Getty Pete Carroll's Seahawks are making changes this offseason.
The relationship between Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks appears to be back on track, but that does not necessarily mean it is a permanent fix. Wilson clearly wanted to put pressure on the Seahawks to be aggressive this offseason, but the quarterback’s public comments will also add scrutiny on the team throughout the upcoming season.
All this leads CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora to believe the Seahawks are a potential trade destination for Aaron Rodgers following the 2021 season.
“If you think teams aren’t already thinking about what it would cost to land Aaron Rodgers by early 2022, you would be fooling yourself,” La Canfora detailed. “For starters, I could see Denver, New Orleans, Seattle (if it trades Russell Wilson), the Giants, New England (pending what it does in this draft), Miami, Washington, Chicago and Minnesota interested. The Packers would never trade him in the division, but you are kidding yourself if you don’t think Rodgers can control the process by having the ability to play the retirement card, and by requiring some reworking of his contract.”
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Both Rodgers & Wilson Have Expressed Frustration With Their Current Situations
How do the stories of Rodgers and Wilson intersect? Both are high-level quarterbacks who do not appear completely happy with their current situations but for very different reasons. Rodgers seems perturbed by the Packers’ lack of offensive roster moves in recent years and things escalated after Green Bay traded up to select Jordan Love in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Wilson has been vocal this offseason about the number of hits he has taken throughout his career. The implication is that the Seahawks offensive line has been less than stellar. Wilson also admitted he wanted more input on roster moves and appears frustrated by the offensive scheme. The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar wrote a lengthy feature detailing the tension between Wilson and the Seahawks.
Dugar predicted on the Man 2 Man podcast that Wilson would remain with the team in 2021, but the Seahawks would trade their franchise quarterback prior to the 2022 season. As for Rodgers, the quarterback recently admitted he faces an uncertain future with the Packers.
“My future is really, a lot of it is out of my control,” Rodgers said on the April 5th episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “That’s why I mentioned using phrases like ‘beautiful mystery’ because it is quite uncertain which direction things are going to go. All I can do is play my best, and I feel like last year I did do that and may have thrown a wrench into some timelines that may have been thought about or desired.”
Rodgers Is Both Older & More Expensive Than Wilson
La Canfora hinted at the Seahawks potentially making two separate deals and acquiring Rodgers after Wilson was traded. Rodgers is under contract through 2023 but the Packers have a potential out after the 2021 season. It lessens the dead cap hit from $37.2 million this offseason to $17.2 million in a year.
Both Rodgers and Wilson are under contract through 2023, but Rodgers is set to have a $25 million salary in 2022. This is significantly higher than Wilson’s $19 million salary for the same season. Wilson would clearly be the preferable option for the Seahawks given he is younger and on a more affordable deal.
As has been well documented, the challenge with the teams on Wilson’s approved list of trade destinations is very few offered the Seahawks a viable quarterback option in return. If the Seahawks are to move on from Wilson, it makes more sense for the team to lean on a young quarterback on his rookie deal.
La Canfora’s proposition should not be fully dismissed as he was one of the first insiders to detail Wilson’s frustration with the Seahawks this offseason. All this sets the Seahawks up for a very interesting season with questions about Wilson’s future likely to continue to loom.