3 Seahawks that should be moved at the 2021 trade deadline

Russell Wilson

Oh no. Not this. What a stupid option to have Russell Wilson on this list. I can hear all the remarks already.

Yes, trading Wilson is stupid. He is the best quarterback in franchise history and is still just 32 years old. Losing Wilson means a complete rebuild. But let’s make mark of a few things that might be decent reasons for trading Russ.

One, Wilson is getting older and one of the things that made him different and great seems to be fading. That thing is his ability to run and make plays out of nothing. Wilson has run 17 times in 2021 overall before getting injured late in the third quarter of week 5. This is an average of a bit over 3 times a game and this is by far the lowest average of any season Wilson has played in his career.

One reason Wilson has been special has been his ability to run and evade but as many hits as he has taken in his career his ability to rush for years is probably getting lessened. His 4.0 yards a carry this year is his lowest since 2016.

Two, Wilson is going to eat a lot of Seahawks cap space in future years. These are the same seasons where he will be getting older. Yes, other quarterbacks have aged well recently, like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers but Brady and Rodgers are more traditional passers, not ones who run around by design. Wilson’s cap hit in 2022 is $37 million and in 2023 it is $40 million.

There is no question about Wilson’s ability to get wins. But what happens at the end of the Wilson rainbow? Do the Seahawks go a bunch of seasons as one of the worst teams in the league? No one wants that.

Three is what Seattle should be able to get back for Wilson. Seattle could trade Wilson to the Steelers – Wilson might like going there as they will have a good defense for a bunch of seasons moving forward – and a fourth or fifth round pick in 2022 plus the Steelers first round picks in 2022 and 2023. Or maybe Wilson would go to the Panthers who should also have a good defense for a long time?

Again, I don’t want Wilson to go anywhere. But I do have a fear the Seahawks will hold on to Wilson too long and 12s will live in mediocre or worse heck for years after Wilson is done. Or maybe, and likely probably, I am just overreacting.