With all of the fun Deshaun Watson scenarios and rumors floating around this offseason, it’s hard to believe an even higher profile player would be available via trade. That would appear to be the case, however, with a lot of smoke coming out of Seattle regarding a possible Russell Wilson trade.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Wilson has not formally requested or demanded a trade from the Seattle Seahawks. With that being said, Wilson — who has a no-trade clause in his contract — would accept a trade to certain NFL teams.
Seahawks’ QB Russell 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.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 25, 2021
It was reported by Michael Silver on the Dan Patrick Show that Seahawks GM Jon Schneider was not exactly flipping other teams the bird when they called about Wilson. He even said that the going rate for Wilson would “start” with three first-round picks.
Even though he’s 32 going on 33 this season, spending three first-round picks on a player like Wilson would seem like a bargain.
Unfortunately, the Denver Broncos are not on Wilson’s preferred trade destination list, and he would be able to veto a trade to Denver. Even worse, Wilson has the Raiders on his preferred list of just four teams to be traded to.
Perhaps this is a reason, if even a remote one, why the Dallas Cowboys have not yet committed to a long-term deal with Dak Prescott. If Dallas felt it had a shot at Wilson and they could use Prescott to get him, that could be a win-win deal for both teams.
The Raiders could offer Derek Carr and picks for Wilson, which wouldn’t be terrible for Seattle, either.
The Bears would pretty much strictly be able to offer draft picks and Nick Foles as a “bridge” option. They have the 20th pick in the draft and would only be offering picks in the 20s going forward, most likely.
The Saints do not have the cap space to afford Wilson, much less their own in-house free agents. They also have the lowest first-round pick of any of these teams by a long shot, so New Orleans would have to make a pretty substantial offer to land Wilson.
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The biggest news here in the Denver Broncos’ context is that Russell Wilson would not prefer to play in Denver. There are obviously different factors that play into reasons for that, but whatever criteria Wilson has for a next destination, the Broncos don’t match up.