Over 10 stellar campaigns in the middle of coach Pete Carroll’s defense, Wagner earned six All-Pro nods as he astoundingly tallied more than 100 tackles in each and every season with the Seahawks.
Twice (2016 and 2019) he led the NFL in tackles and last season compiled a career-high 170, but just as Wagner’s emergence with Seattle signaled a new period in franchise history, so too will his departure mark another monumental change in club chronicle.
Wagner’s release saves the new-look Seahawks $16.6 million in salary-cap space. It likewise sends Wagner into free agency, with his release allowing him to sign with a team prior to the start of the new league year on March 16.
The 31-year-old is likely to be a highly coveted. While his prime days are likely left in Seattle, he’ll still be viewed as an improvement for most teams looking for an off-ball linebacker.
What’s next for Wagner could be decided in the coming days. What was for Wagner will be celebrated for years to come in the Emerald City.
Nonetheless, Tuesday will be remembered as a day that forever changed the Seahawks.
It began with with the NFL world being rocked by news that Wilson was being traded to the Broncos and as day turned to night, Wagner, the standard at the center of the Seahawks defense for a decade, was released and an era was ended.