Seattle tried to trade Russell Wilson and draft Josh Allen in 2018?

[JohnNord]

Ever since Josh appeared on the podcast last Spring I’ve been listening to 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt.  
 

He had on Dan Patrick in his recent episode who talked about breaking news.  
 

Patrick claimed that he had on good authority that Seattle tried to trade Russell Wilson to Chicago because they wanted to draft Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft.  He said he didn’t break the news because he went with the info that Baker Mayfield was going to be the #1 pick.

 

This is interesting and I trust DP but I don’t know…on one hand, Chicago had the #8 pick that year.  The Bills did want to trade up for Allen, initially higher than 7, so there must have been some competition.  There were also Russ to Chicago rumors this past Spring as well.  
 

On the other hand, Trubisky was coming off of his best season with Chicago.  They surely couldn’t have invited turning the page already after trading up for him the season before?

It’s an scenario that I’m not 100% sure if but it really would be interesting if too, and also show that there was more competition to trade up for Josh behind-the-scenes.

 

The topic starts are 64:00

 

[eball]

There are lots of stories popping up, NOW, about how much interest there was in Josh Allen THEN. 
 

Color me skeptical. Lots of GMs and scouts trying to save face. 

[JohnNord]

Just now, eball said:

There are lots of stories popping up, NOW, about how much interest there was in Josh Allen THEN. 
 

Color me skeptical. Lots of GMs and scouts trying to save face. 

You might be right.  Ironically last year Tim Graham interviewed Buddy Nix who told him “we were THIS close to drafting Russell Wilson,” even though he doesn’t seem like the traditional type of QB Buddy coveted.  

[RobbRiddick]

Who knows? I like that it could be true because, from a childish point of view, it's nice to have things other people covet. I was reading a Giants forum recently and there was a topic about Josh Allen, just lots of Giant fans lamenting how they didn't take Allen and instead went for Barkley.

 

It's just something I really enjoy. We had all those years with guys like Losman and Manuel and Rob Johnson, guys the rest of the league would laugh at. Having a guy so many fans of other teams wish they had is just great

[djp14150]

13 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

Ever since Josh appeared on the podcast last Spring I’ve been listening to 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt.  
 

He had on Dan Patrick in his recent episode who talked about breaking news.  
 

Patrick claimed that he had on good authority that Seattle tried to trade Russell Wilson to Chicago because they wanted to draft Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft.  He said he didn’t break the news because he went with the info that Baker Mayfield was going to be the #1 pick.

 

This is interesting and I trust DP but I don’t know…on one hand, Chicago had the #8 pick that year.  The Bills did want to trade up for Allen, initially higher than 7, so there must have been some competition.  There were also Russ to Chicago rumors this past Spring as well.  
 

On the other hand, Trubisky was coming off of his best season with Chicago.  They surely couldn’t have invited turning the page already after trading up for him the season before?

It’s an scenario that I’m not 100% sure if but it really would be interesting if too, and also show that there was more competition to trade up for Josh behind-the-scenes.

 

The topic starts are 64:00

 

 

don’t buy it.  Not at all.

 

Trubisky was drafted the prior year.  Why does chicago acquire a vet QB ?

 

I could see Seattle considering a move of trading up and then moving Wilson after that season.

 

Allen split the scouts. I’m sure every team had sone that loved him and others were hell no …on the same team.

 

 

[BillsfaninSB]

I bet there are so many proposed trades and moves floated out there every year that we don’t know even a tenth of it.

 

For all we know Beane may have even considered trading Josh after the 2018 season.   I’m sure many of us would gladly have taken a very good QB and some draft picks back then. 

[Big Turk]

26 minutes ago, eball said:

There are lots of stories popping up, NOW, about how much interest there was in Josh Allen THEN. 
 

Color me skeptical. Lots of GMs and scouts trying to save face. 

 

I remember hearing on draft day that Arizona was heartbroken when the Bills took Allen...they got "the other Josh" who idiotically I was hoping we would draft haha

[Albany,n.y.]

23 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

You might be right.  Ironically last year Tim Graham interviewed Buddy Nix who told him “we were THIS close to drafting Russell Wilson,” even though he doesn’t seem like the traditional type of QB Buddy coveted.  

They were so close that they traded up for T.J. Graham instead.

[Joe Mama]

7 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

They were so close that they traded up for T.J. Graham instead.

They traded up one spot to "steal" Graham, I had forgotten about the Buddy Nix clown show.

[Mike in Horseheads]

I was going to marry this great looking cheerleader in HS but it didn't work out. She hated me

[Buddo]

I'm pretty certain Nix did want to draft Wilson. I've seen enough stuff about it over the years to believe it.

