It’s time to relax on the Russell Wilson noise

Let me be very clear from the top; I would love Russell Wilson to land in Washington as their next quarterback for years to come. That would be a significant win for the Rivera era and immediately provide Super Bowl implications for the Washington Commanders. Russell Wilson would be a great addition, point-blank. However, we’ve jumped the gun, and the incredible social media surge of Wilson conversations and photoshopped pictures of him in a Commander’s uniform has created incredibly high expectations amongst the fan base as to what will happen as opposed to the slim possibility of what may happen. There’s a difference.

But how did we even get to this point? To start, NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport reported in January that Russell Wilson “wants to explore his options to see what else might be out there for him.” It’s about winning and continuing Wilson’s legacy, according to Rapaport. “Those close to Wilson say he wants to investigate other destinations to see if those would put him in a better position to win another championship and create the legacy he sees for himself.” That’s where things began once the season ended. However, things took off when ESPN 980 Radio personality Kevin Sheehan reported that Russell Wilson “is not against being traded to Washington,” according to his two sources.

It’s been out of control ever since Sheehan dropped that nugget.

There is nothing wrong with entertaining the report and speculating about what it would take or why Wilson would want to leave Seattle, to begin with. I’ve done research of my own by interviewing a local Seattle ESPN Radio reporter, Stacy Rost, to bring some insight to Commanders fans.

Ultimately, where things go left is when speculation becomes an expectation. The things that fans are missing is that you have to consider the following:

1. Is Seattle committed to a rebuild or not?
2. Are they willing to deal with a high dead cap number if they traded Wilson?
3. Can Washington compete with other teams with more assets than them if teams come calling (which they will)?
4. Would Seattle want Wilson playing in the same conference as them?
5. If multiple teams come calling (which they will), where does Washington rank on Wilson’s list?
6. How high would Washington rank where it’d make sense for Seattle and Wilson to agree on a deal with a team?

These are all essential questions because Wilson has a no-trade clause, and it wouldn’t be as simple as the Seahawks agreeing on where to move him; they’d have to work together on this or stay married.

As we continue moving forward in the offseason, the point here is that this speculation is highly early and premature. There are so many factors to consider, and much more has to unfold before you can take any conversations about Washington and Wilson as a serious thing. It’s okay to do your homework, we all are, but you better be doing it on other veteran options as well because there’s nothing worse than putting all your eggs in one basket and losing everything.