Pete Carroll couldn't wait to get away from him. And now Sean Payton can't get away from him. They are playing Stidham over Russ because they literally can't wait to get away from him.
Oh, I did not know that. FWIW, this happens with a lot of charities, actually, but ok fair enough.
Discussed this in the Denver thread, but it sounds like Russ is an alienating locker room presence - Richard Sherman said you would have to go through is manager to talk to him, even if you were a teammate, and he demanded his own office in Broncos Stadium once he was traded. For all of Brady's warts as sort of a celebrity-chasing weirdo, he still attempted to be "one of the guys" and bond with his teammates. From the news stories about Russ, it seems like he's not that guy. Because it's not just one or two teammates saying this stuff, it's like a lot of them - for example, there's this conversation between KJ Wright and Golden Tate about how Russ hung him out to dry re: the rumors of Tate sleeping with Russ's wife: https://www.si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/russell-wilson-seattle-seahawks-apology-demanded-kj-wright-nasty-golden-tate-love-affair-rumor-denver-broncos-trade
Yeah, that makes sense. I just read this article which has some insight into him. It's weird - he doesn't sound like a bad guy. Just majorly...off-putting.
True, particularly athletes.
I think that there's a bunch more going on here beyond just "he's fake" - if he was fake and AWESOME, people would find a way to tolerate him, but he's fake and just kind of fine as a QB. How can you bring that big of a disliked personality into an organization just to have him be average? He's also taken a lot of hits over the years and he's clearly lost athleticism since the halcyon days. Since he's going to be 36 next year, it's not like he's going to get that athleticism back.
I would be incredibly disappointed. I've lived in Seattle his whole career. I'm not a Hawks fan but root for them because all my friends are. The SB was... awkward. There has always just been something off about him. I can't describe it. He is more of a corporation than a human. And after watching 30 years of pocket qb's his game is infuriating. Even when it works it's ugly. Run backwards in circles until you can throw a 50/50 deep ball. School yard nonsense. In his defense, though, he gets the numbers to look good at the end of the season.
And with a cheesy line and little WR talent, he'd fail spectacularly here. Perhaps they land MHj and enough OT talent to outdo the 2023 results, but this seems like a very bad talent mix. If we're assuming he lands where he wants, it'd be a team with more to offer already. PIT, ATL, even CHI are likely better options.
What would he be a bridge to? The Patriots very likely won't have a draft pick this high and a better opportunity to find the QB of the future in the coming years, just grab the guy and sign a veteran backup/spot starter type. The last thing they need is to give actual money to a QB that will be good enough to make them pick below 15th but not good enough to be in contention.
I don't see Wilson as a stopgap, and I think they probably shouldn't sign him, but..... if you're signing Russell Wilson for almost nothing, have a top 5 pick and top 5 cap space with what is coming back on defense, you're not looking for stopgaps, you're looking at a potential contender, because you'd have a lot of options to add talent and you'd have a good D and a good QB locked up. You probably bring back Onwenwu, add a Tackle and WR/TE in the draft, can add another of the top wideouts in FA, make some trades, etc. Russ is the "Bob Kraft's last hurrah" move for an owner who might not be interested in the 2-3 years (or more if you miss) it takes a rookie QB to get up to contention speed.
I think there are two ways you can go about handing off the reins to the next quarterback. You can have them start as backups (Brady, Favre, Young, Mahomes, Rodgers, Montana, etc.) or you can throw them directly in the fire. I know that the contract structure of the NFL has changed how teams handle quarterbacks but it really comes down to a judgement of a rookie's NFL readiness.
Wilson at this point isn't good enough to helm a true contender, is what I'm getting at. They'd need to have a Cleveland/San Fran level team, and at that point you don't need Wilson to begin with.
Sure, I just don't think you need to have Russell Wilson as the stop gap until the draft pick gets ready. Better to sign a guy who has some experience as a backup/mentor, Rusell Wilson doesn't really strike me as someone who'd excel in that role (not to mention would cost you more money). If he comes in, you're likely not drafting a QB in the top 5.
Seeing as how I started this transgression, I'll jump in here a bit.
Kyle Brandt on Good Morning Football absolutely lit Russ up last year. Brandt's not a "hot take" type of guy and that show is normally very complementary to the players...but Brandy talked about how self-important Russ was and how he thought he was God's gift to Earth. It's also telling that all of his former Seahawks teammates have been seemingly waiting to shit on him and revel in his misfortunes.
100%. You don't need to take a WR in the first to get a really good one.
Player evaluation is part of it, but the other thing is taking shots. The Eagles fucked up big time by drafting Reagor over Justin Jefferson, and Agholor and JJAW were bad picks, too, but they kept taking WRs and eventually drafted Devonta Smith and traded for A.J. Brown. The 49ers had misses too, notably Dante Pettis in the 2nd and Jalen Hurd in the 3rd, but they kept taking guys. They took Deebo the same year we picked Harry, and even though they hit on Deebo and we missed on Harry, they used another high pick on WR the next year and got Aiyuk. No one has invested less draft capital on receivers than Belichick, and that makes every miss painful because they're not trying often.
The thing with Russ (or, say, Cousins) is "what are you trying to accomplish?" If the goal is 10-7 and a playoff berth, sure. If it's Super Bowls, I don't see it.
