Seattle Sports Fill-In Episode 2 (Segment 3)

The host discusses the possibility of Russell Wilson returning to the Seattle Seahawks, despite many believing it is unlikely. The idea is explored, suggesting a short contract with a minimum salary. However, the host doubts that Wilson would accept such an offer due to his ego. The host also discusses the current quarterback situation with Geno Smith and Drew Lock, acknowledging their potential but also the need for improvement. Overall, it is uncertain where Wilson will end up, but the host believes it is unlikely to be with the Seahawks. This is the Seattle Sports and the weekend show hosted by myself, Warren, filling in. Hopefully you're having a good weekend so far, working our way towards the New Year, your favorite holiday of the year. And let me just say right now, I just found out that I will be filling in for the show once again, coming up in 2024. So very excited about that, to provide you all the sports news that you needed, all the opinion that you didn't want. We are always here for you, here at Seattle Sports. And we have to discuss one of our favorite topics, and that is, of course, Russell Wilson. Yes, we discussed him earlier in the show on the Denver Broncos, but no, we have more to say. And we have to talk about Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. And maybe you're thinking, okay, that sounds like an oxymoron, he's off the Seahawks, he's not coming back. Well, some people say otherwise. Now, I am saying, no, no, no, he's never coming back to the Seahawks, it's never going to happen. But there's some people out there, some of the experts in media and whatnot saying, well, it could happen. And maybe we should explore that, just in case we ever have to cross that bridge. But what I've heard so far is that most people are saying, this is never going to happen, you don't need to worry about Mr. Unlimited ever coming back to the Seattle Seahawks, his time in the NFL is probably coming to an end. Which I think is sad in many ways, because he hasn't had that bad a career. He hasn't gone that well the past couple of years or so in Denver, there's no arguing that. But you can't take away the fact that he did have a legacy here in Seattle, both good and bad. And I was reading up on this from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, and he basically came out and said, why not the Seahawks? Why would you not want to at least explore the possibility of having Russell Wilson sign with the team, maybe for a short contract, and just see if he could come back, rekindle some of that magic, and see if he could provide some level of support to this team. And I know what you're thinking right now, you're thinking, no way in hell would this ever actually work out. And I'm right there with you on that one, I do not see this happening. But I think it's good to explore the optics of how this could potentially work out. If you were to explore a possibility of bringing someone like that back, what would it look like? And basically, it would look something like this. So Florio goes on to discuss how Russell Wilson could potentially be offered the league minimum salary, and could come back to the Seahawks, provide some support for perhaps a year or so, see how it goes. And after that, the Seahawks could explore other options if they choose to, or they could stick with bringing him back again for a second year. But again, it would be a league minimum salary and a very, very short contract, so not getting yourself locked into anything crazy. And knowing what I know about John Schneider, the GM of the Seahawks, I don't think he would commit to Russell Wilson to a point of providing a contract that would be a disservice to the team and the fans in this case. And I think we all know at this point what's happening with Russell Wilson in Denver right now. We talked about this earlier on the show. We know that he's leading the team. They wouldn't be benching him for no reason at all. It makes sense why they're doing it. They've really got no choice at this point. You can't have somebody like that on the team who's going to be a liability each and every time you step onto the field. And in this case, what they're doing just makes logical sense. You have no choice but to do it. And don't forget, the Seahawks basically already fleeced Denver in that trade as it stands. I mean, sending Russell Wilson down there for everything we got back was one of the better deals that we've ever had on the Seahawks. And at the time, you're probably thinking, okay, this doesn't sound like the greatest trade in the world. But after it all kind of came together, Denver was so bad that season that they gave up so many picks to us. It really couldn't have worked out any better for the Seattle Seahawks in that case. And we're better off because of what happened. So Florio goes on to say, Wilson will be able to go wherever he wants. And yes, a team will have to want him. If he's willing to do a one-year minimum deal and take the balance from the Broncos, key point right there in that quote, that makes him much more attractive than he otherwise would be. So I think the key takeaway from this right here is that Russell Wilson could potentially play in the NFL again. We don't know what team it would be. Again, I don't think it's going to be the Seahawks. I just don't see that situation working out. But if there's a team out there that does indeed want him, it could be done. Now I think the one key point here we have to take away is that Russell Wilson does have what I would consider to be one of the biggest egos of the entire league in the sense that we're in a situation right now where he probably would not be picked up by a team unless they really felt desperate for some sort of quarterback to come in and provide some sort of support. So this would be a desperation move to say the least. But I don't think that Russell Wilson really wants to be in that kind of scenario. I think in his mind, he still thinks of himself as being one of the greatest quarterbacks in the game. And I would be shocked if he were to graciously accept just any old position as a quarterback on any team. I think he still wants to have choice and options here. And from my personal perspective, the only thing that really makes any sense is just to put your ego aside and take whatever job you can get at this point. I mean, we've all had the situation happen to us. Maybe we get fired from a job, let go, laid off, things like that. We've got to find a different job. And maybe your dream job is out there. You still want that dream job, but you know you don't have the skills yet to get it or the experience to get it. And you're going to have to take something lower than what you hoped you were going to get. I mean, we've all done this. It happens to us. And I think that's the situation Russell Wilson's in right now. I think he's going to have to accept the position that's offered to him. I don't think that anyone's going to be making him a great offer to say the least. At this point, the best thing he can do is