that a reality. Recently, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll described the Adams negotiations as “amicable” but refused to comment on the Brown situation, which suggested that the club may not be willing to extend Russell Wilson’s blindside protector.
Brady Henderson of ESPN.com (video link) confirmed that it’s unclear if the Seahawks want to give Brown a new contract. Though Brown did play every game for Seattle last year and has finished as a PFF top-25 tackle in each of his four Seahawks slates, he will turn 36 at the end of this month and has battled knee issues in recent seasons. As Henderson observes, Brown barely practiced at all last year as the team sought to manage his knee problems.
Couple that with the fact that the third contracts the Seahawks have given out to veteran players — a new deal for Brown would actually represent his fourth NFL contract — have not been terribly successful, and it’s easier to understand why the team is a bit reluctant to extend Brown.
That is despite Wilson stumping for his LT. Wilson, who was quite outspoken on his desire for improved pass protection earlier this year, said, “[Brown] looks like he’s 28-30 out there. He’s really exceptional. So smart and physical, understands the game, and I think people fear him, to be honest with you, when they’re rushing him and playing against him. So we definitely want to be able to get him back out there. We’ve got to figure that out because we need Duane Brown” (via Henderson).
And amicable or not, the negotiations between the Seahawks and Adams are at a standstill. Adam Jude and Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times report that, although the two sides were close to an accord last week, talks have stalled due to disagreements over contract structure and guaranteed money. Jude and Condotta say player and team are presently entrenched in their respective positions, and Peter King of NBC Sports says the club has stretched itself about as far as it’s willing to go.
Wilson, meanwhile, is willing to restructure his deal to facilitate new agreements for Adams and Brown, according to the Seattle Times scribes. Such a restructure would simply see Wilson convert some of his base salary into a signing bonus that can be spread out over the life of his contract, so it’s not as if the QB is making any concessions here.
In this instance, the Seahawks would rather not take Wilson up on his offer. Spreading out Wilson’s cap hit over the 2022-23 campaigns would increase his franchise tag number for 2024, and therefore increase the starting point in contract negotiations when the time comes. Seattle has $8.3MM of cap space at the moment, and extensions for Adams and/or Brown could decrease their cap charges for 2021, so the club may not need to restructure anyone else’s deal to enter into long-term accords with its Pro Bowl safety and LT.
Russell Wilson On Relationship With Seahawks, Pete Carroll
Russell Wilson‘s reported trade request caused a stir earlier this year. But, according to the Seahawks quarterback, that talk was overstated. 
[RELATED: Wilson Was Willing To Rework Deal]
“I think it was definitely blown out of proportion in terms of the moment and what it became, which was a little unfortunate,” Wilson told Dan Patrick (via the New York Post). “More than anything else, you know what I care about? I care about winning, and that’s what I wanna do. So I just put my cleats on everyday — that’s always been my focus, that’s always been my goal, is to win it all and just to continue to do that and try to do everything we can.”
Wilson, 32, doesn’t deny sending a list of potential destinations to the Seahawks. However, he’s made it clear that he never demanded a trade, whether it be to the Bears, Cowboys, Saints, or Raiders. Since then, he’s patched things up with team brass, including head coach Pete Carroll. Now, they’re relationship is better than ever, says the multiple-time Pro Bowler.
“I think me and Pete have gotten closer,” said Wilson. “Pete and I have always had a great bond but I think we got to have a great heart to heart. He’s got goals, I’ve got goals and we want to do great things. To actually really dive into those and really talk about those missions, those goals, it was fun. I think me and coach Carroll’s relationship is stronger than ever and I think that’s the best part about it and my teammates.”
“I think anytime in sports there’s a potential of being traded. I think there’s always a real opportunity of that. But I think I’ve always wanted to be in Seattle. I’ve always loved being there and it’s the place I’ve always wanted to play, so it’s been great.”
Seahawks QB Russell Wilson Was Willing To Rework Deal
Russell Wilson may have denied that he asked for a trade, but he did make one acknowledgement today. The Seahawks quarterback told reporters that he approached the team about restructuring his contract (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson on Twitter).
[RELATED: Russell Wilson Denies He Requested Trade]
“We’ve talked about it,” Wilson said (via SI.com). “Pete and I have talked about it for sure. Me and him had a long conversation about it, I brought it up and he talked about it too and we both, you know, in the sense of just doing whatever it takes to win. … If the situation calls for it. Like I said, winning’s everything.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Wilson has reworked his deal; as Henderson notes, Wilson and the organization pulled off a similar move in 2017. For Wilson, the move makes plenty of sense; he’s helping the team’s books while taking little risk in converting signing bonus to salary. It’s a bit more complicated for the organization. While the team could have easily saved around $12MM in space this offseason by making a simple tweak to Wilson’s contract, the team would be compromising future flexibility in what’s already an uncertain future at the position.
Plus, as Pete Carroll noted, the organization found other ways to the open up the necessary cap space for signings and draft picks, making the whole conversation about a Wilson restructuring irrelevant.
“As always, we have all of the options available to us,” Carroll said recently (via Peter Socotch of NBC Sports Northwest). “We have talked about all of that, as we do every year. What are our possibilities? Where do we need to go? What do we need to do, if we get to certain levels of need to stay in compliance (with the cap)?”
