The Seahawks face a looming deadline to sign Russell Wilson. Of course, this started another round of trade rumors. How likely, and how wrong, would this be?
It isn’t often you hear about an NFL team willing to trade their star player. That’s especially true when that star is the quarterback. It’s even less common when that quarterback is coming off his best statistical season of his career. Hey, did I mention he’s just 30 years old, and never missed a start in his seven seasons with the Seahawks? Seems a bit odd to trade away Russell Wilson. But I’ll take a look at some other great signal-callers who were traded away for comparison.
The most recent I can think of is certain Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. The Colts let him walk away after he missed all of 2011 due to injury. Indianapolis didn’t think he would be able to be effective again after four neck surgeries, and really, who can blame them? All Manning did was win a Super Bowl in Denver and take his team back for a second (not a successful trip, thanks to the Seahawks, of course).
The Colts wound up with a nice draft pick, courtesy of their 2-14 record without Manning. That allowed them to draft Andrew Luck, a pretty good quarterback. Luck has posted two fine seasons back to back, and boasts a career passer rating of 89.5. That isn’t close to Manning’s career rating of 96.5, but most teams would be more than happy to have Luck behind center.
Seahawks don’t have a Hall of Famer on the bench
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The 49ers sent Hall of Famer Joe Montana packing as well. Joe was 36 years old and coming off an injury that caused him to miss all of 1991 and most of 1992. Montana made the Pro Bowl in his first season in Kansas City, although that was as much for his reputation as how well he played with the Chiefs. He supplanted former Seahawks QB Dave Krieg, oddly enough. Montana played just one more year and hung up his cleats after a mediocre year at the age of 38.
San Francisco, of course, had another Hall of Famer on the bench behind Montana. Steve Young had been Montana’s understudy since 1987, and had been waiting for his shot for what had to seem like decades. When Montana went down, Young went to work. His passer ratings in 1991 and 1992, the years he replaced Montana as the starter, were 101.8 and 107.0. That made it pretty easy for the 49ers to pull the trigger on Montana.
The Colts had the first overall pick in the draft, ready to replace a 36-year-old quarterback coming off four neck surgeries. The Niners had an eight-year veteran coming off two excellent years, who still only had 55 starts worth of mileage on his odometer. He had already proven he could replace another 36-year-old quarterback coming off another severe year-long injury absence. Even then, these were difficult choices for the teams.
Seahawks would be committing suicide with this trade
Which brings me back to the Seahawks. They could sign Russell Wilson to a five-year contract, and he wouldn’t turn 36 until halfway through its final season. It’s true that the game has changed significantly, even since Manning retired let alone Montana, but Russell Wilson does have the second-highest career passer rating of all time, at 100.3. I’m not saying he’s as good as Manning or Montana, but he isn’t Dan McGwire, either.
And let’s take a look at who Seattle has in the wings to replace Wilson. True, they’d have a first-round pick to step in, two counting their own. But do any of the quarterbacks in this draft scream Hall of Fame to you? Nope, me neither. No Andrew Luck out there, like the Colts had. And there certainly isn’t a modern version of Steve Young on the bench right now, just waiting for his chance, either.
The rumors are that Seattle’s minimum trade demand starts at two first round picks. Yes, it would save the Seahawks a ton of cap space to make a deal like that, considering the rookie salary scale. So what could they get with two first-round picks? Maybe you get another Earl Thomas. Or maybe it’s another Germain Ifedi. Do you really give up one of the best quarterbacks in the league, in his prime, for two rolls of the dice? That is utter insanity.
After the Seahawks sign Wilson to his new contract, whether it’s a heavily guaranteed three-year deal or the blockbuster five-year deal, that’s the time consider a trade. If Mike Ditka is out there, sure, I’ll take eight draft picks for Wilson. But he isn’t, and no one else is that crazy. Russell Wilson is right where he belongs, lighting up the scoreboard in Seattle.