Huard: No, the Seahawks won’t be trading Russell Wilson this offseason

Just ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo published an article on NFL.com highlighting the likely “quarterback carousel” this offseason in terms of signal callers being traded to new teams. The most notable player in that story was Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

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Wilson, 32, threw a career-high 40 touchdowns in 2020 to lead the Seahawks to their fourth NFC West title and eighth playoff appearance in his nine NFL seasons. He is signed through 2023 after inking a four-year extension ahead of the 2019 season.

In the NFL.com report, it says that “a couple teams” have reached out to the Seahawks to inquire about Wilson’s availability via trade, “but there’s no chance the Seahawks are dealing their star QB.”

The speculation didn’t stop there, though. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports wrote an article that questioned how much the Seahawks could receive if they did choose to trade Wilson and identified teams that he thinks should be reaching out.

“Heck, it’s worth a call for almost every team in the NFL,” La Canfora wrote. He added, however, that “perhaps nothing will come from it” in part because it would be a difficult trade to pull off.

Former NFL quarterback and current NFL on FOX color commentator Brock Huard joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant Monday morning for the Blue 42 segment, and he was blunt about his thoughts on a potential Wilson trade.

“I don’t think that’s in play,” he said.

Huard noted that one of the few times trade rumors circulated with Wilson was during contract negotiations a few years ago, which he said was done largely to create leverage. Now, with Wilson under contract for three more seasons, Huard doesn’t think a trade will happen for Wilson unlike other quarterbacks who will likely be traded this offseason.

“Now it is a crazy year,” he said. “We’re going to see Carson Wentz traded (by the Philadelphia Eagles), I believe we’re going to see Deshaun Watson traded (by the Houston Texans). You saw (Detroit Lions quarterback) Matthew Stafford traded for (Los Angeles Rams quarterback) Jared Goff. It is going to really be one of those abnormal years of quarterback movement, maybe more than we’ve seen. But I don’t think (Wilson) is going to be a part of that.”

Wilson has spent his entire career with the Seahawks after they drafted him in the third round of the NFL Draft in 2012, and he’s played for just one head coach in Pete Carroll. Since entering the league, Wilson has been the best quarterback when it comes to winning games and appearing in playoffs outside of longtime Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who won his seventh Super Bowl on Sunday, this time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In addition to all the winning the Seahawks and Wilson have done, there’s a move Seattle has already made this offseason that signals Wilson will still be under center for the team come Week 1 of 2021.

“I don’t think (a trade happens) with a new coordinator (in Shane Waldron) that (Wilson is) excited about,” Huard said, “and a system that will hopefully have a few more answers that will still creatively run the football and give him a chance to get the ball out of his hands a little bit more quickly at times.”

Huard said the Seahawks’ new system on offense should also hopefully “protect that offensive line,” which has been an area of concern for a lot of Wilson’s nine-year career.

During an earlier question about Sunday’s Super Bowl, Huard noted that Wilson, who was in attendance after he won the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award Saturday night for his work in the community, likely saw Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes running for his life as Tampa Bay’s defensive line dominated Kansas City’s injured offensive line and thought “now you get a taste” of what it’s like when your offensive front five can’t block a defense’s front four.

With Waldron coming to the Seahawks from the Rams, Huard hopes the scheme can will ease the pressure on the offensive line to protect Wilson better going forward.

“Make their job a little bit easier,” he said.

Though the NFL.com report will cause some to speculate about which team should attempt to acquire Wilson and question how much a team would need to send to the Seahawks to get him, Huard doesn’t think this story will be lasting very long.

“I don’t see this one having a whole lot of legs,” he said.

You can hear the full discussion in the first segment of the podcast from Monday’s edition of Danny and Gallant at this link or in the player below.

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