‘This trade stinks’: Wyman & Bob react to Seahawks trading Russell Wilson

Seattle was the center of the sports world on Tuesday as multiple reports broke late that morning that the Seahawks will be trading star quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, ending a 10-year run of success that resulted in eight playoff berths, two NFC Championships and a Super Bowl title.

Reports: Seahawks trading Russell Wilson to Broncos

As you might imagine, the reported trade of Wilson was the main topic of conversation for all of Seattle Sports’ shows, including Wyman and Bob.

Bob Stelton and Dave Wyman opened the show with their initial reactions to the trades and neither held back.

For Stelton, he was surprised at how many Seahawks fans are happy that the deal occurred.

“I’m glad you’re happy. Get ready to lose,” he said. “If last year (when the Seahawks went 7-10) was tasty, eat up, because this is a rebuild. Let’s call it what it is, this is a rebuild, you do not get better when you trade away your franchise quarterback.”

Stelton said that unless Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is cleared of all charges in his pending legal situation where he’s accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women and winds up in Seattle that the Seahawks are going to be a bad team for the foreseeable future.

“You’re not going to do better with another quarterback (than Wilson),” Stelton said. “They’re not going to do better with Drew Lock, you’re not going to do better with Geno Smith, you’re going to do better with a rookie coming out of this year’s draft unless he’s just somebody that everybody is missing on because by all accounts – and we always sort of defer to the (draft experts like ESPN’s Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr.) and all those guys that watch all this tape and film on these guys – this is one of the worst quarterback drafts in recent memory. So this is a rough year to be looking for your franchise guy in the draft.”

Currently, the Seahawks have Lock, a 2019 second-round pick who is reportedly coming from Denver, and former UW quarterback and 2020 fourth-round Indianapolis Colts pick Jacob Eason as quarterbacks on the roster. Smith has been Wilson’s backup in Seattle since 2019, but he is a pending unrestricted free agent.

As far as the details of the trade go, the Seahawks are reportedly sending Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round pick to Denver for two first-round picks (one in 2022 and one in 2023), two second-round picks (one each in 2022 and 2023), a 2022 fifth-round pick, Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive end Shelby Harris.

Simply put, Stelton doesn’t like the return.

“I think this trade stinks. I think it stinks out loud,” he said. “… If you’re going into the season with potentially a rookie they draft … and Drew Lock as your starter? Buckle up. You’re gonna have a really good draft pick (in 2023), because you’re not going to be very good (in 2022).”

Wyman said he’s interested in how Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider portray the deal when they speak to the media. But his initial reaction to the deal all centers around Wilson.

“The fact is that Russell Wilson had a no-trade clause. Why didn’t he exercise that? The only answer could be that he really wanted to be traded,” Wyman said.

Wilson has been the topic of trade rumors for years now, but that intensified last offseason when he voiced displeasure with the Seahawks for a few different reasons. He later gave ESPN’s Adam Schefter a list of four teams he’d consider waiving his no-trade clause to. None of those teams at the time were the Broncos.

Wilson and the Seahawks later that offseason and during the season insisted the relationship was OK and the two sides were committed to each other, and that continued this offseason with Wilson saying he wanted to stay in Seattle and Carroll and Schneider telling reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine that they weren’t shopping their quarterback, though they did say they would answer calls on him and other players, which they insist they always do.

“This comes down to who started it? Who started it? Russ did. I mean, look, we don’t hear from the Seahawks. Maybe that’s  something that you would find out later that, ‘Oh, yeah, they were tired of Russell Wilson. They were tired of his act.’ What are you tired of?” Wyman said, adding that Wilson may market himself a lot but he’s never had any legal or off-the-field issues.

Wyman and Stelton have often discussed how few franchise quarterbacks there are in the NFL and that for a decade, the Seahawks have been one of a handful of teams that had one. Now, the Seahawks will be searching for their next one.

“A franchise quarterback and the right franchise quarterback is incredibly elusive, incredibly hard to find,” Wyman said. “And I defended Russ as far as deteriorating skills or anything like that. I mean, if you look at the numbers after his injury, yeah, they’re not very good. But up to that point they were good. And they’ve always been good.”

Listen to the full first hour of Tuesday’s Wyman and Bob at this link or in the player below.

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