Russell Wilson Wants To Stay With Seattle Seahawks After Trade Rumors
A few of the NFL’s best quarterbacks want to change teams for the 2021 season. Russell Wilson isn’t one of them, despite rumors that have circulated this offseason.
The Seattle Seahawks received trade calls about Wilson earlier this year. The quarterback asked to be more involved in some of the organization’s decisions and was frustrated with the offensive line’s inability to protect.
“Obviously I love Seattle, I love playing here,” Wilson said Thursday, via ESPN. “I’ve had a great career here so far. I’ve always wanted to play here for my full career, obviously. I think there was some unfortunate frustrations after the season.
"Obviously you want to win it all and do it all and do everything you can. I think everybody on our team does. You want to win it, and I think, unfortunately, I think it got a little blown out of proportion a little bit.”
Since Wilson was drafted by the Seahawks in 2012, Seattle has only missed the playoffs once. The Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII in Wilson’s second season and were defeated in the Super Bowl the following year. With Seattle’s once-great defense declining in recent seasons, Wilson has made the Seahawks a perennial contender with his MVP-caliber play.
Seattle had an early postseason exit last season, upset by the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The Seahawks have only one playoff win in the last four years.
The trade rumors became so prevalent in February that Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, was forced to address them. Rodgers told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the signal caller didn’t demand a trade, though he did say Wilson would only accept a trade to the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Las Vegas Raiders or Chicago Bears.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Houston Texas star Deshaun Watson have maintained that they want to play elsewhere. Wilson denied making such a request,
“There was a lot of people, there was a whole thing saying that I had requested a trade, and that's just not true,” Wilson said. “I didn't request a trade. I think everything kind of started from there, and then obviously tons of teams were calling. ... I didn’t really want to go anywhere else. I wanted to play in Seattle, but if I had to go somewhere, these are the teams I would go to, consider.
"I had a great conversation with Coach [Pete] Carroll. I had a really great conversation with John, too. Coach Carroll and I spent a lot of time together one-on-one. We’re here to do what we’re meant to do and that's to win it all. I’m excited.”
Wilson has a no-trade clause in his contract, which runs through the 2023 season. The quarterback is among the highest-paid players in the league with an average yearly salary of $35 million.
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