Michael-Shawn Dugar, Mike Sando and Jayson Jenks of The Athletic posted a terrific in-depth story Thursday on the rift between Seattle Seahawks superstar quarterback Russell Wilson and Coach Pete Carroll/the front office. Long story short: The relationship(s) is not in a good place and a trade, while still unlikely, is not out of the question in the "near future." SportsLine oddsmakers still heavily favor Wilson to be the Seattle starting QB Week 1.
Two key points from the story were that Wilson's ideas to fix the offense were dismissed by coaches -- "His suggestions were dismissed ... he stormed out of the room" -- and that Wilson believes that Carroll and his sons answer to no one; Nate Carroll is the wide receivers coach. Another son, Brennan, was the team's running-game coordinator but left early last month to be the offensive coordinator at the University of Arizona.
The only two quarterbacks in the NFL with at least 10,000 passing yards and 100 touchdowns since 2018 are Wilson and Patrick Mahomes – yet Wilson still hasn't received a single regular-season MVP vote. Wilson leads the NFL with 79 passing TDs while under pressure since 2012. Wilson essentially wants the keys to the offense like Andy Reid has given Mahomes in Kansas City.
One of Wilson's major issues with the Seahawks when he went public recently with his unhappiness is that he has been hit too much. Wilson has been sacked 394 times in 144 regular-season games, the most in a player's first nine seasons since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
According to multiple reports, around 15 teams have called the Seahawks about a possible trade and that while it's extremely unlikely GM John Schneider does anything, he's the type who at least listens to every proposal. Supposedly, the price starts with three first-round picks; Wilson wouldn't cost as much as Deshaun Watson because Wilson is 32 and Watson 25.
The Raiders, Dolphins and Jets all have been heavy linked to Watson – but the Texans say they aren't trading him. And, no, they wouldn't do Watson for Wilson because of the age differences. The Saints are more likely to re-sign Jameis Winston and have him battle Taysom Hill to replace Drew Brees once Brees officially retires any day now.
Update from Adam Schefter tweet: "Wilson has not demanded a trade, his agent Mark Rodgers told ESPN. Wilson has told the Seahawks he wants to play in Seattle but, if a trade were considered, the only teams he would go to are the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, Bears."
Wilson is +1500 at William Hill Sportsbook to win the 2021 NFL MVP Award and Seattle is +2000 to win Super Bowl 56, which is only the third-best number in the loaded NFC West behind the Rams (+1300) and 49ers (+1400).
The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts the Seahawks for 8.8 wins and just a 3.1 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Favorites as Russell Wilson's next team if traded by Seattle
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, and it returned over $5,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks last season. The model is also up almost $8,700 on top-rated NBA picks over the past two-plus seasons. Dating back to last season, it enters Week 10 of the 2020-21 NBA schedule on a stunning 85-49 roll on top-rated NBA picks against the spread. Anybody who has followed it has seen HUGE returns.
