The Seattle Seahawks moved on from Russell Wilson at what seemed like a curious time.
It turned out to be right on time.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell revisited the Wilson trade to the Broncos in a new article on Thursday, and he deemed it a “massive win” for the Seahawks.
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Russell Wilson trade details
The trade between the Seahawks and Broncos was completed in March 2022:
- Broncos receive: Russell Wilson, 2022 fourth-round pick
- Seahawks receive: Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, 2022 1st, 2nd, 5th-round picks, 2023 1st, 2nd-round picks
The Seahawks turned their draft picks into Charles Cross, Boye Mafe, Tyreke Smith, Dareke Young, Devon Witherspoon and Derick Hall.
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Why did the Seahawks trade Russell Wilson?
The Seahawks saw the rebuild coming, and they may have decided it was better to be early rather than late on pulling the plug.
“The Seahawks moved on at the perfect time,” Barnwell writes. “Wilson was markedly worse from the moment he stepped onto the field in the Denver, and while he didn’t get any help when the Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett as their coach, the Wilson trade turned out to be one of the worst decisions of the past decade, with the Broncos giving up significant draft capital and paying Wilson nearly $123 million for two years of below-average play. On top of that, the Seahawks landed several building blocks for their post-Wilson retooling.”
It’s not a trade every team would make. Wilson had led Seattle to a Lombardi Trophy, and he was still playing at a pretty high level.
But by jumping ship just a little early, the Seahawks got massive draft capital in return and turned that into their next era.
