{"id":165785,"date":"2024-03-12T11:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=165785"},"modified":"2024-03-12T06:21:06","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T10:21:06","slug":"wagner-testing-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/12\/wagner-testing-free-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Six-Time All-Pro Veteran Linebacker Testing Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Six Time All-Pro Veteran Linebacker and Seattle Seahawk, Bobby Wagner is t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/lb-bobby-wagner-expected-to-test-free-agency-currently-unlikely-to-return-to-seahawks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">esting free agency<\/a> this week after being unlikely to return to the team. The first day of legal tampering has begun throughout the league and there have been a massive amount of signings. However, free agency officially opens up tomorrow and many linebackers like Wagner are free to sign elsewhere immediately. The 12-year veteran spent the entirety of his NFL career with the Seahawks, following a one-season stint with the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n<p>As the new Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald embarks on a new journey with the team, Wagner is not a part of that anymore. This also includes after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seahawks.com\/news\/seahawks-release-jamal-adams-quandre-diggs-will-dissly#:~:text=The%20Seahawks%20parted%20ways%20with,and%20tight%20end%20Will%20Dissly.&amp;text=The%20Seahawks%20released%20safety%20Quandre,ways%20with%20three%20veteran%20starters.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">release<\/a> of starting safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs. Also, their other linebacker Jordyn Brooks is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/39711095\/lb-jordyn-brooks-heading-miami-dolphins-3-year-deal-agent-says\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">heading<\/a> to the Miami Dolphins on a three-year deal. So many departures in their roster make it that there\u2019s a new era now with the Seahawks.<\/p>\n<p>The final member of the Legion of Boom is heading elsewhere and there has been no indication where he\u2019s heading. Wagner appeared in all games for the Seahawks in 2023, setting a career-high of 186 tackles and 1,170 snaps at the age of 33. He remains a strong player on the run defense but is inconsistent in stopping the passing game. This could be a reason why he hasn\u2019t been taken off the board yet, but whatever it may be, there are plenty of suitors watching.<\/p>\n<p>Wagner had his ups and downs with the Seahawks after they opted to release him on the same day they traded Russell Wilson to the Broncos in 2022. What was once a reunion is now being pushed out after Pete Carroll\u2019s recent firing from the team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">All-Pro and Pro Bowl LB Bobby Wagner is expected to test the market, and it\u2019s currently viewed as unlikely that he returns to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Seahawks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Seahawks<\/a>, source said. Coming off a career-high 183 tackles, Wagner joins a talented off-the-ball LB group in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/1766971535917531503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Six-Time All-Pro Veteran Linebacker Bobby Wagner is testing free agency<\/h2>\n<h3>A New Era Means a Fresh New Start<\/h3>\n<p>While the reunion didn\u2019t last long, it will be worth watching to see who Macdonald brings in to replace Wagner. However, things are looking quiet for the team after no moves were during the legal tampering period. They\u2019re still making some adjustments on their roster, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com.au\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/39711555\/sources-seahawks-retain-dl-leonard-williams-te-noah-fant\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">re-signing Tight End Noah Fant to a new contract<\/a>. Things may not be quiet any longer for Wagner, though as he\u2019s expecting to sign on a new team soon.<\/p>\n<p>Wagner still made his ninth Pro Bowl of his career, something he has accomplished every year with Seattle in 2014. Wagner is still playing at a high level coming off the Pro Bowl campaign he had. He posted over 1,700 career tackles, 94 quarterback hits, 33 sacks and 13 interceptions. Wagner could considerably still be in his prime with the knowledge and experience he has.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019ll be interesting to see what kind of contract Wagner demands from teams. He could go cheap for teams depending on his intrigue of a team. The question is what team will be interested in Wagner\u2019s services despite his age?<\/p>\n<h3>Potential Suitors for Wagner<\/h3>\n<p>The linebacker free-agent class includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/players\/devin-white\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin White<\/a>, Josey Jewell, Shaquille Leonard and Denzel Perryman. One team that could sign Wagner is the Dallas Cowboys as they\u2019re one linebacker away from having their depth being shot. Leighton Vander-Esch isn\u2019t expected to come back, so Wagner could be a good veteran replacement. The Baltimore Ravens are another team that may close in on the veteran after they lose <a href=\"https:\/\/www.profootballrumors.com\/2024\/03\/texans-interested-in-lb-patrick-queen\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Queen to the market.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is Six-Time All-Pro Veteran Linebacker and former Seattle Seahawk, Bobby Wagner is test free agency as it begins this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":165800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,19,32],"tags":[1051,8443,3795,4534,6191,7638],"class_list":["post-165785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cowboys","category-seahawks","tag-bobby-wagner","tag-jordyn-brooks","tag-leighton-vander-esch","tag-noah-fant","tag-patrick-queen","tag-ravens-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}