Pete Carroll: Seahawks 'weren’t trading' Russell Wilson

It's possible, and maybe even likely, outsiders will never fully know all that went down between one-time champion quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks in the days and weeks that followed Super Bowl LV. 

Wilson expressed frustrations about aspects of the organization and reportedly wanted more of a say in decisions that impact the club's offense. Then trade rumors linking the signal-caller with a potential exit from Seattle involved the Chicago Bears allegedly making "a very aggressive pursuit" of Wilson before they signed former Cincinnati Bengals starter Andy Dalton. 

Seattle head coach Pete Carroll spoke with media members on Wednesday ahead of the NFL Draft that opens Thursday night and tried to make it clear his starting QB wasn't going anywhere. 

"Russ has been our quarterback for a good while" Carroll explained, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "We’ve got a long contract with him. And when all of the conversation went about trades and all that — I knew what the truth was: We weren’t trading Russell. So we plan on him being here for a good while. I don’t know how many years it is now, but we’re in great shape and a long future ahead of us is shared. Russ knows that. I know that. We’re very clear about it. That’s why it was really obvious that we just had to sit back and kind of let the media take its course with the topic. So we did. So we’re in good shape and both very clear about that." 

According to Spotrac, Wilson is signed through 2023, meaning he theoretically could put the Seahawks in an uncomfortable and difficult position if he publicly requests a trade next offseason. Perhaps the seven-time Pro Bowler merely used the past couple of months as a test run for next March.