Ex-Seahawks star says Seattle got ‘borderline disrespectful’ with contract offer to All-Pro linebacker

After spending the 2022 season with the Rams, former Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner will be returning to Seattle after signing a one-year deal with the team in March. 

Wagner spent the first 10 seasons of his career in Seattle, but his first stint with the team ended contentiously when the Seahawks unceremoniously decided to cut him in March 2022. Apparently, Wagner’s return to Seattle also got off to a contentious start. According to Wagner’s friend and former Seahawks star Richard Sherman, general manager John Schneider almost messed up the deal. 

“I knew it was in the works,” Sherman said of a possible Wagner return, via The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar. “I was hoping that John didn’t mess it up, and he didn’t. He tried. He tried on multiple occasions.”

So what did Schneider do to almost blow up the deal? Apparently, he made a ‘borderline disrespectful’ offer to Wagner. 

“I mean, just lowballing a guy,” Sherman said. “There’s a difference between lowballing and being disrespectful and they got borderline disrespectful. Thankfully, Bobby really wanted to be with the Seahawks, and he really wanted to come back home. Because other people offered him more money.”

Wagner confirmed on Wednesday that he had other teams interested in him, but for the six-time All-Pro, it wasn’t about the money. He simply wanted to return to Seattle. 

“I had some teams that were interested in me,” Wagner said, via The News Tribune. “Obviously didn’t want to go too far, unless I just knew it was going to be a championship opportunity. And (I) kind of just let it play out that way. But as soon as I started talking to Seattle, things kind of started moving a little bit.”

In the end, Wagner, who serves as his own agent, ended up signing a one-year deal that will be worth up to $5.5 million. According to ESPN.com, the deal includes $4.48 million in guaranteed money and he can also make another $1.02 million in per-game roster bonuses. 

Wagner definitely remembers how bitter he felt when his time with the Seahawks came to an end last year, but he didn’t let that impact the negotiations this year. 

“I just think the biggest thing was, I just felt like we could have handled it differently, handled the business side differently,” Wagner said during an interview with 710 AM in Seattle. “But I think I’m mature enough to know that business is business and sometimes things don’t get handled the same way, and so I don’t really hold grudges like that.”

Wagner might not love the deal he got with the Seahawks this time around, but he seems to realize that if he was going to return to Seattle, he was going to have to leave some money on the table and he seems happy with that decision, which is really all that matters.