Bobby Wagner comes ‘full circle,’ from love for Seattle back to his SoCal and the Rams
For Bobby Wagner, “home” is a relative term.
That’s what he calls Seattle. But, ultimately, his true home is where he was born and raised.
And it’s where the money was.
On Thursday, the six-time All-Pro linebacker signed a five-year, $50 million contract that could grow to $65 million with his native Los Angeles Rams.
Wagner’s agreement comes three weeks after the Seahawks released their franchise cornerstone to save money and transition to a new defense.
Wagner, 31, was born in Los Angeles. He went to Colony High School in Ontario, 45 miles east of L.A. Now he’s playing for the Seahawks’ big division rival, the defending Super Bowl-champion Rams.
“THANK YOU to Seattle for embracing this Cali kid, with a dream of playing in the NFL,” Wagner posted on his online Instagram account Thursday evening.
“Though it didn’t end in a positive way; I want to be clear, my love for Seattle will never change. Seattle is truly a place I call home & the love I’ve felt throughout the city is a feeling I will always remember.”
The Seahawks decided to release Wagner on the same day they finalized trading Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, March 8.
But Wagner didn’t find out from the Seahawks that he’d been released from the team that drafted him in 2012 out of Utah State.
“Crazy part about all this. I played there for 10 years & I didn’t even hear it from them that I wasn’t coming back,” Wagner wrote on his Twitter account three days after the Seahawks released him and traded Wilson.
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Coach Pete Carroll and Seattle general manager John Schneider both took the blame for how Wagner learned he was no longer with the Seahawks.
“That’s on me. I own that,” Schneider said during a press conference at team headquarters March 16.
“That’s on me,” Carroll interjected while sitting next to the GM.
“I wish I could’ve handled things better in that regard, from a communication standpoint,” Schneider said. “I owe it to him, the organization owes it to him. “From a timing standpoint, I wish I would’ve handled things differently. ...
“Too much respect to have that happen.”
Wagner had been scheduled to cost the Seahawks $20.35 million against their salary cap in 2022. It would have been the final year of his $54 million deal he negotiated without an agent and signed with Seattle in the summer of 2019.
Carroll said: “I’m guilty, too, because I didn’t want it to happen. I wanted Bobby to stay with us forever. I kept encouraging John to see what all of the possible options could be for a way out, that we don’t have to do this.”
Well, the Seahawks didn’t pursue all possible options.
A league source told The News Tribune the Seahawks never asked Wagner to take a pay decrease for 2022. There was no talk to Wagner of a restructured deal to lessen his cap hit and stay in Seattle this year, either. The team made no request Wagner take less money to stay for at least one more season.
There was no option other than his immediate release, the source told the TNT.
Asked two weeks ago if there another option besides playing out his contract for Wagner to stay in Seattle, Schneider said: “I would say, no.”
So it was messy on top of inflexible — and, for Wagner’s stated hope of retiring as a Seahawk, hopeless.
Cody Barton, come on down.
Seattle will go with Cody Barton, Wagner’s understudy for years, and 200 first-round draft choice Jordyn Brooks as their new inside linebackers in Carroll’s changed defensive system this year. Carroll and new coordinator Clint Hurtt are promising more 3-4 looks and ways than the 4-3 defense Wagner anchored with the Seahawks for 10 years.
In L.A., Wagner will be playing in a base 3-4 defense. He will be mentoring and playing next to fellow inside linebacker Ernest Jones, who is 22 years old.
Wagner visited the Rams this month to talk contract. There was also interest from the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys with former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and other teams.
Wagner continued to represent himself in contract talks, without an agent, as he did when he signed his $54 million contract extension with the Seahawks in 2019.
Former Seahawks All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman celebrated his friend and ex-teammate’s new deal with the Super Bowl champions on Twitter Thursday, proclaiming: “The rich get richer! Lose future HOF @VonMiller and gain future HOF @Bwagz. The @Ravens made a last min push but the Reigning champs @RamsNFL were too good to pass up.”
The Seahawks will have Wagner and Wilson playing against them in Seattle this year. The Broncos and Rams will each play at the Seahawks in the 2022 regular season. Seattle also will play at the Rams in their home-and-home set inside the NFC West.
“I’m excited for this new chapter,” Wagner wrote on Instagram. “I’m excited to be able to come back where it all started and join the LA Rams!
“This is going to be fun for a lot of reasons.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 12:32 PM.
