If you want to complain about bad calls or non-calls causing the Seahawks to lose to the Rams Tuesday night, that’s fine, you can make a convincing case.
And if you want to say the Seahawks did not meet preseason expectations because of Russell Wilson’s injured finger, that’s flimsy, but you could be right about that too.
Then again, stop with the excuses and admit that this team needs a major overhaul, which is a nice way of saying it’s time to blow it up.
I don’t want to see tweaking or fine-tuning or what amounts to a cosmetic change if they dump another offensive coordinator. Haven’t they tried that before, as in over and over again, only to see the offense sputter because Pete Carroll keeps getting in the way of cooks in the kitchen?
I’m ready for a new coach and a new quarterback. And if I can only have one or the other, I’d keep Carroll and trade Wilson.
I don’t agree with those who think the Seahawks will automatically be terrible if they trade Wilson and go with a supposedly less-talented quarterback. And these folks think things will be gloomy for several years, basing this on the new quarterback not being nearly as good as Wilson.
I’d counter that argument by saying I’d agree with them if we were talking about Russell Wilson from two years ago. Or even in the first eight games last year when he was allowed to cook. But the guy we’ve seen in that No. 3 jersey the last year and a half? Who’s he? I’ll tell you who he is, an average quarterback who is more often than not making bad throws and poor decisions.
This version of Wilson is 33 years old and not nearly as mobile and elusive as he used to be. In the coming years, those explosive improvised plays that he creates with incredible scrambles will turn into disappointing sacks more often than not.
And consider this — the Seahawks have not gone to the Super Bowl since Wilson was 25 years old. Since then, in his prime football years, they’ve fallen short of the Super Bowl and haven’t even made it to the NFC championship game either.
That was always the expectation when you had a franchise quarterback like Wilson — at least it was for me — and anything short of that was labeled a disappointing season.
He’s not that player anymore. There’s something missing, and I’m of the belief that he’s not going to find whatever it was that made him so great. Even if you still cling to the notion that if the Seahawks hired an offensive-minded coach like Doug Peterson, Wilson could recapture his old magic in a new system, I’d be over here betting with both hands that that’s not apt to happen.
But let’s say you’re right and Wilson suddenly looks better than he has in some time. You’d still be hamstrung by his $35 million salary, and his contract that runs through the 2023 season. If you keep Wilson, you delay a rebuild for two more years, swinging for the fences with an aging quarterback while having less money to spend to shore up weaknesses elsewhere.
And let’s not kid ourselves — there are holes all over the place on this team, too many to make a legitimate Super Bowl run. We’ve already seen Wilson for too many years trying to compensate for a so-so defense or below-average offensive line. Has that worked? No.
So why not try a different approach? What if you got a game manager at quarterback? I know it doesn’t sound like a great idea, but let’s say you found the next Mac Jones in the draft or if you traded for Gardner Minshew or, heck, see what Geno Smith could do in a 16-game season while you groom his replacement.
Maybe Wilson’s replacement would throw on time and be a better quarterback from the pocket and the offense would function more smoothly as a result. Remember when Smith took over for the injured Wilson in the first Rams’ game? I don’t think we wanted to believe what we were seeing. The Seahawks started to move the ball with Geno even though we all know Geno’s not as good as Russell, right?
I’d be curious to see what D.K. Metcalf really thinks about Wilson. Talent-wise, Metcalf is one of the best receivers in the league. Production-wise, not so much of late.
Here’s something else — if you traded Wilson, you’d probably still get two first-round draft choices, which would make up for the loss of those picks in the acquisition of Jamal Adams. So you could then address immediate needs in free agency AND the draft.
As it stands now, you’ve got Wilson making $35 million next year, Bobby Wagner at $18 million and Adams at $17.5 million, a whopping $70.5 million for three players who, frankly, aren’t close to being worth that much anymore.
Plus Quandre Diggs, who has six interceptions this season, deserves a sizable contract extension, further complicating things with the salary cap.
Maybe my plan of blowing up the team would blow up in my face, but if Wilson continues to regress, you’ll get less and less in return if the Seahawks trade him down the road. So they’d be better off if they do it soon.
Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on 950 KJR-AM, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.