SEATTLE — Bobby Wagner shall be again in the midst of the Seattle Seahawks’ protection and again in his acquainted No. 54 after sporting No. 45 final yr in his lone season with the Los Angeles Rams.
However in his first public feedback since returning to the group with which he constructed a Corridor of Fame resume, the eight-time Professional Bowl linebacker stated he is considerably treating it as if he is becoming a member of a brand new group.
And he is not holding on to any of the laborious emotions he had when he left.
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“It has been nice simply being again within the constructing,” Wagner stated Wednesday throughout a digital information convention from the Seahawks’ Renton, Washington, headquarters. “Issues did not finish that nice, and I do not stay that removed from the constructing, so I might drive by and never have too many good issues to say in regards to the constructing till this occurred. So it is good to be again on this place.”
Wagner’s first stint with Seattle got here to an unceremonious finish final March, when he caught wind of the Seahawks’ plan to maneuver on earlier than he heard it instantly from the group. Wagner vented each publicly and privately, prompting mea culpas from coach Pete Carroll and basic supervisor John Schneider.
“I by no means felt any sort of manner in direction of Pete or John or anyone,” Wagner stated earlier Wednesday on Seattle Sports activities 710 AM. “I simply assume the largest factor was I simply felt like we may have dealt with it in another way, dealt with the enterprise facet personally. However I believe I am mature sufficient to know that enterprise is enterprise and generally issues do not get dealt with the identical manner, and so I do not actually maintain grudges like that.
“It is laborious to only throw away like 10 years of a relationship or a friendship over one thing that we doubtlessly will not even bear in mind — properly, I am going to bear in mind it. However relying on how the story ends, you will not bear in mind. And it isn’t like I ended up at a horrible place or a spot that was far, far-off from dwelling. I ended up down the road from the place I grew up.”
Wagner, a Los Angeles native, delivered a resurgent season whereas beginning each sport for the Rams. However with the group in a rebuild and the 32-year-old Wagner wanting an opportunity to compete for a second Tremendous Bowl, the 2 sides mutually agreed to half methods in February, opening the door for his return to Seattle.
As Wagner and the Seahawks started discussing a possible reunion, security Quandre Diggs and different teammates started lighting up Twitter with pleas for the group to convey him again. Wagner stated the assist meant rather a lot to him, and he thinks it helped his case.
“I do not assume I went a day with out seeing a tweet from anyone,” he stated. “It was cool.”
Wagner, who continues to function his personal agent, negotiated his one-year, $5.5 million deal. It consists of $4.48 million assured, $1.02 million tied to per-game roster bonuses and an extra $1.5 million accessible in incentives. He stated he needs to retire as a Seahawk and that he plans on taking part in past 2022.
“However I believe we’re on the level the place you are taking it a yr at a time,” he stated.
Wagner was a captain in six of his 10 seasons in Seattle. He stays the Seahawks’ all-time main tackler and arguably one of the best defensive participant in franchise historical past. However all indications are that he’ll be returning in a considerably totally different function each on the sphere and within the locker room.
Wagner stated he needs the leaders who emerged in his absence final season to stay in these management roles.
“I am not attempting to come back in right here and simply take over or something like that,” he informed the station. “I believe it may very well be a collaborative factor. I believe it may very well be a factor that all of us lean on one another and all of us depend on one another to convey one of the best out of each other.”
One issue within the Seahawks bringing again Wagner was how properly he performed within the Rams’ protection, which has similarities to the 3-4 Seattle started working final season. Carroll and Schneider, nonetheless, have hinted that Wagner might not play as many snaps as he did throughout his first stint, when he nearly by no means got here off the sphere.
“I am simply excited to compete and discover my manner on the sphere and compete preserve taking part in at a excessive degree,” Wagner stated.
