Russell Wilson will be home catching the Seattle Seahawks trying to win Super Bowl 60, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a hand in what this team has become.
Thanks to Seattle's thinking back in 2022 when they traded Wilson to the Denver Broncos, ending his storied tenure with the franchise, the team managed to get a ton of picks. With those selections, Seattle has managed to build out a Super Bowl-caliber roster.
That trade landed the Seahawks:
LT Charles Cross, 2022 1st-round pick
OLB Boye Mafe, 2022 2nd-round pick
CB Devon Witherspoon, 2023 1st-round pick
OLB Derick Hall, 2023 2nd-round pick
It was seen as a potentially bad deal at the time, considering Wilson was the face of the franchise just three years ago. But clearly, the Seahawks knew when to cut bait.
Wilson inadvertently helped build out Seahawks' Super Bowl 60 roster
Wilson's last season with the Seahawks ended bittersweetly. The team finished up 7-10, ending his tenure with a losing season and without much fanfare. It just didn't feel like the kind of sendoff the Super Bowl championship-winning quarterback deserved with Seattle, but it was simply time to part with the aging franchise signal-caller.
Since then, Seattle has had a quarterback carosuel, but nothing that would make a New York Jets fan blink an eye. They only had to live through three seasons of Geno Smith, and even managed to leave that era behind them at the precisely right time, too. General manager John Schneider moved on from Smith to land Sam Darnold, and now we're right back in the big dance.
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The players taken with those Wilson-affiliated picks aren't just random members of the roster that happen to be headed to the Super Bowl, either. Cross is an important piece to the Seahawks' offensive line and to protecting Darnold's blind side, while Devon Witherspoon is the heartbeat to Seattle's defense in their secondary.
Additionally, Darnold probably doesn't become as sure of a reality for them had the Seahawks decided to keep building around Wilson well into his late 30s. That's been another huge benefit to Seattle being on the right side of their tough quarterback decisions the last few seasons.
Wilson's last Super Bowl appearance was the heartbreaker. Ironically, his departure can now fuel a victory over the same team that snatched a chance at back-to-back Super Bowl wins from his hands.