Mar 10, 2022
Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE — Days don’t get much tougher for NFL teams than the one the Seattle Seahawks experienced Tuesday. It began with word from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that they had agreed to trade quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. And while Seattle was still processing that bombshell, Schefter reported that the team had informed linebacker Bobby Wagner of his impending release.
Two franchise icons were gone in the span of a few hours.
It had to be a gut-punch for fans, even if those departures came with plenty of warning. And yet there was something fitting about the Seahawks moving on from two of the most significant players in team history on the same day.
After all, they arrived together on the same day 10 years earlier. And they did so without a ton of fanfare.
When the second day of the 2012 NFL draft began, the shock was still lingering from Seattle’s first-round selection of pass rusher Bruce Irvin. Their second-round pick, Wagner, was a little light for an inside linebacker and hardly one of the draft’s bigger names, having played at Utah State.
And while Wilson was a well-known prospect after leading Wisconsin to a Rose Bowl title three months earlier, it was no secret why he was still available in the third round: he stood only 5-foot-10 and 5/8 inches. Besides, the Seahawks already had an intriguing QB option in Matt Flynn, whom they had just signed in free agency.
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Even if they had arrived with much bigger expectations, no one could have expected a pair of Day 2 picks to have Hall of Fame-worthy careers. Wagner earned six first team All-Pro selections and a spot on the All-Decade team for the 2010s. Wilson became the NFL’s highest-paid player and one of its most recognizable stars. They combined for 17 Pro Bowls while helping…
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