After three strong seasons with the Green Bay Packers, the Seattle Seahawks signed backup RB Emanuel Wilson to a one-year, $1.595 million deal. It looked like a solid move at the time, given that they would have limited draft capital and probably couldn't get a true replacement for Kenneth Walker III.
That's why, now that they've used their first-round selection on Notre Dame star Jadarian Price, they might not need Wilson after all. Granted, Price is just a rookie, but it's not like Wilson is used to having a bell-cow-type workload.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider have gushed about George Holani and Kenny McIntosh, and with Zach Charbonnet due to return at some point, the newcomer might've already become the odd man out.
The Seattle Seahawks could pull the plug on Emanuel Wilson
Early reports suggest that the Seahawks won't unleash Price right out of the gate. Instead, they will reportedly give Jalen Milroe some goal-line touches and will get him on the field as a situational running back. Whether that's the right call or not remains to be seen, but Price's role will most likely increase gradually as the season progresses.
Once that happens, Charbonnet will most likely be back to full strength, thus making Wilson pretty much redundant and a luxury instead of a necessity. They're clearly not going to play him over their first-round rookie, and with everybody else already familiar with the offense, blocking schemes, and whatnot, he's already behind.
Wilson has been an efficient ball-carrier for most of his career. He averages 4.5 yards per attempt, but, as expected, his efficiency has dropped with expanded opportunities, so those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.
He's coming off turning a career-high 125 carries into 496 yards and three touchdowns while hauling in 15 of 17 targets for 99 yards in 17 regular-season games (2 starts) for Matt LaFleur's team. Those numbers are decent for a backup, but they won't move the needle in a run-heavy offense like the Seahawks'.
Charbonnet will resume his goal-line/passing-down/change-of-pace role once he's cleared to return, while Price gets to work as the home-run-hitting speedster and wears defenses out on first and second down. And with Holani there to provide some physical blocking, it wouldn't be shocking to see Wilson demoted to a practice-squad role once roster cut day comes.
His deal only includes $550,000 in guaranteed money, and with only so many spots to fill, the Seahawks might feel like they could put one of their 53 slots to better use than by keeping another backup ball-carrier.
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