Seattle Seahawks former player and coach, Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll, share the field.

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As Seattle Seahawks fans around the country and NFL fans in to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday, it’s important to understand what Seattle’s front office has done to help churn out this Super Bowl-caliber roster.

One of the biggest moves in the Seahawks’ franchise history was trading away Russell Wilson back in 2021. Wilson had been named to nine Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with Seattle, and was 34 at the time of being traded. He was still a high-end quarterback in the NFL, but the Seahawks decided to move Wilson to the Denver Broncos.

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Russell Wilson Trade Details: How it Shaped this Seahawks Roster

The Wilson trade was one of the biggest moves in 2021. Seattle sent Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round draft pick to Denver for first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, second-round picks in 2022 and 2023, a 2022 fifth-round pick, tight end Noah Fant, defensive end Shelby Harris and quarterback Drew Lock. The Seahawks got some core players for a future NFC championship roster from it.

With the 2022 first-round pick, the Seahawks selected tackle Charles Cross ninth overall in the NFL Draft. In 2023, Seattle drafted Devon Witherspoon, who immediately became one of the best cornerbacks in football and is the focal point of this current Seahawks defense.

The other players taken in the NFL Draft with the draft picks obtained in the Russell Wilson trade include: DE Boye Mafe, OLB Derick Hall, DE Tyreke Smith, and WR Dareke Young.

That is quite the haul, and it ended up paying off nearly five years later with an NFC Championship victory and a trip to Super Bowl LX.

Russell Wilson’s Time With Denver, And Geno Smith’s Takeover

Russell Wilson ended up playing two seasons with the Denver Broncos and went 11-19 in his time as a starter. In 2022, his record was an ugly 4-11 with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Wilson followed that season up with a better campaign, throwing 26 touchdowns to just eight interceptions, but still finished with a record below .500 as a starter (7-8).

At the time of Wilson being traded, it had become apparent that the relationship between Seattle and Wilson had tarnished, but what happened next in the Seahawks QB saga is very important to the current Seahawks story.

In 2022, Geno Smith took over for Russell Wilson, and during the first two years of Smith’s tenure as the Seahawks QB, things went fairly well. From 2022 to 2023, Geno Smith finished with a 17-15 record as a starter.

However, Smith went on to throw 15 interceptions in 2024, which ended his time as a starter in Seattle.

Enter Sam Darnold, who is now poised to lead the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl trophy since 2014, and just their second in franchise history.

But now you know that the Russell Wilson trade to the Denver Broncos set this current Seahawks roster up nicely with core players like Charles Cross and Devon Witherspoon.

 

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