Carlos Dunlap spoke with Russell Wilson before re-signing with Seahawks, says Russ is ‘here to stay’

In addition to being a welcome re-signing for Seahawks fans, Carlos Dunlap is also helping to squash any residual doubt that Russell Wilson will be in Seattle for 2021. According to Omar Ruiz of the NFL Network, Wilson informed Dunlap that he would, in fact, be staying with the team for the upcoming season.

Joe Fann at NBC Sports expanded on this, detailing how Carlos Dunlap reached out to Wilson before signing his new two-year deal with the Hawks. According to Fann, Carlos Dunlap had this to say about the exchange:

“I did ask him if he’s going to be with us, because if I’m coming back, I’m coming back because I see him as my quarterback. And the rest of the team, I want to pick up where we left off. He told me that he’s with us, and he’s here to stay. He said, ‘Go Hawks.’ I’m not going to quote his every word. These words are not his words verbatim, but this is my explanation of how I interpreted what he said.”

The feeling seems to be mutual. When Seattle announced the re-signing, Russell Wilson was quick to tweet his excitement on the matter.

This kind of camaraderie and respect among teammates is great to see, especially this year. The offseason started out a bit turbulent, but has steadily looked better and better as the front office has made some moves to retain and/or restructure key contributors, while also making their usual efforts to find valuable new additions after the first wave of free agency. Hopefully, this Dunlap news will put the Wilson trade rumors to rest at least for a little bit longer, and the football world can shift its focus to other quarterback drama around the league, like whether or not Aaron Rodgers can juggle his football career with his new found desire to host Jeopardy full-time.