The Seattle Seahawks faced quite a dilemma following the 2021 campaign. Bobby Wagner had a mere one year left on his contract with the Seahawks, as he was set to be owed a $16.3 million base salary for the 2022 season. Seattle could have opted to reach an agreement with the veteran linebacker on an extension deal, but team general manager John Schneider instead released him.
The Seahawks’ call to part ways with Wagner seemed inevitable, but the eight-time Pro Bowler was a bit displeased with how the move came to fruition. He later took to Twitter to note that he “didn’t even hear it from them that I wasn’t coming back.”
Wagner, who returned to the Seahawks in March on a reported one-year, $7 million deal, said during a press conference on Wednesday that in the big picture, he wanted to stay put in Seattle last year.
“I never really wanted to leave in the first place,” Wagner said. “Obviously, business happened, and I had an opportunity to go play in the city I grew up in, and so I thought that was cool. And then I want to come back to the city I kind of matured in.
“For me, it was cool to be able to make that happen. Me being able to represent myself, I always thought it was cool when you had those agents out there that were able to get the player what he wanted, so I wanted to be home, and this was another home of mine, and I wanted to be back.”
As Wagner touched on, he elected to take his talents to the Los Angeles Rams after his departure from Seattle. He put pen to paper on a five-year, $50 million deal with the Rams, but his stint in Los Angeles lasted just one season, as the team released him in early March.
Wagner is now hoping to make the most out of his return to Seattle, especially as a leader both on and off the field.
“For me as an older guy, it's always your job to uplift the guys around you, whatever that looks like,” Wagner said.
Wagner is coming off of a 2022 campaign where he tallied 140 total tackles and also recorded a career-high in sacks with 6.0.
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