Frustrated Russell Wilson isn’t going rogue. He’s talked to Seahawks about pass protection
Russell Wilson is pushing his status and influence as the Seahawks’ franchise and highest-paid player.
But he isn’t going rogue. He’s far too calculated to do that.
Buried under the news of Wilson stating “I am frustrated at getting hit”—in response to a direct question from The News Tribune in a Zoom call Tuesday—is the quarterback saying he has already talked with coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider about Seattle’s offensive line and its problems in pass protection. That issue has kept Wilson from returning to the Super Bowl and stalled Seattle at the divisional round of the NFC playoffs since the 2014 season.
While airing his frustration publicly is unusual, Wilson isn’t egregiously violating Carroll’s first Seahawks rule: protect the team.
Still, Carroll and Schneider can’t be thrilled. Wilson is putting them on public notice to act now. He turns 33 in November. He is entering the final three seasons of his record-setting, $140 million contract with Seattle. He knows his window for winning Super Bowls isn’t staying open forever.
Especially if he keeps getting hit like this.
“Listen, the reality is, Pete and I have always been about winning. I think John, too, has been about winning, right?” Wilson said Monday. “To me, I love the process of winning. That’s why I put my cleats on every day. That’s why I get up early in the morning every morning. That’s all I care about is winning, finding a way to win, doing everything that it takes. That’s part of what you want your story to be about. When I hang up my cleats—I’ve always said this, this hasn’t changed—I want to be one of the greatest winners of all time.
“So part of that process is everybody being on the same page and working together.
“Obviously, I’ve had conversations with Pete, and with John. “
Wilson’s 48 sacks in the 2020 season were tied for third-most in the league. It’s the same number of sacks he took in 2019.
Sunday, Wilson watched from the stadium in Tampa, Florida, as Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl in Tampa Bay’s win over Kansas City in the NFL title game.
Tuesday, Wilson said: “I love playing for Seattle. Loved it for years. The reality is, I think it’s frustrating being there (at the Super Bowl), watching the game...
“You never want to get hit ... I’ve definitely been hit. Been sacked almost 400 times (in his Seahawks career).
“We’ve got to get better. I’ve got to get better.”
Wilson is justified in being frustrated at constantly running for his life while dropping back to pass the last several years. He was sacked the sixth-most times in the NFL in 2019. In 2018, he got sacked 51 times, fifth-most in the league. In 2017 it was 43 times, seventh-most in the NFL. In 2016, 42 times, sixth-most.
“You never want to get hit and sacked,” Wilson said. “You want to be able to eliminate those things.”
Carroll and Schneider believe they are already moving to do that.
The plan to change
Carroll just hired Shane Waldron from the Los Angeles Rams to be his new play caller. Waldron is bringing Rams coach Sean McVay’s quicker passes and throwing that is based more off play action and running plays. In theory, in Waldron’s new system Seattle’s offensive line will have a better chance to pass protect by having to do it for shorter amounts of time during plays, and against defenses that will play Seattle more honestly with a safety closer to the line of scrimmage in 2021.
Wilson’s increased involvement in the Seahawks’ decision-making seemingly influenced the Waldron hiring. The quarterback has already formed an opinion of the 41-year-old Portland native as a first-time NFL play caller.
“He has that ‘it’ factor and wants to be great,” Wilson said.
While he wants to take fewer hits, Wilson is part of the reason Wilson has been getting sacked a lot.
The quarterback often holds on to the ball far longer than play designs allow, too long for any offensive lineman to repel a charging pass rusher on any play. That’s been an issue for years. It became more obvious in the latter half of this past season.
In 2020 Wilson and play caller Brian Schottenheimer continued trying to throw long-developing long passes against defenses that dropped a second safety deep in pass coverage to prevent the longer throws Wilson had made spectacularly over the first half of the season.
That’s why Schottenheimer is no longer the offensive coordinator.
Wilson said last month he did not support or want his friend fired after three seasons scheming Seattle’s offense.
“No. You ask me am I in favor of it? No,” Wilson said Jan. 14.
Get what you pay for
If this week’s soap opera looks diva-ish from Wilson, well, the Seahawks are getting what they paid for.
Carroll and Schneider cast their lot and the franchise’s fortunes with Wilson when they decided in August 2012 to make the rookie third-round draft choice from Wisconsin their starting quarterback from week one of his debut year.
They made Wilson the most influential player in team history in the spring of 2019, the night they made him the highest-paid player in NFL history.
“Both of those guys, they believed in me to sign me way back in the day,” Wilson said. “They took a risk on me—I wouldn’t say a risk, but to the rest of the world it would probably be a risk.
“I think, though, at the same time, it’s one of those things, being involved in conversations, continuing to be involved—I think if you asked guys like Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, even Tom, I think even this year (with the Bucs signing troubled wide receiver Antonio Brown, for instance) you saw how much he was involved in the process—I think that is something that is important to me. To make sure that I do everything I can.
“Because at the end of the day, I’ve got to be out there. I’ve got to be make the calls, I’ve got to make the plays, I’ve got to make the throws. I think also, too, to be a part of that journey is something that is important. ...
“Ultimately, when you wake up every morning, you wake up to win. You wake up to win it all. That’s my itch.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 8:27 AM.
