2022 is going to hurt for Seahawks fans but it will be OK in the long run

The Seattle Seahawks not only traded Russell Wilson and released Bobby Wagner but now the team has to face those guys at least three times in 2022. And let’s be real, it doesn’t make logical sense for Seattle to be anywhere near Super Bowl-worthy next year. So losses are bad enough. But losses to former greats? That’s rough.

On Thursday, Bobby Wagner signed with the Rams for five years. It does seem unlikely he will still be playing in 2026 because he would be 37 years old when the 2026 season started and that is ancient for an NFL linebacker.

No matter, for at least a few years the Seahawks will be playing one of the all-time great Seattle players twice a year while he is wearing a rival NFC West team’s uniform.

Good times will be coming to Seahawks fans that wait

As far as Russell Wilson goes, Seattle will play Wilson and his new team, the Denver Broncos, in 2022 at Lumen Field. I have no idea how the fan response will be to Wilson entering the stadium as a Bronco but hopefully, it will be generally positive. A lot of the reaction might be based on when Denver plays Seattle and what Seattle’s record is at the time.

All that said, the Seahawks, whether John Schneider and Pete Carroll are willing to admit it, are in a rebuild. But if the team was going to rebuild, now is the time to do it. 2022 and, likely, 2023 are going to be rough years for 12s. The NFC West is full of better teams than Seattle is. Seattle will have to play every AFC West team in 2022 and all those teams are better than Seattle.

Yet, Seattle should be getting much better when most of the NFC West, especially the Rams, are declining. Los Angeles currently has $23 million in cap space next offseason (21st in the NFL) but has just $71 million projected in 2024 (28th in the league). None of that cap space takes into account Bobby Wagner’s contract, though, as the full numbers haven’t been released.

That sounds like a lot of money but 2024 is also when players like Cooper Kupp hit free agency. That money runs out fast. Seattle is in great shape in cap space for the foreseeable future. Plus, Seattle has a lot of draft capital (3 first-rounders and 4 second-rounders in the next two years alone) to not only get top-end talent to aid a quicker rebuild but also build the foundation of a good team for many seasons to come.

But that won’t start, most likely, until 2024 when the young players have developed and key free agents signed. Good times will occur for the Seahawks again but we might just have to suffer for a couple of years before having consistent success again.