”Might’ Does Not Exist!’ Will the Pro Bowler Sign With The Seahawks Since Bobby Wagner Won’t Retire?
Bobby Wagner returned to the Seattle Seahawks and hasn’t missed a beat, amassing over 150 tackles and being selected to his eighth Pro Bowl while playing for one of the weakest defences in the NFL. Has he accomplished enough to warrant a 13th season?
RENTON, WA – Bobby Wagner, a future Hall of Fame linebacker, was just thinking about playing his best game in the moment when he decided to rejoin his former team, the Seattle Seahawks, as a free agency in March.
As he approaches the conclusion of his twelfth NFL season, Wagner, 33, isn’t thinking about returning to the field in 2024. Prior to Wednesday’s practice, and just hours before he was named a Pro Bowl selection for the seventh time in team history, he spoke with media to affirm that he has already made up his mind to play in 2024.
Wagner declared, “There’s no’might.’ I’m here.” “I never thought anything else outside of that.”
Does “here” for next year mean Seattle, though?
Wagner said he didn’t particularly have anything to prove in his return to the Seahawks after winning Second-Team All-Pro honours in his one and only season with the Rams last year. Although he may not have been driven to do so, his sustained success twelve seasons into his remarkable career has been a bright point for a defence that has, regrettably, suffered for the whole of the 2023 campaign.
Wagner has astonishingly played 1,100 snaps for Seattle, accounting for 98 percent of the team’s defensive snap total through 15 out of 16 games started thus far. With 168 combined tackles, he is once again among the league leaders. In November, he reached 100 tackles for the 12th time in a row, making history alongside Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks and London Fletcher as the only players to do so since tackles have been officially measured.
Wagner has continued to be one of the best run-stopping linebackers in the game, despite the fact that his tackle totals have been exaggerated because the Seahawks have the second-most defensive plays in the NFL this season. His 42 run “stops,” or unsuccessful plays for the offence, put him second among linebackers according to Pro Football Focus. He also ranks seventh in terms of average depth per tackle, indicating that he has been among the best in the league at making tackles close to the line of scrimmage.
In addition to his outstanding run defence statistics, Wagner has continued to develop as a pass rusher, ranking among the league’s most effective blitzing off-ball linebackers since his move to Los Angeles last year. Sending on the blitz 77 times, he has accumulated 3.5 sacks, 16 pressures on the quarterback for a 20 percent pressure rate, and much-needed bite to an uneven Seattle pass rush.
Wagner, who has played in 184 games and approximately 12,000 snaps over 12 NFL seasons, is in terrific health and believes he can play at least one more season, ideally with the Seahawks.
In addition to his outstanding run defence statistics, Wagner has continued to develop as a pass rusher, ranking among the league’s most effective blitzing off-ball linebackers since his move to Los Angeles last year. Sending on the blitz 77 times, he has accumulated 3.5 sacks, 16 pressures on the quarterback for a 20 percent pressure rate, and much-needed bite to an uneven Seattle pass rush.
Wagner, who has played in 184 games and approximately 12,000 snaps over 12 NFL seasons, is in terrific health and believes he can play at least one more season, ideally with the Seahawks.
“I think I have a fantastic team that supports me in staying in shape.”
Pete Carroll, the team’s coach, has admitted on a few occasions in the past that he had no idea what to anticipate from Wagner when he returned to the team. However, Carroll has been astounded by Wagner’s output, toughness, and durability well into his 30s and attributes his ability to stay competitive and on the field to the work he puts in during the offseason.
