Seahawks' front-office power structure behind Russell Wilson's unhappiness?

One of the reasons for the trade rumors swirling around Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson — and perhaps the primary reason — is the signal-caller's relationship with head coach Pete Carroll, which appears to be strained. Apparently, his relationship with Carroll’s sons hasn’t been much better.

According to a The Athletic, Wilson believes Carroll and his sons, Nolan and Brennan, "answer to no one." (Nolan serves as the team’s WRs coach, and Brennan had been working as the run game coordinator before accepting a position at the University of Arizona.) And, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, there is "no owner involvement," and Wilson is 100 percent correct. 

Former owner Paul Allen “stayed deep in the background” when he was alive, and his sister, Jody Allen, has largely done the same since she inherited the team. Some league sources believe the Seahawks are essentially run by the Allens’ parent company, Vulcan Inc., which in turn defers to the head coach as the club’s de facto CEO. So while Jody Allen could intervene in light of the Wilson trade rumblings, her track record suggests that she will not do so, and that Carroll will ultimately be the one to decide whether to deal Wilson.

While Wilson himself has said he does not expect to be dealt, Florio believes the 32-year-old will ultimately request a trade either this year or next. If QB and HC do not mend fences soon, it’s easy to envision such a scenario.

Now for more from the Emerald City:

• Unlike Florio, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com does not believe Wilson will be traded. One of the reasons for that is the fact that — as our Sam Robinson wrote several days ago in the piece linked above — a trade will leave $39M in dead money on the Seahawks’ cap. While a post-June 1 trade will allow the team to spread out that hit and actually create $19M in 2021 space, Seattle is lacking a first-rounder and third-rounder this season, so a Wilson trade might be more beneficial if it happened prior to this year’s draft and not after June 1.
• Still, Henderson believes the ‘Hawks will make a trade that both sheds some salary — the team has less than $8M of cap space relative to the $180M floor — and adds some much-needed draft capital. There is no indication as of yet that Seattle will look to trade players like Carlos Dunlap, Bobby Wagner or Jamal Adams, but Henderson could see it happening.
• As of now, though, Henderson predicts that the club will cut Dunlap and look to re-sign him to a less expensive contract — the former Bengal is due to carry a $14.1M cap hit in 2021 — while restructuring the contract of franchise icon Wagner and extending 2020 trade acquisition Adams.
• Proven performance escalators for several 2018 draftees have played a role in Seattle’s cap crunch. Since he earned a Pro Bowl nod in his rookie season, punter Michael Dickson has a $3.384M salary for 2021 — the amount of the second-round RFA tender — while cornerback Tre Flowers is due to earn $2.183M since he met the snap count requirement for the Level One PPE, via Henderson. If you need a refresher, OverTheCap.com offers a comprehensive explanation of PPEs.
• Presently, the Seahawks’ highest draft choice is their second-rounder (No. 56 overall). Given the state of the club’s offensive line, and Wilson’s recent comments in that regard, most mocks have Seattle selecting an OL with that pick, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times observes. Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis and Tennessee guard Trey Smith would be worthy Day 2 selections.