Seahawks' Pete Carroll calls Russell Wilson trade rumors 'old news'

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is doing his best to put all Russell Wilson trade rumors to bed. 

Stories emerged after Super Bowl LV that the one-time champion quarterback was so unsettled in Seattle, he could look to force a trade this offseason. The Chicago Bears reportedly made "a very aggressive pursuit" of Wilson before signing former Cincinnati Bengals starter Andy Dalton, but Carroll explained during Friday's "The Rich Eisen Show" that Wilson was never going anywhere. 

"It seems like really old news to talk about this because it's been such a long time," Carroll said, per Nick Shook of the NFL's website. "The little bit he said carried so much air time that it became bigger than life. Throughout the whole process, Russell, we've always been connected, we've always been talking, we've never not been in communication, and we weren't at all in this time either. A couple things that came out got magnified and the questions came out, and there was a couple things, he was frustrated when he was talking, just like any of us can sometimes emphasize something that's on the top of our mind, and it can be played differently than it really played itself out.

"We've had a really good offseason of working, and there was an ongoing media discussion that I did not take part in, John (Schneider) and I did not, we refused to be party to that, and Russ did what he could once he saw it happening, to stay as quiet as he could because it was going to play and have a life of its own anyway. What it amounted to was I think a refocusing, making sure that we were on the same page, making sure that we were clear so that we could withstand any of the scrutiny that would come towards us, and we did that." 

Ahead of this year's draft, Carroll directly stated: "We weren’t trading Russell." Meanwhile, general manager John Schneider told reporters he "never actively negotiated" with any team about potentially trading his QB1. 

Wilson is signed through 2023, and only time will tell if everyone will remain on the same page through next March.