RUSS MAY SCRAMBLE
By offering preferred destinations, Wilson hints at desire to bolt Hawks
Seahawks star QB Russell Wilson caught the entire NFL off-guard after the Super Bowl by taking his frustrations with Seattle’s front office and offensive line public.
“Let Russ Cook” has nearly escalated to “Let Russ Out.”
But on Thursday, more details of the Wilson-Seattle rift spilled into public view, and the question now is whether this soon will reach a point of no return.
Wilson, 32, has a no-trade clause, so he can control where he lands if Seattle trades him. And his agent, Mark
Rodgers, told
ESPN on Thursday that if a trade does happen, Wilson would accept a deal to one of four teams: the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Las Vegas Raiders or Chicago Bears.
Rodgers said Wilson has not demanded a trade and has told the Seahawks he wants to stay. However, the agent’s willingness to share Wilson’s list of preferred trade destinations tells another story, the same story Wilson’s post-Super Bowl media tour told: he would welcome a change.
The Wilson drama ramped up Thursday after a report in The Athletic[i] [/i]detailed Wilson’s divide with head coach Pete Carroll and the franchise. The report said Wilson had grown so frustrated that he’d broached four potential trade destinations with the Seahawks: the Miami Dolphins, Jets, Saints and Raiders — a list CBS had floated around the Super Bowl.
The report also said Wilson had two idols growing up: Derek Jeter and Drew Brees.
If you’re sensing an overlap here, you’re not crazy.
Only two teams appear on both lists: the Saints and Raiders. Only one would give Wilson the opportunity to succeed his retiring idol and only one has the kind of offensive line that Wilson was pining for after the Super Bowl. Sean Payton’s Saints. Think about it. The theme of Wilson’s post-Super Bowl media tour was he was “frustrated at getting hit too much,” as he told reporters. CBS first reported Wilson was frustrated with his pass protection. Then Wilson basically spent a week throwing his offensive line under the bus, lobbying for more personnel influence to improve his surroundings on The Dan Patrick Show.
But if Wilson wants to play behind a top 10 offensive line, why would he want to play for the Bears or Raiders? It’s possible the Cowboys will get healthier and return to form, but the Saints are the most obvious upgrade upfront, boasting tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramzcyk.
Then there is Payton.
While the Saints’ coach has expressed interest in re-signing Jameis Winston and has a great affinity for Taysom Hill, Payton is known to always keep his options open. And for the first time, with Brees retiring, Payton technically has a vacancy at the most important position in the sport.
This doesn’t mean Payton isn’t genuine when he says the Saints’ 2021 quarterback is already “in the building” or when he says he wants to re-sign Winston “sooner than later.”
What it means is that if a player of Wilson’s caliber wants to play in New Orleans, you can’t count anything out.
Payton also is one of the NFL’s most revered offensive minds, and even if New Orleans gave up several first round picks and some players in a trade for Wilson, they’d be putting one of the league’s best QBs onto an already-playoff caliber roster armed with running back Alvin Kamara, wideout Michael Thomas at receiver, a solid O-line, and the No. 5 scoring defense from 2020.
The “Let Russ Cook” social media movement of the past few years — urging Carroll to let Wilson take the reins of Seattle’s traditionally conservative offense — would not be necessary to coax Payton into giving Wilson room to wheel and deal from the pocket.
Financially, the Saints are going to have an uncomfortable offseason. They project a leaguehigh $69.5 million over the 2021 salary cap, per Over The Cap, which means they’re going to have to release and restructure numerous players in the upcoming months.
However, it is not prohibitive to acquire Wilson’s contract at all.
Wilson’s cap hits for the next three seasons would be a more than palatable $19 million, $24 million and $27 million, respectively. And as Nick Underhill at NewOrleans.Football wrote Thursday, the Saints could extend Wilson’s contract and convert money to bonuses to easily maneuver the cap to accommodate such a high-level player.
Dealing several first-round picks would be the higher cost, but if the Seahawks actually decide to trade Wilson, it’s hard to imagine Saints GM Mickey Loomis and Payton not going for it. They could even include players with higher salaries that they have to dump anyway in the deal.
Seattle’s cap situation is actually trickier on the other end. Trading Wilson would incur a massive $39 million dead cap hit in 2021 and $26 million in 2022. Combining the quality of the player they’re losing with the impact on their salary cap, they may never decide to go that route.
There could be a way, though. If the Seahawks designated Wilson a post-June 1 trade, they could eat only a $13 million dead cap hit in 2021 and push the rest into future years.
If the Seahawks traded Wilson in March and designated him a post-June 1 trade, they’d still have to carry his 2021 cap hit through June 1 and would be unable to spend it until then. It would eventually come free and become less of a burden in the short term.
Expected increases to the NFL salary cap in 2022 and beyond, after 2021 s drop due to the pandemic, then could render the cap issue much less painful for Seattle in the long run. o what will happen? Will Russ continue to cook on a simmer in Seattle? Or will they let Russ go?
If they do, the Saints make the most sense.
It’s time for a new movement: Let Russ Cook — Gumbo.
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