Bobby Signs Up!

Article by Rob Newell

 

Less than 48 hours after locking up Russell Wilson to a 4 year deal, the Seattle Seahawks have been at it again.  This time a 4 year deal has been done with Middle Linebacker Bobby Wagner, this one for $43million with $22million in guarantees.

 

Many people see Wagner as a vital cog in the Seahawks defence, and even though the Legion of Boom as a group and Earl Thomas III and Richard Sherman tend to dominate the media headlines, it is difficult to ignore the impact Wagner had on the Seahawks defence upon his return from injury last season.  Tony Dungy even went as far as to vote for Wagner as league MVP.

 

That may have been a little extreme, but his performance in the Super Bowl in what was ultimately a losing effort was extraordinary and had the Seahawks converted that play from the one yard line, there would have been a very real possibility that he might have walked off with that MVP award, although Russell Wilson would probably have got it due to the QB bias that affects these things.

 

This move from the Seahawks has solidified their efforts to develop and hold on to their own talents and ensures that their on fields captains will be staying in the North West for a while longer yet.  Something that the rest of the league may well have cause to regret when the season gets underway next month.  Seattle have made their free agency moves early, obviously Jimmy Graham being the big move coming in, and have only really lost one DB, that being Maxwell to the Eagles.

 

The Seahawks may not yet have competed their off season business, rumours continue about a possible new deal for safety Kam Chancellor before we arrive at opening day, but I think we can safely assume new deal this year or not Chancellor is not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

So Maxwell and coach Dan Quinn aside, the Seahawks for a team coming off a Super Bowl appearance are very much intact, sure questions remain about the OL and that may well be a very real area of concern, but the Seahawks with Beast Mode back for one more year at least are as equipped as any team to overcome that issue.  It would be folly to nail on a Super Bowl prediction at this early stage, but the Seahawks will start the season as favourites in the NFC and will take some beating to stop them playing in San Francisco come next February.