Whether they get eliminated on Sunday or get bounced from the Wild Card round again, the Seahawks’ 2023 season is going to be ending soon. When it’s over the front office will be facing some difficult decisions as they try to navigate this on-the-fly rebuild in the wake of the Russell Wilson era.
One of them will be what to do with beloved middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, who returned to Seattle this season after one year with the Rams. Wagner’s presence improved the team’s run defense a great deal early in the season – but the group has since regressed and is now even worse than they were last year.
While Wagner is still a valuable defender, it might make more sense for the Seahawks to get younger (and cheaper) at linebacker and shift more resources towards their defensive line. Then again, this team seems to relish building their defense from back to front and head coach Pete Carroll says they would love to have Wagner back next year.
Question: You plan on Bobby Wagner being back next year?
Pete: "I would think yes. We'd love to have him."
Later, Bobby was asked whether he plans on playing next year and said "100%" yes.
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) January 3, 2024
As impressive as Wagner’s career has been – he just made his ninth Pro Bowl team – smart opponents have pegged him as a liability in coverage. While that’s true of about 85% of the off-ball linebackers around the league, it doesn’t make it any easier for Seattle’s defense, which simply can’t seem to get off the field on third down – where Wagner is most vulnerable.
Now 33 years old, Wagner is still playing his position at a relatively high level – and odds are whoever they’d replace him with would be a step down. Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to move forward, though.
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