Russell Wilson talks with Pete Carroll (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
It’s probably not happening real soon, but Russell Wilson may very well finish his career with one of these five teams.
Peyton Manning. Brett Favre. Joe Montana. Joe Namath. Johnny Unitas. Tom Brady now, and possibly Aaron Rodgers within a couple of years. The list of Hall of Fame quarterbacks who finished their career with a team besides the one they became famous playing for is pretty extensive. Could Russell Wilson join that list?
Despite his success, Wilson is continually underappreciated and at times disrespected. He has never gotten an MVP vote to this point in his career, despite routinely operating behind a bad offensive line with few weapons in an offense that actively restricts him.
Pro Football Talk has brought back to light a story where the Seahawks talked to the Browns about a trade for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft. Wilson had not yet signed the contract that currently pays him an average of $35 million per year. The deal includes a no-trade clause, which PFT suggests via their source was a residual of the talks with Cleveland.
Wilson’s contract runs through 2023, the season during which he’ll turn 35. He has said he wants to play until he’s 45, and even if he doesn’t quite get there he will play a significant chunk of years beyond the end of his current contract. The question is if those years will be spent in a Seahawks’ uniform or not.
Wilson is not getting traded this year, with a $52 million dead money hit and $21 million in cap space cleared if he’s dealt. The numbers aren’t much better in 2021, with a $39 million dead money hit that’s $7 million more than the cap hit to keep him. 2022 is a little different, with a $26 million dead money hit compared to a $37 million cap hit if he’s on the team. In 2023, $26 million of his $39 million cap hit can be cleared by trading him.
It’s nuts to even think about. But with what we’ve seen (most recently with Brady), the idea Wilson will finish his career somewhere other than Seattle is not that outlandish.
If or when the Seahawks entertain trading their franchise quarterback (again), Russell Wilson could finish his career with one of these five teams.
5. Cleveland Browns
It was a different regime just two years ago, but if the Browns indeed discussed trading the No. 1 overall pick for Wilson a circle back to that conversation could come. Baker Mayfield, who became the aforementioned No. 1 pick, is heading into what could be a make-or-break season under a new head coach in Kevin Stefanski. And general manager Andrew Berry was obviously not the man who drafted him.
Regardless of this year’s results, Mayfield is all but certain to still be a Brown in 2021 with a decision on a fifth-year option for 2022 coming. Coincidentally or not, 2022 is also the year it’s more palatable for the Seahawks to trade Wilson if they are even considering it.
Wilson to the Browns feels unexciting given the franchise’s history, and who the head coach and general manager will be in a couple of years is hardly guaranteed. But don’t rule out parting with a premium draft pick or a top-end player to finally get what should still be a franchise quarterback.