9:40 p.m. ET
Brady Henderson ESPN
All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner says he has “no hatred” for the Seattle Seahawks but still believes they should have handled his release differently.
And he sees the chance to play his old team twice a year as a nice bonus to signing with the Los Angeles Rams, though that wasn’t why he joined Seattle’s division rivals.
“A lot of people think that being able to play the Seahawks factored into my decision,” Wagner said Monday in his introductory video conference call with the Rams. “I don’t have that much hate in my heart. I think I really wanted to be happy and I wanted to be close to home and stay on the west coast. That was important to me. But playing the Seahawks twice a year was icing on the cake and I’ll make sure they see me every time we play them. They’ll know where I am and I’ll make sure I tell them. It won’t be a quiet game for me. “
Wagner spoke to reporters for the first time since he signed the reigning Super Bowl champion to a five-year, $50 million deal last week. A source told ESPN that the deal, which Wagner negotiated himself, includes $20 million in guarantees as well as incentives that give him the opportunity to earn up to $23.5 million over the first two seasons.
Wagner, 31, became a free agent for the first time in his career when the Seahawks fired him last month, ending a 10-year run in Seattle that included eight Pro Bowls, six first-team All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl championship included and a franchise record 1,383 tackles.
And a messy breakup.
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The Seahawks informed Wagner that he would be released before ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news, but Wagner had already gotten wind of the team’s plan to continue with younger players at the inside linebacker. He expressed his outrage via Twitter and directly to the team.
Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider both took the blame for the mishandling of communications. Carroll said he was holding on as long as possible and hoped Seattle would find a way to keep Wagner. Schneider said the organization owed Wagner better, but noted one complicating factor in the situation – that he didn’t have the usual “buffer” that an agent provides between team and player because Wagner is representing himself.
The Seahawks have not spoken about a new contract with Wagner.
“Personally, after 10 years, I think it’s just a simple communication,” Wagner said. “I don’t think it had to be that difficult. I watched her interview. I saw your apology and am grateful. Whether I had an agent or whether I didn’t have an agent, I still feel like this was a conversation they could have had. That’s pretty much how I stand with it. I won’t go into that. … They’ve already moved on. I’ve moved on, so it’s at this point. I just think after 10 years it could have been an easy conversation even if they wanted to go in a different direction. I put it on “I don’t think I represented myself. It’s more on their side. Maybe they didn’t want to do it, didn’t want to break that bridge in any way. But I feel like I’m through this process and the final process [negotiating his record $54 million extension in 2019], I’ve demonstrated the ability to have the tough conversations that we’ve had, the tough conversations throughout my 10-year career there. So it’s easy, just pick up the phone.
“I shouldn’t have found out the way I found out. But like I said, it is what it is. I ended up in a great place.”
Wagner, a Seahawks second-round pick in 2012, said he never thought he would leave Seattle and “always wanted” to be there. Once the Seahawks released him, he had to separate the emotions he felt as a player from the work he knew he had to do as his own agent.
“The player kind of took it personally, but the agent just went to work,” he said. “So I just started calling and reaching out to Teams. I think a lot of teams didn’t know that I represent myself. So I reached out to teams to make sure they know I’m the person they’re going to reach out to directly and just start the process from there. It was definitely stressful because like I said you’ve been in one place for 10 years and there was this idea that you didn’t think you were going to leave and unfortunately it didn’t work out that way but I ended up in a great place, closer at my home and I’m excited.”
Wagner hails from Ontario, California about 50 miles east of SoFi Stadium. He still has family in the area, including a nephew who is a senior at his alma mater, Colony High School.
General manager Les Snead said the Rams “didn’t really plan for the opportunity” to sign Wagner. When they found out he was interested in playing in Los Angeles, Snead said they had internal discussions about getting Wagner and his inside linebacker Ernest Jones on the field together, not wanting the aspiring Jones loses playing time. Snead said they encouraged Wagner to take the time he needed to talk to and visit other teams and told him they would be patient on their part.
Snead had long viewed Wagner as the one who got away. The Rams were looking to draft him in the second or third round in 2012 under then-coach Jeff Fisher, who was a huge fan. Seattle beat them to it. That missed opportunity gave way to a new organizational philosophy to more aggressively engage with prospects who really want them. They call it “The Bobby Wagner Rule”.
“About a thousand tackles later,” Snead said, “we get Bobby Wagner.”
Wagner joins receiver Allen Robinson II as notable additions to the roster that won Super Bowl LVI in February. But the Rams have also suffered many significant subtractions. Coach Sean McVay said part of the appeal to Wagner is that he helps fill the leadership gap left by the departures of left tackle Andrew Whitworth (retired), outside linebacker Von Miller (to the Buffalo Bills in free agency) and Safety Eric Weddle (retired).
“There are a few guys in this league that you can go to after games because you respect their work, their approach not just physically but mentally and Bobby has always been one of those guys,” McVay said. “Just a lot of respect for everything he’s been asked to do in this defence. It’s definitely an advantage not having to play him. He’s one of those guys who can fit into any system.”
Wagner was asked if he thinks his relationship with the Seahawks will ever be repaired.
“Eventually,” he said. “I don’t hate Seattle. I don’t hate the Seahawks. I think Pete, John [Jody Allen, the team’s de facto owner]. All these guys, they are incredible. They treated me well while I was there. Like I said, I have no hate in my heart. Didn’t I appreciate how they handled it? I texted them. I let them know I didn’t appreciate the way they were handling it. So it is what it is. It’s not something I’m going to sit here and use as motivation. It doesn’t matter if I play somewhere else or play there, I’m a motivated person. I don’t need any extra motivation.
“But this game in Seattle will definitely be interesting.”