Tensions between the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson continue to rise as multiple reports have indicated early this offseason. The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar, Mike Sando and Jayson Jenks penned a must-read article detailing the growing rift between Wilson and the Seahawks. Things have gotten so bad that Wilson’s “camp” gave the Seahawks a list of his four top trade destinations, according to The Athletic: Raiders, Jets, Saints and Dolphins.
“Wilson and Carroll have won at least nine games in each of nine seasons together,” The Athletic explained. “They have made the playoffs every season but one, won a Super Bowl and lost another. But the Seahawks haven’t reached the NFC Championship game since 2014, and Wilson’s frustration has escalated to the point that his camp has broached potential trade destinations with the Seahawks. According to sources, those teams include ones mentioned in La Canfora’s column the day of the Super Bowl: the Dolphins, Jets, Saints and Raiders. Some people around the league think a trade could happen, if not this offseason then sometime in the near future.”
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Wilson’s Preferred Trade Destinations Represent Either a Blank Slate or a Wide-Open Offense
The wording is less emphatic than Deshaun Watson’s trade demands, but it is a giant step away from Wilson ending every interview with “Go Hawks.” Wilson’s list is telling of what the quarterback has been pushing for in Seattle. The Jets and Dolphins represent wide-open rosters where Wilson could have input on the players he wants to compete with similar to what he saw Tom Brady do in Tampa.
Las Vegas and New Orleans are more obvious choices with quarterback-friendly coaches Jon Gruden and Sean Payton leading the teams. The Raiders and Saints represent more aggressive offenses that Wilson has publicly campaigned the Seahawks to implement. One day after Dan Patrick’s revealing interview with Wilson, Patrick described the Seahawks’ relationship with the quarterback as “not sustainable.”
“And, according to my source, if this doesn’t happen, then you wonder if this is going to be able to continue,” Patrick explained. “You wonder if Russ and the Seahawks are going to be able to co-exist. So, a sense of urgency, and if they don’t act on that, but right now the current situation is not sustainable. That’s what I was told. Management not happy, Russ got their attention. Now the national media is all in on this as well.”
Wilson Believes Carroll & His Son ‘Answer to No One,’ The Athletic Reported
GettyPete Carroll taps Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks during warm-ups against the Philadelphia Eagles in November 2020.
At the center of Wilson’s conflict with the Seahawks is Pete Carroll, a surprising turn of events given both have had a propensity to gush about their relationship since the quarterback beat out Matt Flynn for the starting gig his rookie season. Wilson appears to be growing more and more frustrated by Carroll’s reluctance to change the offense and his input falling on deaf ears. The Athletic reported Wilson believes Carroll and his two sons who were on the coaching staff last season lack accountability.
“This past season, receivers coach Nate Carroll, who has worked under his father since 2010, briefly stepped away from the job in frustration over his role before returning to the team, sources told The Athletic,” Dugar, Sando and Jenks detailed. “Nate made his unhappiness known to players, sources said. For Wilson and those around him, the disruption validated a long-held complaint: Carroll, and by extension his sons, answer to no one.”
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Russell Wilson Gave Seahawks His Top Trade Destinations: Report