Even after Mike Macdonald replaced Pete Carroll as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Bobby Wagner insists that he still has the final say over his free agency choice.
“No, it doesn’t affect anything,” said Wagner during the Pro Bowl Games practice on Friday to Grant Gordon of NFL.com.
Although he has yet to determine where he will go this summer, there’s no doubt that Wagner won’t have any shortage of suitors, given his dominant 2023 campaign in his return to Seattle.
Bobby Wagner is back with a bang for the Seattle Seahawks
Bobby Wagner has proven that he still has a lot left in the tank after having a superb 2023 season with the Seattle Seahawks, as he tallied a league-high 183 tackles (96 solo and 87 assisted) and 3.5 sacks. As a result, he is now a nine-time Pro Bowler.
The 33-year-old linebacker has surpassed 100 tackles in each of his 12 NFL seasons, and he has played the most defensive snaps of any player (1,127) in 2023, as per Next Gen Stats.
In his first Seattle Seahawks stint, Bobby Wagner won two NFC titles and a Super Bowl. But after being cut by the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, Wagner spent a season with the Los Angeles Rams before going back to the Emerald City.
Bobby Wagner has high praise for the Seattle Seahawks’ new HC
Before joining the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Macdonald was largely responsible for the Baltimore Ravens’ resurgence. Under his tutelage, the Baltimore Ravens made it to the AFC Championship because they had the No. 1 scoring defense.
If Wagner decides to stay as a Seattle Seahawk, there’s a big chance that he will have another great year in 2024, as he and Mike Macdonald look like a perfect match.
“Obviously you look at it and when you see them make that hire — I’m fortunate enough to be around Roquan Smith and those guys and they say all great things about him and so you think about it — but at the same time you also understand that you’re a free agent and you’re not necessarily married to that idea,” said Wagner.
“Obviously, I want to be in Seattle, but I also know the business; I’ve been around a long time,” he concluded.