Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE — Bobby Wagner is coming back to where he built a Hall of Fame resume.
The free-agent linebacker has agreed to a one-year, $7 million deal to return to the Seattle Seahawks, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.
The move reunites the Seahawks with arguably the greatest defensive player in franchise history and fills a significant need in their linebacker corps. And it signals that the fences have been mended following his messy departure last offseason.
The news was broken by Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs, who had been publicly stumping for Wagner’s return ever since Wagner and the Los Angeles Rams agreed to part ways earlier last month.
The Rams’ release of Wagner on March 15 came just a year after the nine-time All-Pro linebacker had signed a five-year contract with the team. Wagner and the Rams mutually agreed to part ways, sources told Schefter.
Wagner, 32, joined the Rams after signing a five-year, $50 million deal with $20 million in guarantees on March 31, 2022. He earned second-team All-Pro honors after posting 140 tackles, a career-high 6 sacks, 2 interceptions and 5 passes defended while starting all 17 games. Pro Football Focus rated Wagner as the top linebacker in the NFL last season.
It was the ninth time in his 11 NFL seasons in which Wagner was named an All-Pro (six times on the first team, three on the second). That came after Wagner was released by the Seahawks last March after 10 seasons with the team. He voiced his displeasure both publicly and directly to the team’s decision makers over how he had caught wind of their plans to move on from him before he had heard it from them.
The Seahawks moved Cody Barton into a starting role at inside linebacker alongside Jordyn Brooks. Barton signed with the Washington Commanders in free agency after an up-and-down season. Brooks tore his ACL in December, putting his availability for the start of the 2023 season in jeopardy. Seattle signed former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Devin Bush to a one-year, $3.5 million deal.
Wagner has 1,523 tackles, 29.5 sacks, 13 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles in his career.
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner contributed to this report.
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March 25, 2023 | 8:23 pm
