Legendary Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, released by the team for cap savings, is now a member of the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
Wagner had a choice between the Baltimore Ravens and the Rams and he opted to stay in the NFC West and play in his hometown of Los Angeles. The good news is that we should still see Bobby Wagner twice a year, the bad news is that he’ll be a Seahawks opponent.
While Wagner has no hatred towards the Seahawks, he admits that getting to play his old team multiple times over was enticing. Look out for the Wagner revenge game when it does happen.
Bobby Wagner says he didn’t pick the Rams just because they’re in Seattle’s division.
Having said that, he absolutely cannot wait to remind the Seahawks what they gave up on: pic.twitter.com/lfKw6TcVjd
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) April 4, 2022
The other big story as it pertained to his time with the Seahawks was the way he was released. News of Wagner’s departure was revealed by NFL insiders the same day that Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos. Seattle made Wagner’s release official the following day, and Wagner found out about his release the same way we all did.
Pete Carroll and John Schneider addressed this issue at last month’s press conference and regretted the way it all transpired. Schneider in particular indicated that Wagner representing himself played a role in the poor communication.
“It’s always somewhat awkward when a player represents himself,” Schneider said. “We’ve had some very high-profile individuals represent themselves here, and you never know exactly what’s going to happen at the end of the day. So to approach somebody and say, ‘There may be a possible trade. Would you consider this?’ And then that player comes back to you, that’s not a good situation. So from a timing standpoint, I wish I would have handled things differently.”
Wagner responded to their quotes and is ultimately unimpressed.
Full quote from Rams LB Bobby Wagner about how he wishes Pete Carroll and John Schneider had handled his release better in Seattle after 10 seasons (re: black jerseys at the end, he always wanted to get Nike to make a black Seahawks jersey) pic.twitter.com/NR0UqMWdRq
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) April 4, 2022
I don’t like this timeline that we are in.
Anyway, here are the details of Wagner’s contract.
With Bobby Wagner’s contract official, a look at the numbers:
— Functionally, it’s a 2-year deal worth $17.5M base with a chance to make $23.5M with incentives.
— He gets $6.5M in Year 1 — but $10M fully guaranteed, working with the #Rams while they work on Aaron Donald, etc. https://t.co/c3PAjOyU2F— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 4, 2022