What if, and it's looking very well like this might be the case, Bobby Wagner has played his last game as a Seahawk?
What if he has donned the blue and green for the final time in his surefire first-ballot Hall of Fame career?
A report from the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport surfaced Sunday that said the six-time first-team All-Pro linebacker — who also has nine Pro Bowl nods — is unlikely to return to Seattle next season. And given how he is 33 and has 12 seasons under his belt, there is a good chance he won't be on an NFL roster in the Northwest again.
The John Elways of the world are rare these days, where an iconic figure starts with a team, never leaves and retires in movie-script glory. That's not gonna be Bobby — but honest question: Might he be the greatest Seahawk?
Wagner was never as brash as Richard Sherman or as transcendent as Marshawn Lynch. He hadn't established himself as the NFL's premier linebacker during Seattle's Super Bowl season, and obviously didn't play quarterback. It took him a minute to reach the status of a Sherman, Lynch, Russell Wilson or Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor. But once he got there, he stayed there.
Look at the first-team All-Pros. Perhaps you could argue that a good number of voters — especially when we're talking about linebackers — aren't watching every play and are relying on stats and reputation. But most can figure it out. Thomas made the first team from 2012-14 and was left off entirely the next season, when his performance dipped. Same is true of Sherman, who ascended to Best Cornerback in the League during that same time span before failing to again reach that perch.
But Wagner? AP1 in 2014 (when he also got an MVP vote), an AP2 the next season, then five consecutive appearances on the first team. That's consistent excellence we simply hadn't seen from a Seahawk before. Not from Walter Jones. Not from Cortez Kennedy. Not from any of the team's legends.
He didn't slide too far when he left Seattle, either. In his one year away from the team — when he played for the Rams in 2022 — Wagner still earned second-team All-Pro honors while compiling a career-high six sacks. This didn't appear to be a reputation-based selection. Pro Football Focus, an analytics site that grades every play, ranked Bobby as the fifth-best linebacker in the game that year. A season later, he posted a career-high and league-leading 183 tackles ... although Seattle's inability to get its defense off the field inflated that number.
As much as anything, though, there was just never a moment in which Wagner could have prompted hostility from the fan base. Sherman could be defiant. Thomas, too. Wilson forced his way out of Seattle, prompting boos that may reflect Seahawks fans' feelings for years to come. Chancellor held out for two games in 2015 — both of which the Seahawks lost — and though Lynch is beloved, he wasn't for everyone.
Wagner, however ... kind of is for everyone. The one time there was tension between him and the organization came when the Seahawks brass — general manager John Schneider and then-coach Pete Carroll — opted not to tell him directly they were cutting him. Wagner was clearly upset considering all he had given to the franchise, and Schneider and Carroll expressed regret over the way it was handled. No grudges held, though. Wagner returned in 2023, earned second-team All-Pro honors again, made the Pro Bowl and was the Seahawks' nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
Regardless of how blessed you are, it's not always easy to handle yourself with grace. Yes, Wagner is a Super Bowl champion with a top-1% (at least) list of NFL achievements and will be in Canton one day. He has earned more than $100 million in his career, too. But he also is a competitor who hasn't reached the playoffs the past three seasons after being a regular participant. And he was front and center on one of the worst defenses in the league last season after consistently anchoring one of the best.
It never turned him short or standoffish, though. Consummate professional day in and day out.
Maybe this Rapoport report takes a turn and Wagner is back here next season. Or maybe he comes back in 2025 or later. He can obviously still perform.
But if he has suited up as a Seahawk for the last time, a unique era is over. He is one of the greatest to ever play football here. Maybe "one of" is selling him short.
