Why the Russell Wilson trade rumors will never go away

The Seattle Seahawks offseason got off to a shaky start after a radio appearance by Russell Wilson, in which he declared his frustration with the franchise’s inability to protect him with an adequate offensive line.

While Wilson had a point — as he has been the most sacked quarterback since entering the NFL — reports surfaced that the Seahawks were disappointed in Wilson for taking things “out of house”. For the first time in Wilson’s career, he publicly criticized the Seattle Seahawks.

This came as quite a surprise to upper management and others around the league as Wilson is known for ending all of his press conferences with, “Go Hawks”. But, in a recent press conference after voluntary OTA’s, Wilson reassured Seahawks fans that he is here to stay.

Russell Wilson trade rumors may never fully go away

Russell Wilson made it clear that he did not officially request a trade from the Seattle Seahawks. While there was a list of teams leaked involving the teams Wilson may have accepted a trade to, he made it utterly clear that he plans on staying in Seattle. More importantly, he plans on winning in Seattle.

Now, in utopia, 12s and the rest of the media around the league would accept this story and drop it…and for the time being, they probably will. Nevertheless, I am certain that these trade rumors will once resurface during the 2021 regular season.

After Wilson’s complaints about the poor offensive line play, Seattle traded for G Gabe Jackson. They also signed TE Gerald Everett and used their first draft pick on WR D’Wayne Eskridge — a speedster out of Western Michigan.

While Wilson is correct — winning does indeed heal all things — what if Seattle gets off to a rocky start? What if, in a big divisional game, Seattle plays sloppy? And it’s mainly because of poor offensive line play?

Remember, Seattle plays in a division with the San Francisco 49ers who have Nick Bosa leading the charge up front. Arizona not only has Chandler Jones but added J.J. Watt. Los Angeles has the deadly combo of Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd. Who, both, I might add, had a field day in their three games against Seattle last year.

Now, I’m not saying Russell Wilson will demand a trade in the middle of the season or after one poor game. But, I am alluding to the fact that the original trade rumor story will serve as a distraction throughout the entire regular season and will probably even linger into the offseason barring a Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win.

Although this article doesn’t seem to be the most positive, I see it simply serving as a reminder throughout the season that most will tend to bring this up in an overreaction when Seattle loses. I will close on this though — I do believe Seattle’s offensive line will be better this year. Last year, the downfall of this Seattle offense came when the offensive line sustained injuries.

If you remember, after Week 6 or 7, they could just never get right. Mike Iupati went down, Brandon Shell went down, Ethan Pocic went down. They lost their rhythm and stride and it showed.

But, prior to their injuries, Russell Wilson looked like the best quarterback in the NFL. Now, with a regular offseason in terms of activities – OTAs, training camp, etc. -12s can expect this offensive line to rebuild that rapport and do a better job of protecting the most prized position of the Seahawks.