Commentary: How Seahawks can add to Broncos’ pain after winning Russell Wilson trade

Hours after the trade of their franchise quarterback had become official, Pete Carroll and John Schneider sat inside the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, facing an uncertain future. Russell Wilson — the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback for the past decade — had just completed his first news conference in Denver, parting for a package that included three players and five draft picks.

For the Broncos, the expectation was obvious. Wilson would bring stability under center after six years of stopgap starters and failed experiments. Trevor Siemian. Paxton Lynch. Case Keenum. Joe Flacco. Drew Lock. Brandon Allen. Teddy Bridgewater. The lackluster list lurched on.

For the Seahawks, it appeared to signal a rebuild.

But on March 16, 2022, Carroll and Schneider’s white flag didn’t wave.

“It’s historic for the franchise; I don’t know about for the league,” Carroll, then the Seahawks’ 13th-year coach, said of the completed deal. “But it’s one we’re going to capitalize on. We’re going to make the very most out of this.”

Very most might be a little much.

But we know who won the trade.

Two and a half years later, Wilson is a Pittsburgh Steeler, banished from the Broncos after recording an 11-19 record in less than two seasons under center. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix will make his first career start in Seattle on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the seeds Denver sent to Seattle have largely begun to bloom.

Of the nine associated players who became Seahawks, six currently reside on the 53-man roster. (If you’re counting/confused, Seattle traded its 2022 fifth-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for a later fifth- and seventh-round selection.)

That crop includes:

• Cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who earned Pro Bowl honors in 2023 after a scintillating rookie season

• Left tackle Charles, Cross, who has started all 31 games he’s played in since 2022

• Linebacker Boye Mafe, who emerged in 2023 with nine sacks in his second season

• Tight end Noah Fant, the team’s established starter, who the Seahawks re-signed to a two-year deal this offseason

• Linebacker Derick Hall, who compiled 38 tackles and zero sacks in a relatively quiet rookie season, but is expected to be a key contributor in 2024

• Wide receiver Dareke Young, a former seventh-round selection who earned the Seahawks’ sixth receiver spot with an impressive preseason.

Granted, if this were a game of “Battleship,” it wouldn’t have been all hits. Lock made just two starts in two seasons, assuming a backup role behind Geno Smith, before resurfacing with the Giants this offseason. Defensive end Shelby Harris was released following a single season in Seattle. Linebacker Tyreke Smith — a fifth-round pick in 2022 — was signed by Arizona off the Seahawks’ practice squad late last year before being released this summer and returning to Seattle.

Still, the Wilson trade afforded Seattle foundational pieces to face an uncertain future.

Now, in a season opener against those same Broncos on Sunday, the Seahawks can make it hurt.

(Broncos fans would likely argue they’ve hurt plenty as it is.)

Admittedly, these aren’t the same Seahawks who made that trade two years ago. Though Schneider remains the team’s general manager and president of football operations, Carroll and the franchise parted ways this offseason after 14 years. Along came new coach Mike Macdonald, three new coordinators, two new schemes — and a recalibrated culture.

“We’re looking for any little marginal thing that’s going to help us win,” Macdonald said last week. “We’re always trying to push the envelope. We want people chasing us. We’re not copying anybody. It’s going to be our style of play. It’s going to be our team, our way of doing things. [We’re] never satisfied with where we’re at.”

Imagine where they’d be without Witherspoon, Cross, Mafe, Fant, Hall, etc. Better yet, imagine where they’re headed — the encouraging future a leap of faith helped afford.

Like Carroll said, the Seahawks have largely capitalized on an opportunity. In the short term, it yielded lukewarm returns, as Seattle earned identical 9-8 records and a single playoff appearance in 2022.

But when Macdonald arrived, the cupboard wasn’t bare — thanks, in part, to the Broncos.

From the Seahawks’ perspective, the Wilson trade was an unmitigated win. But it matters only if talent and potential translate into production.

On Sunday, the seeds Denver sent to Seattle might just bury the Broncos.