just take it, do the best he possibly can, try to show that he can still play like we've seen him do in some of these games the past couple of months or so, and let that stand for itself. Let the actions on the field stand for itself and use that to motivate that team to want to keep you around, to want to assign you to a better deal at some point, because otherwise it just doesn't make any sense. And you might recall that when Russell Wilson left the Seattle Seahawks, there was a lot of debate about that because he really wanted to go somewhere like Chicago, somewhere like that, a big, big market where he could have a big impact and be the biggest name in town. And obviously he went to Denver. That team is a very legacy team, obviously. And I'll say right now, I think that him going to Denver was a huge disservice to himself, not only the team, because he basically tarnished his own resume as well by not being able to play to that level that was expected of him. And as we know, there was all this debate way back when, when he first joined the Denver Broncos, about him not fitting in with the coaching style and not wanting to play as a team, which, as you know, is problematic on any sports team. It's never going to go well when someone's trying to do something different and bending the rules to fit their own style of play. Mr. Mr. Mr. Unlimited. I think at this point everyone's upset with me for trying to play that clip so much, but I find that clip hilarious. I cannot stop doing it. Getting back to the main point here, though, I do not see the Seattle Seahawks pulling the trigger on Russell Wilson at this point. I do not think it makes any sense, especially when we have a quarterback situation that we're in right now, where potentially you could solve it by drafting somebody else or trying to find a solution that might be a stopgap until you actually reach the solution you want to get to. And I want to talk about that real quick. So we've got Geno Smith and Drew Locke. Now I did see Geno Smith play pretty darn well in that last game against the Tennessee Titans last week. That was a very good game. I think he had some excellent plays. He wasn't holding onto the ball as much as he normally has been in the past, which is progress in my opinion. Now for the remainder of the season, there's been some debate about which quarterback should ultimately get the start. And I do think that Drew Locke is not a bad option for getting that starting position because what we saw from him in the Philadelphia game was absolutely fantastic. I thought that was one of the better games the Seahawks have played all season against one of the best teams in the entire league. That was a game I did not expect to see us win whatsoever. I think we all kind of wrote that one off saying, well, we're going to show up and do the best that we possibly can, but we're not going to expect greatness. But what Drew Locke delivered in that game was truly fantastic. And I think that what we saw there should be an indication of what we might be able to get out of him in the future if we decide to keep him on the team, first of all. And second of all, provide him more opportunities to start in some of these key games. Now every quarterback is going to have some falters here and there. We saw that with Brock Purdy on the 49ers last week. I think what really matters here is that you're developing these guys to play better each and every game. I definitely see the development happening with Geno Smith. He is improving a little bit, and that's important. But I do think that Drew Locke might have the edge in this case because I think he's developing and improving at a faster rate, which might behoove the Seahawks to actually want to have this guy start more often. Now I can't say we're going to make the playoffs at this point. We're on the bubble. We're in the hunt, holding on to a wild card spot. And if we make it into the wild card, I'm really not sure we're going to make it past that round. However, I think that if we get into the wild card, I think that you have to go with the guy who's been more reliable for you all season long. Now the question remains, which guy is that? Now both of these guys, Geno Smith and Drew Locke, have had their moments of reliability and their moments of failure, and it's hard to say which one is the ultimate choice to choose from. And this is the situation that comes up where you really want to have a guy that you just know you can rely on. You've got to have somebody in mind that you know has your back. And if it's me right now making that call, I think I'd go with Drew Locke just because he doesn't have the injury issues right now, and I think he's ready for the challenge. So perhaps we will ultimately make the playoffs. We will sneak into that wild card spot, and we'll see if I'm right. That's my projection right now. I think that's the better option to go with if you're a Seattle Seahawks fan. So while we're on the topic of football, we'd be remiss not to discuss the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys game, and more analysis on that coming up next. We've got an expert coming in to break it down for you, but I do want to share this with you right now because in my humble opinion, I do think that the Detroit Lions should have won that game. It all came down to a touchdown they scored at the very, very end of the game. They were one point away from tying the game. Now instead of doing what was probably the smarter thing to do, which is just get that game into overtime by kicking the extra point, they go for two. And technically speaking, they actually achieved that goal. They scored a clean two-point conversion, but it was taken away by the officials based on a technicality, what it really amounts to, the technicality. And in this situation, I just think that this is a very, very cheap way to win the game if you're a Dallas fan. And I will say right now, I think it would have been a bit better for the Detroit Lions to just go ahead and kick that extra point instead of trying for the two-point conversion again. I mean, they were already frustrated. There was already all these emotions coming out based on the fact that the point had been taken away, or the two-point conversion had been taken away. So in this case, I think you just go for the extra point. You get that game into overtime. You give yourself a couple minutes just to relax, not get overly frustrated about the outcome of the game, and just try to recenter yourself before you get back out there on the field and try to find a way to win that game. But in this case, they wanted to be bold. They wanted to go for it. And you've got to appreciate the tenacity to go out there and try to find a way to win it before that clock ticks down. So a frustrating game to say the least. Our experts join the show coming up next to break it all down for you. And share some more details about Russell Wilson, which I know you're excited to hear about. Mr. Mr. Mr. Unlimited. We'll be right back. You're on The Weekend Show. It's Warren filling in. Seattle sports.