Bobby Wagner hoped his return to the Seahawks in 2023 meant he would end his NFL career in the city he has come to call his second home.
Wagner has also learned in his 12 NFL seasons that things don’t always go as planned.
Wagner decided Wednesday to continue his NFL career about as far from Seattle as can be — with the Washington Commanders.
A source confirmed to The Seattle Times that Wagner has agreed to a one-year deal with the Commanders worth up to $8.5 million with $6 million guaranteed. He made $6.25 million last season with the Seahawks.
While it won’t be home, going to the Commanders will feel a bit like it as it will reunite Wagner with new Washington coach Dan Quinn and linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. They were with the Seahawks during Wagner’s time in Seattle. Quinn was the defensive coordinator in the Super Bowl years of 2013 and 2014, and Norton as linebackers coach from 2010-14 and defensive coordinator from 2018-21.
Speculation that Wagner might not return to Seattle grew after Pete Carroll was fired and replaced by Mike Macdonald.
Wagner held out hope. The Seahawks were said to be “uninterested” in signing Wagner — who acts as his own agent — and he quickly decided on Washington on the first day that unrestricted free agents could sign deals with new teams.
Shortly after the news was revealed, Wagner penned a note to Seattle that was not so much “goodbye,” but “see you later,” making a reference to his one-year stint with the Rams in 2022.
“Seattle, we’ve done this before,” Wagner wrote on the social-media platform X. “You know what it is. It’s always love. Until we meet again. I’m around.”
Going to Washington helps Wagner in his pursuit of an MBA, which he is doing through Howard University in Washington D.C.
Wagner was a second-team All-Pro last season with the Seahawks when he led the NFL with 183 tackles in his return to Seattle after spending the 2022 season with the Rams, which came after he was released by the Seahawks that spring.
When he returned to Seattle last spring, Wagner said he hoped it might mean he could retire as a Seahawk.
“If I had my way, yes,” Wagner said last April.
Wagner said he also planned to play longer than one year and knew that might mean having to leave Seattle again.
“I would love to be back,” he said in and interview with the NFL Network during Super Bowl week. “I think, obviously, things have to work out. They’ve got a new coaching staff, everything is new, kind of, over there. So I’ve got to watch that play out. But at the same time, I understand this is a business. I want to continue my career and I understand that might have to be somewhere else, and so I’m just going to let the cards fall where they may.”
Wagner was named to his ninth Pro Bowl, tying a Seahawks record also held by Walter Jones and Russell Wilson. The 183 tackles tied a franchise record set by Jordyn Brooks in 2021.
Wagner, 34, was the third-oldest Seahawk last year behind only offensive lineman Jason Peters (42) and fullback/linebacker/special-teamer Nick Bellore (34). Peters is not expected back, and Bellore was cut this week with the Seahawks undergoing some significant roster change with Macdonald the coach and John Schneider holding the title of president of football operations and having final say on all personnel issues.
“There’s no ‘might,’ ” Wagner said in January when asked if he might want to keep playing in 2024, saying it was “100%” that he would play again.
“I feel like as you get older, you realize the opinion of others doesn’t necessarily matter,” Wagner said then. “… I try my best to not worry about the opinions ever of others and focus on myself and keep trying to find ways to improve, and I feel like if I try to find a way to improve my game, improve as a leader, everything tends to work out more times than not.”
As Wagner leaves the Seahawks for a second time — and likely now the last time — he takes with him a number of team records, some that may never be matched.
Notably, Wagner is first in Seahawks history in tackles with 1,564; next on the list is Eugene Robinson with 984.
Wagner has three of the four top tackle seasons in team history, sharing the top spot with Jordyn Brooks but holding the second and third spots on his own, and sharing the team record for tackles in a game with Brooks at 20. He also had games with 18 and 19.
And including his year with the Rams, his 1,704 career tackles are seventh in NFL history.
Wagner’s signing makes it official that the Seahawks will not have either of its starting inside linebackers in 2023 returning in 2024 as Brooks on Monday agreed to a three-year deal with Miami.
The primary backup to each player last year, Devin Bush, is also a free agent.
The Seahawks have just three inside linebackers under contract in Jon Rhattigan — who was tendered as a restricted free agent on Wednesday — and Patrick O’Connell and Drake Thomas, each rookies last season.
What is clear is that the 2024 season will mark a true changing of the guard with Carroll and Wagner gone. When the Seahawks open the 2024 season they will do so without any coaches or players left from the team that won the Super Bowl following the 2013 season.
“There’s a lot of emotions,” Wagner said following the Seahawks’ last game of the 2023 season at Arizona. “But I try to be present because you never know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what the future holds but that is out of my control. My control was coming back and being the best leader I can be, being the best teammate I can be.”
He’ll now continue to try to do that in Washington.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
