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Seattle Seahawks welcome back LB Bobby Wagner to their 2023 - 2024 NFL Roster
Introduction
On Thursday, April 6th, 2023 the Seattle Seahawks announced that their superstar veteran starting inside linebacker, Bobby Wagner, will be returning on the Seattle Seahawks' defense for the 2023 - 2024 NFL season wearing his traditional number 54 after wearing number 45 last year in his one and only NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams.
These are his initial publicly stated comments ever since Wagner returned to the NFL franchise in which he built his future Hall of Fame resume in the Seattle Seahawks as the 8 - time NFL Pro Bowl linebacker relayed to the major sports media outlets that he is somewhat treating the situation as though he is joining a new professional football organization. Bobby is trying not to hold on to any of the very hard feelings that he felt when he left Seattle prior to the 2022 - 2023 NFL season.
"It's been great just being back in the building," the Seattle Seahawks newly acquired linebacker, Bobby Wagner, mentioned. "Things didn't end that great, and I don't live that far from the building, so I would drive by and not have too many nice things to say about the building until this happened. So, it's good to be back in this place."
The Feelings of Bobby Wagner after leaving the Seattle Seahawks
Bobby’s first run with the Seattle Seahawks unfortunately had to come to an end in March of last year, when Wagner found out that the Seattle Seahawks had the grand idea of moving him before he heard it directly from someone within the Seattle Seahawks front office. Bobby felt the need to vent both publicly as well as privately, which resulted from the decisions of the Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, and their general manager, John Schneider.
"I never felt any type of way towards Pete or John or anybody," Wagner expressed. "I just think the biggest thing was I just felt like we could have handled it differently, handled the business side personally. But I think I'm mature enough to know that business is business and sometimes things don't get handled the same way, and so I don't really hold grudges like that.
"It's hard to just throw away like 10 - years of a relationship or a friendship over something that we potentially won't even remember -- well, I'll remember it. But depending on how the story ends, you won't remember. And it's not like I ended up at a terrible place or a place that was far, far away from home. I ended up down the street from where I grew up."
A Los Angeles native such as Bobby delivered a reviving NFL season last year as he started every game for the Los Angeles Rams, but with that franchise in a rebuilding mode immediately following their Super Bowl victory, and the 32 - year - old Wagner anticipating a chance for him to compete for a 2nd - Super Bowl ring, the 2 - organizations eventually agreed mutually to part ways in February of 2023 which ultimately opened the door for Wagner’s return to the Seattle Seahawks.
Bobby Wagner’s Support from his Former Teammates
As Wagner and the Seattle Seahawks started discussing a possible reunion, their safety Quandre Diggs as well as Bobby’s other former teammates of the “Legion of Boom” began lighting up Twitter with their desperate pleas for the organization to bring Wagner back. Bobby expressed how much the overall team support meant to him, and he truly believes that that helped his cause in returning to Seattle to play for the Seahawks once again.
"I don't think I went a day without seeing a tweet from somebody," Wagner goes on to say. "It was cool."
The New Contract between Bobby Wagner and the Seattle Seahawks
Bobby who continues to act as his own agent, negotiated his newly inked 1 - year contract with the Seattle Seahawks worth up to approximately $5.5 million. The new deal includes $4.48 million in total guaranteed money, $1.02 million which will now be tied to per - game roster bonuses, as well as an additional $1.5 million in other available incentives for the upcoming 2023 - 2024 NFL season. Wagner claimed that he wants to eventually retire as a Seattle Seahawk, and that he fully intends on playing beyond the year of 2023.
"But I think we're at the point where you take it a year at a time," Wagner explained.
Wagner was the defensive captain over the course of 6 of his 10 - NFL seasons in Seattle with the Seahawks. Booby still remains the Seattle Seahawks' all - time leading tackler as well as arguably their best all - time defensive player in the Seattle Seahawks’ complete franchise history.
"I'm not trying to come in here and just take over or anything like that," Wagner stated. "I think it could be a collaborative thing. I think it could be a thing that we all lean on each other and we all rely on each other to bring the best out of one another. I'm just excited to compete and find my way on the field and compete keep playing at a high level," Wagner emphatically says.
Wagner’s Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards
- Super Bowl Champion (XLVIII)
- 6 - Time NFL First - Team All - Pro Selection (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
- 3 - Time Second - Team NFL All - Pro Selection (2015, 2021, 2022)
- 8 - Time NFL Pro Bowl Selection (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
- 2 - Time NFL Tackles Leader (2016, 2019)
- NFL 2010’s All - Decade Team Selection
- PFWA All - Rookie Team Selection (2012)
- 3 - Time First - Team All - WAC (2009, 2010, 2011)
- Senior Bowl MVP Award Winner (2012)
Sources:
“Bobby Wagner returning to Seattle Seahawks with no grudges”, Brady Henderson, espn.com, April 6, 2023.
“Bobby Wagner”, pro-football-reference.com, April 6, 2023.