Wilson still has three seasons and $69 million remaining on his contract. The 32-year-old earned his eighth-career Pro Bowl nod in 2020 after completing a career-high 68.8-percent of his passes for 4,212 yards and a career-high 40 touchdowns.
Russell Wilson Denies He Requested Trade
The Seahawks’ foundation may well be stronger than it appeared a few months ago. Late in an offseason in which Russell Wilson was mentioned in trade rumors, the 10th-year quarterback appears comfortably in the fold with his team.
Although Wilson said the list of acceptable trade destinations — Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, New Orleans — his agent revealed was accurate, the superstar quarterback added that he never requested a trade out of Seattle (Twitter link via the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta). While identifying prospective trade partners can be considered in the trade-request realm, Wilson attempted to differentiate the two Thursday.
Wilson’s issues with Pete Carroll and the Seahawks’ offensive line came to light this offseason. But the 32-year-old passer said he and his head coach are in a good place and that he engaged in offseason talks with GM John Schneider and team president Chuck Arnold following the trade rumblings, per Condotta (Twitter links). Wilson attributed his winter comments about the offensive line to “frustration” and noted Thursday that he bears some of the blame for the protection issues, Condotta tweets.
Continuing to diffuse the situation, Wilson said he has “always wanted to play” in Seattle and that he would like to stay in the Pacific Northwest for the remainder of his career, Condotta and ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson note (Twitter links). Wilson, whom the Bears attempted to acquire via trade, is under contract through 2023.
The Seahawks gave Wilson input into their offensive coordinator search, which ended with Rams assistant Shane Waldron coming in to replace Brian Schottenheimer, and traded for seven-year Raiders starting guard Gabe Jackson. While Seattle’s offensive front does not look like a top-tier unit, Jackson’s presence should help. The Seahawks also selected a prospective No. 3 wide receiver — Western Michigan’s D’Wayne Eskridge — with their top draft choice.
Through a big-picture lens, this saga may not be finished. But for 2021, Wilson departure drama looks to have ceased. The seven-time Pro Bowler, who informed multiple Seahawks free agents he was not going anywhere, gave no indication any franchise-altering trade will take place in the near future.
Seahawks’ Russell Wilson Reports To OTAs
Seahawks star Russell Wilson will be on hand for the Seahawks’ voluntary offseason team activities (Twitter link via Jake Heaps of 710 ESPN). Wilson has been upset with the team’s inability to build a strong offensive line around him, but it appears that he’s now on the same page with Pete Carroll & Co.
The Seahawks haven’t exactly overhauled the O-Line, but they did trade for talented right guard Gabe Jackson. They also explored a trade for Julio Jones to give Wilson another weapon alongside D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but the Titans beat them to the punch on Sunday. So, while Wilson didn’t get everything he wanted, it seems like he’s willing and ready to stay in Seattle. That’s consistent with what he told newcomer Carlos Dunlap, who re-signed with the team in March.
“I did ask him if, obviously, he was going to be with us. Because if I’m coming back, I’m coming back because I see him as my quarterback — and the rest of the team. I want to pick up where we left off,” Dunlap said. “And he told me that he’s with us and that he’s here to stay.”
Wilson is one of less than ten players in the NFL to hold a no-trade clause. With that leverage, he told the Seahawks that he’d be willing to play for the Bears, Raiders, Saints, or Cowboys. Ultimately, nothing came of that — the Seahawks rebuffed every call to keep their franchise QB and avoid a whopping $39MM in dead money on the cap.
Seahawks Interested In Julio Jones
Add another team to the Julio Jones sweepstakes. This morning, we learned that the Rams and Titans have discussed a Jones trade with the Falcons, with Tennessee being viewed as the likeliest landing spot. But as Dianna Russini of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter), the Seahawks have also talked trade with Atlanta. Russini adds that Seattle QB Russell Wilson and Jones have spoken about the possibility of playing together.
Earlier this year, Wilson was the subject of his own trade speculation, and one of the catalysts of those rumors was Wilson’s public dissatisfaction with his offensive line. The club acquired talented RG Gabe Jackson via trade but otherwise didn’t do a ton to supplement Wilson’s cadre of blockers. However, adding Jones to a WR corps that already includes D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett would probably make Wilson pretty happy, especially if new OC Shane Waldron implements a pass-heavy game plan.
Like several of Jones’ other suitors, the Seahawks do not possess a 2022 first-round choice. But most reporters are skeptical that the Falcons will actually get that type of value in a Jones trade, and it seems that a 2022 second-round pick is the more likely compensation. Seattle only had three selections in this year’s draft, which is reflective of the club’s willingness to move draft capital in exchange for proven talent, though if it were to deal its 2022 second-rounder, it would have to wait until Round 3 to pick its first collegiate player next year.
Plus, the ‘Hawks did select deep threat D’Wayne Eskridge in the second round of this year’s draft, and the team would need to create significant cap space to facilitate a Jones acquisition. So there are hurdles to be cleared if the Seahawks are serious about making a run at Jones, but it appears to be in the realm of possibility.
Meanwhile, reiterating his report from yesterday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com says the division-rival 49ers are still a team to keep an eye on, and that the Ravens would be willing to get involved if the price is right (Twitter link).