Report: Wilson Tried to Have Carroll Fired Before Denver Trade
The star quarterback’s significant demand ended with his trade to Denver.
The Seahawks traded star quarterback Russell Wilson to the Broncos in March 2022, in one of the most significant moves of last year's NFL offseason. According to The Athletic, Wilson attempted to have the franchise fire both coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider a month earlier.
According to the report, the relationship between the quarterback and his former coach deteriorated to the point that they did not speak before the 2022 Week 1 game between the Seahawks and Wilson’s Broncos. Wilson, per the report, felt that Carroll and Schneider were holding Seattle back from winning a second Super Bowl, and him from personal awards and accolades.
Last February, Wilson asked ownership to fire the coach and general manager, league sources told The Athletic. Wilson’s preferred replacement for Carroll was Sean Payton, who is now his new coach with the Broncos after Nathaniel Hackett was fired in his first season leading the team last fall.
An attorney for Wilson denied the report to The Athletic, calling it “entirely fabricated.” The Seahawks also declined to comment.
On Friday morning, Wilson also denied the report directly via Twitter, writing, “I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and drafted me as well. I never wanted them fired. All any of us wanted was to win. I’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle.”
Wilson and the Seahawks’ peak came at the end of the 2013 season, when they defeated the Peyton Manning-led Broncos 43–8 at Super Bowl XLVIII. They returned the following year, losing a heartbreaker at Super Bowl XLIX to the Patriots, 28–24. Seattle would return to the playoffs five more times in the next seven seasons with Wilson under center, but never made it out of the divisional round.
Last March, he was traded to Denver along with a fourth-round pick for a giant package featuring a pair of first-round and second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris, a move reportedly put into motion just days after his trade request.
The 2022 Broncos, who entered the season with significant fanfare, went just 5–12 with Wilson leading one of the NFL’s most stagnant offenses. The Seahawks, meanwhile, were one of the NFL’s biggest surprises of the year, going 9–8 and reaching the playoffs. Geno Smith, Wilson’s backup in Seattle, put up stronger numbers than his former teammate across the board, making his first Pro Bowl at 32-years-old and winning the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award.