Bobby Wagner "No Hatred" For Seahawks

[AROS]

All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner says he has "no hatred" toward the Seattle Seahawks but still believes they should have handled his release differently.

And he considers the chance to play his old team twice a year a nice bonus to signing with the Los Angeles Rams, even if it wasn't the reason he joined Seattle's division rival.

"A lot of people think that it went into my decision, being able to play the Seahawks," Wagner said Monday in his introductory videoconference with the Rams. "I don't have that much hate in my heart. I think I really wanted to be happy and I wanted to be close to home and stay on the West Coast. That was important to me. But playing the Seahawks twice a year was a cherry on top, and I'll make sure they see me every time we play them. They'll know where I'm at and I'll make sure I tell them. It won't be a quiet game for me."

Wagner says he has 'no hatred' toward Seahawks

Bobby Wagner says that even though he believes the Seahawks should have handled his release differently, he didn't join the Rams so he could play his old team twice a year.

www.espn.com

 

[TwistedHusky]

Bobby has always been a competitor. That was one of the things we love about him.

I highly doubt anyone is going to hold against him his wanting to stick it to us for releasing him.

He delivered a lot of wins for this team and our fans.

It's all good.

 

[Hyak]

I'd still love to know the mechanics of how Wagner found out he was getting cut before the Seahawks talked to him as it's been confirmed that that happened before the Schefter tweet.

Wonder if it was Rodgers/Russ who spilled the beans on the way out the door......

 

[jammerhawk]

The team and whole FO screwed up badly with Wags, he deserved better.

The arrogance of the FO was revealed again here. If not, the way they handled this was sheer incompetence. If the team truly wants to rebuild they need to do this stuff better so real players want to be here.

Wagner just wasn’t worth paying $20.5 mil/yr I don’t know if they talked about redoing his deal but he was worth being paid well to end his career here, just not what he was to be paid. Maybe ultimatums were given, we don’t know.

The timing of and the way he was released was confused and confusing to fans of the team who had just lost their offensives captain too. Perhaps there is more to this than what we were allowed to see which is often the case but it was clumsy and insensitive.

 

[acer1240]

I'm calling bullshit. Everyone knew that he was not going to make the 18 million left on his deal. I'm pretty sure he does not have broken fingers so he could have made 1 call to check on his status.

You wanted to be your own agent Bobby. Reap it.

 

[Cyrus12]

I think he had to of known he was done. I think the timing of it with the Wilson deal didn't help which got all the attention. It was obviously leaked before they could get to it. He was a great player and will no doubt play in the super bowl this season as the nfc is a joke excluding maybe Tampa. Definitely not regarded as a turncoat like the other guy who cried to go somewhere worthy of his brand.

 

[nutluck]

I'm calling bullshit. Everyone knew that he was not going to make the 18 million left on his deal. I'm pretty sure he does not have broken fingers so he could have made 1 call to check on his status.

You wanted to be your own agent Bobby. Reap it.

Yeah and the hawks FO is not obligated to inform him or his agent, in this case the same person. But a FO with respect should have picked up the phone right after the meeting it was decided and called him and told him. Especially for a player like him that has played here so long.

 

[acer1240]

Yeah and the hawks FO is not obligated to inform him or his agent, in this case the same person. But a FO with respect should have picked up the phone right after the meeting it was decided and called him and told him. Especially for a player like him that has played here so long.

Nope. He represents himself. Why on earth did the Hawks "owe it" to him?

 

[AgentDib]

It's about the money, and it does matter that Bobby was his own agent.

We'll probably never know the real details. Most likely the FO discussed the likelihood of terminating his contract earlier in the off-season unless he agreed to rework the numbers and he emphatically refused. The FO did call him after they filed the official paperwork, but the transaction was tipped off first - probably by somebody at league HQ to somebody like Schefter who then called Bobby in turn.

But that's all a red herring. Bobby would still be unhappy about being cut if their phone call had happened before he found out otherwise, and it's understandable. Players (and people in general) tend to feel that their future rewards should depend on past performance. But in business, future pay should depend on projections of future performance.

The cold truth is that nobody thought that Bobby's play last season warranted 20m this season. Even Dave Wyman of all people started suggesting it was time to move on. That was the real problem, and was set in motion by the structure of the previous contract that he signed that pretty much guaranteed this outcome.

 

[12th Dimension]

We all appreciate Bobby and hope to see him in the ROH soon. He was a big part of our past sucess.

anyone notice his deal is effectively a 2 year 17.5m with only 10m guaranteed. Seems about right.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

I'm calling bullshit. Everyone knew that he was not going to make the 18 million left on his deal. I'm pretty sure he does not have broken fingers so he could have made 1 call to check on his status.

You wanted to be your own agent Bobby. Reap it.

You make an excellent point.

Having said that - BWags is cool with me. Gruntled, or dis-gruntled. I just hope he falls on his face when we play them

The rest is just social media bullshit.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'm cool with Bobby. Hope they lose every game they play. And I seriously doubt he is even close to as sensitive as people seem to make him out to be. Or at least the way the media spins it. Shoot, the "fans" seem a lot more offended by it. Meh, Hawks were not gonna' pay him that huge contract. He made his choice. Will always be one of my favorite all time players.

 

[nanomoz]

It's unprofessional that Bobby found out via the media.

Pete and John have publicly acknowledged as much, and that they regret how it went down.

Ya, it's being made into a bigger thing that it is. For sure. I've seen people people act like Pete and John wanted to disrespect Bobby. Which clearly isn't the case.

But to insist that mistakes weren't made when even Pete and John admit mistakes were made . . . that's madness.

 

[flv2]

Wagner was due $16.6M from the Seahawks if they retained him for 2022. Wagner will cost the Rams $10M if he's there for 1 season. A 2nd season would also cost exactly $10M.

 

[nanomoz]

Wagner was due $16.6M from the Seahawks if they retained him for 2022. Wagner will cost the Rams $10M if he's there for 1 season. A 2nd season would also cost exactly $10M.

It'd be great to know the details of any conversation Pete and John may have had with Bobby where they asked him to restructure.

 

[flv2]

It'd be great to know the details of any conversation Pete and John may have had with Bobby where they asked him to restructure.

It would, but the details would likely be uncomfortable. Such conversations often don't turn out well. Situations drag on and teams have a tendency to eventually draw a line in the sand and move on, even if protracted negotiations might have resulted in an uneasy agreement where neither side was particularly happy. From what i've read here concerning Carroll's press conference it seems as though the Seahawks had passed a point of no return with Wagner. Effectively the Seahawks had paid for the right to retain Wagner through and beyond the prime section of the 2022 free agency market and they used that option to see how the market was behaving. Business is business. From a rival fan's perspective the Seahawks tend to be more cold-blooded than most teams when it comes to expiring contracts.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

He's gone, it doesn't matter any more. Sucks, but it's reality.

 

[94Smith]

Nope. He represents himself. Why on earth did the Hawks "owe it" to him?

Because he has been your defensive MVP for 10 years and is a future Seahawk hall of famer. Its just decent business. Somebody screwed up.

 

[acer1240]

Because he has been your defensive MVP for 10 years and is a future Seahawk hall of famer. Its just decent business. Somebody screwed up.

No. They didn't owe him anything. Sorry if his little feels got hurt. He got paid hundreds of millions to tackle fools. Cry me a damn river.

 

[PNW]

No. They didn't owe him anything. Sorry if his little feels got hurt. He got paid hundreds of millions to tackle fools. Cry me a damn river.

John and Pete apologized publicly and said they messed it up, regardless of your opinion. They knew they could’ve treated him with more respect end of story.