Seahawks cannot afford to trade quarterback Russell Wilson

The Seattle Seahawks might still be taking calls on trading Russell Wilson but Seattle simply cannot afford to trade their franchise quarterback. Seattle cannot afford this both financially for the 2021 season and simply for the possibility of having a really good team for the next few years.

I am not sure I trust the Seahawks to make a trade involving Russell Wilson that involves getting a quality quarterback back. While Seattle did make the brilliant move of drafting Wilson in 2012 they also did that in the third round so it wasn’t as if Seattle was waiting with bated breath before the draft started to take Wilson.

They liked Wilson and wanted to draft Wilson but there is no real reason to believe that John Schneider and Pete Carroll absolutely knew that Wilson would end up being close to the quarterback he is now. The Seahawks were built on defense then and needed a quarterback who could be good for several years but not necessarily the face of the franchise.

Seahawks would need a QB if trading Russell Wilson

Unless Seattle could get Deshaun Watson back in a trade, no other quarterback, including Dak Prescott, is near the quality of Wilson. But the Texans have traded away their first round picks in 2021 so that’s a doomed deal even before Wilson weighs in on whether he would go to the Texans. A trade to the Bears seems unlikely.

So Seattle is going to be worse, likely much worse, at quarterback and teams with not-good quarterbacks don’t win big in the NFL.

As far as the salary cap for 2021, Seattle is going to be massively hamstrung by a Wilson trade. Seattle would have $39 million in dead cap if they trade Wilson before June 1st. Seattle has limited draft capital this year, even if they got a high pick or two in a trade. A Wilson trade makes the 2021 Seahawks much worse and not much better in 2022 and who knows in 2023?

Long-term is trading Russell Wilson an option? Of course. But it shouldn’t be now as Seattle is not set up to be better in the next couple of years if they do trade Wilson and Seattle’s roster overall is good enough to win even when Wilson doesn’t play great.