There sure has been a lot of buzz about the Seahawks putting Russell Wilson on the market, either in the past or now. In a word, that would be insane.
The Seahawks have done their bit to add to the insanity of 2020. Just to make sure I’m not crazy, 2020 is a little nuts, amiright? First, half of the Amazon rainforest and Australia caught fire. Then we thought we were headed for World War III. We’ve seen huge floods and major earthquakes. We have this little problem with a virus going around; you may have heard of it. Oh, and Giant Asian Hornets showed up, just for fun. So why not cap it off with rumors that the Seahawks were thinking of trading away Russell Wilson? Remember, 12s, it’s only May.
To be fair, the Seahawks may not have actually done anything at all. However, the rumor came out a while ago that the Hawks explored a trade of Russell Wilson to the Cleveland Browns in early 2018. The Browns reportedly offered their first-round pick, the top selection overall in the 2018 draft. I can see why Cleveland would be interested; I mean, we’re talking about Russell Wilson. The Seahawks might have been interested for a couple of reasons. First, they had just missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. Second, Wilson was two years away from a new contract, and it was expected he’d break the bank on this one. And he did, as we all know.
Now, this is why that trade talk was crazy. I’m not disputing that it happened, just stating for a fact that the idea is insane. Yes, the Hawks missed the playoffs in 2017 with Wilson under center. As all good 12s will recall, 2017 was the year that the Hawks offense literally *was* DangeRuss, and no one else. They had no running game after rookie Chris Carson went down in Week Four. Tight end Jimmy Graham dropped almost as many passes as he caught. Wilson accounted for an incredible 86 percent of the offense, an all-time NFL record.
No one trades Hall of Fame talent at this age
I don’t know about you, folks, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to trade away 86 percent of your offense. Especially when by this time, Seattle knew it was very likely that Kam Chancellor would never play another down. Richard Sherman had already left for the (ugh) 49ers, so the Hawks knew they would need to rely on the offense more than ever. So, yeah, trade away 86 percent of it, go ahead. At the time, Russell Wilson’s career passer rating was only second all-time in the league. And still second all-time, really easy to replace.
So why is this a story for 2020, the year that we all should have canceled back in January? Apparently, there are still rumors going around that the Seahawks are exploring the market for a potential trade. The key word in this rumor is “eventual”. Sure, there’s definitely precedent for a superstar quarterback to be traded – but not at the age of 31. Wilson will be 32 at the end of November, more than halfway through the presumed season.
Hall of Fame level QBs who were traded away include Joe Montana, who was 37 when the Niners sent him packing. Peyton Manning left the Colts after he turned 34, but that was only due to his neck injury that Indianapolis thought had ended his career. Brett Favre was with the Packers until he was 39. Drew Brees is a bit different, as he really only had one great year with the Chargers until blowing up with the Saints. And of course, Tom Brady will be 43 when he takes the field for the Buccaneer. Nobody trades a top talent like Wilson at this point in their career.
Seahawks can’t give away a talent like Russell Wilson
It’s all about value. At this point in his career, Wilson has enormous projected value. Let’s look at what the quarterbacks mentioned above did from age 32 to the time they were traded or released. Joe Montana threw for just under 16,000 yards, 39 percent of his career total, and 101 touchdowns, 37 percent of his total. Manning threw for 30,314 yards, 42 percent of his total yards, and 233 scores, 43 percent of his career total.
Documenting Brees’s number is practically cheating, but I’ll do it. From age 32, he’s thrown for a ridiculous 42,150 yards, 54 percent of his career numbers. His 312 touchdowns from age 32 account for 57 percent of his career scoring passes. Meanwhile, the 7,000-year-old Tom Brady has thrown for 48,125 yards, 64.5 percent of his career total, and his 344 touchdown passes account for 63.5 percent of his career numbers.
Let me remind you, and especially the Seahawks front office, that Russell Wilson won’t be 32 until November. Wilson is coming off two of the three best statistical years of his career. What would a first-round pick get you? Let me clarify, *the* first pick overall. You’d assume the Hawks would have used the pick on a quarterback, unless you thought Brett Hundley was starting. And nobody thought that was going to happen.
In 2018, that first selection could have been Baker Mayfield, or possibly Sam Darnold – yecch. Josh Allen might have worked out okay; Josh Rosen, not so much, right, Cardinal fan? So unless Pete Carroll and John Schneider valued Lamar Jackson far higher than any other team in the league, the Hawks would likely have been hosed on the deal. Yes, the financial numbers would have looked better. Sure, the Hawks would have spread those savings to improve the team in other areas, but how did that work out in New York or Arizona? The numbers on the scoreboard wouldn’t have looked nearly as good as the cap number.
Let me reiterate; this would have been a terrible idea in 2018. In 2020, it’s even worse. Perhaps not let’s-go-to-Coachella-without-a-mask terrible, but close. Eventually, yes, it’s possible Russell Wilson will be capping his amazing escapes with pinpoint touchdown passes for some other team. But for the sake of all that is right, holy, and good, that day needs to be far in the future.