Bobby Wagner says Seahawks didn’t inform him he was being released before news broke

It wasn’t a surprise that the Seattle Seahawks released future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner. Seattle saved over $16 million in salary cap space by parting ways with the iconic middle linebacker, and there was always the distinct possibility he wouldn’t be part of the team’s 2022 plans.

But three days after it was first revealed by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Seattle intended to release Wagner, and two days after the team made it official, Wagner tweeted that the Seahawks didn’t even communicate with him that he was going to be let go before the story got out.

Leaks happen all the time in the sports world thanks to insiders having close contacts within the organization. Athletes finding out they’ve been traded or let go through social media is increasingly commonplace. That doesn’t make it right, but that’s just the reality of the business.

All of this stings more when you consider Wagner’s place among all-time great Seahawks players. The way this was handled looks on the surface to be very disrespectful and anything but classy for such a classy player. Schefter’s leak presumably must have come within the front office because it sure as hell couldn’t have leaked from Bobby’s non-existent agent. The best case scenario out of this is just bad communication and not something more cruel.

And through all of this in the bigger picture, it’s hard to ignore the consistent pattern of great Seahawks players departing this organization not necessarily leaving in the cleanest of manners.