Bobby Wagner serves as his own agent. Seahawks General Manager John Schneider cited that last month when explaining (or trying to explain) why the team miscommunicated with the linebacker on his release after 10 seasons.
Wagner learned of the Seahawks’ plan before they informed him of his release, something Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have apologized. Wagner, though, still wishes the team would have handled it differently.
“First thing, I think after 10 years, I think it’s just simple communication. I don’t think it had to be that difficult,” Wagner said Monday, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “I watched their interview, and I’m grateful, but when they said it was because I represented myself, I feel like that was weak. I don’t feel like me representing myself, whether I had an agent or whether I didn’t have an agent, I still felt like that was a conversation that they could have had. That’s where I stand with it. I’m not going to dwell on it. It’s changed. They’ve already moved on. I’ve already moved on, so it is what it is at this point.
“I just think that, after 10 years, it could have been a simple conversation. Even if they wanted to go in different directions, I don’t think me representing myself played any part on my end. It was more on their end. Maybe they didn’t want to do it. Maybe they wanted to kind of burn that bridge. But I feel like through this process and the last process, I’ve shown the capability of handling tough conversations we’ve had, tough conversations throughout my tenure there. So it was easy to just pick up a phone and call. I shouldn’t have had to find out the way I found out. But it is what it is, and I ended up in a great place.”
The Seahawks made Wagner a salary-cap casualty on March 9. He carried a $20.35 million cap hit for 2022, and his release freed up $16 million in cap space.
“The player kinda took it personally, but the agent went to work,” Wagner said.
He signed his deal with the Rams on Monday after picking Los Angeles over the Ravens.
“A lot of people think that it went into my decision, being able to play the Seahawks,” Wagner said. “I don’t have that much hate in my heart. 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 a cherry on top. I’ll make sure I’ll tell them. It won’t be a quiet game for me.”