 

What they didn't know, or think, was that anyone else was going to take him that soon - they thought he was still going to be around for their next pick.

 

I can't remember exactly, I think it was the previous year, but they were also interested in Cousins, and intended to take him if he was there at their pick, but the Redskins completely fooled everyone by taking him, after already taking RG3.

 

Some of this came out at the time, iirc, but was clarified after they took EJ, where Nix stated that they needed to trade back up, because QBs were being taken a lot earlier than they used to be, and they were worried he wouldn't be there. He may have even referenced both Wilson and Cousins at that time, as guys who went a lot earlier than they thought they would.

 

Teams will try and wait things out, if they believe 'their guy' will still be available. It happened with Kyle Williams - Modrak persuaded Marv to wait another round before selecting him.

 

Essentially, Nix was saying that QBs, were being 'overdrafted', and he simply didn't see that writing on the wall soon enough.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

You might be right.  Ironically last year Tim Graham interviewed Buddy Nix who told him “we were THIS close to drafting Russell Wilson,” even though he doesn’t seem like the traditional type of QB Buddy coveted.  

 

I think it’s probably true that Nix was interested in Wilson from comments he made at the time and afterwards.  He just didn’t expect him to go in the 3rd round.  He was willing to take a flier on him in the 4th.  After the draft he said stuff to the effect of, if you want to draft a QB you better draft him the round before you have him, or someone else will”

[Arkady Renko]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think it’s probably true that Nix was interested in Wilson from comments he made at the time and afterwards.  He just didn’t expect him to go in the 3rd round.  He was willing to take a flier on him in the 4th.  After the draft he said stuff to the effect of, if you want to draft a QB you better draft him the round before you have him, or someone else will”

 

And miss out on TJ Graham?  No thanks.  

[Sestak4ever]

I believe it was known that Arizona was trying to move up for Allen. Buffalo beat them to it and Arizona settled for the other Josh.

[Utah John]

I don't buy this.  Seattle convinced themselves years ago that they MUST keep Wilson at all costs.  They ended up (a) gutting their great defense to be able to keep one guy, Wilson; and (b) now having an over-the-hill Wilson and almost nothing else. 

 

In 2018 Seattle was still a strong team overall but they were NOT going to move on from Wilson.  Absolutely not.  Carroll would have quit.  And the idea that they would give up their prized QB who was still playing well to move on to a rookie with a high ceiling but a very low floor, is just nuts.

[benderbender]

Considering the amount of sports pundits that kept asking “Is Josh Allen the answer at QB?” as recently as early last season, it seems highly doubtful that he had more supporters in higher places back in 2018. 

[cisco2403]

1 hour ago, djp14150 said:

 

don’t buy it.  Not at all.

 

Trubisky was drafted the prior year.  Why does chicago acquire a vet QB ?

 

I could see Seattle considering a move of trading up and then moving Wilson after that season.

 

Allen split the scouts. I’m sure every team had sone that loved him and others were hell no …on the same team.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

Ever since Josh appeared on the podcast last Spring I’ve been listening to 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt.  
 

He had on Dan Patrick in his recent episode who talked about breaking news.  
 

Patrick claimed that he had on good authority that Seattle tried to trade Russell Wilson to Chicago because they wanted to draft Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft.  He said he didn’t break the news because he went with the info that Baker Mayfield was going to be the #1 pick.

 

This is interesting and I trust DP but I don’t know…on one hand, Chicago had the #8 pick that year.  The Bills did want to trade up for Allen, initially higher than 7, so there must have been some competition.  There were also Russ to Chicago rumors this past Spring as well.  
 

On the other hand, Trubisky was coming off of his best season with Chicago.  They surely couldn’t have invited turning the page already after trading up for him the season before?

It’s an scenario that I’m not 100% sure if but it really would be interesting if too, and also show that there was more competition to trade up for Josh behind-the-scenes.

 

The topic starts are 64:00

 

I just listened to the clip and Patrick actually says that Seattle was going to trade Wilson to the Browns and take Josh Allen not Chicago. This would make more sense. 

[78thealltimegreat]

42 minutes ago, BillsfaninSB said:

I bet there are so many proposed trades and moves floated out there every year that we don’t know even a tenth of it.

 

For all we know Beane may have even considered trading Josh after the 2018 season.   I’m sure many of us would gladly have taken a very good QB and some draft picks back then. 

This board to this day is still split on Allen even though with 143 yards on Sunday he goes over 10,000 total yards of total offense the last two

seasons 

[Brand J]

Always wondered why we outbid ourselves and gave up TWO second round picks to move up 5 spots when Arizona was on record saying they wouldn’t give up more than one 2nd and was trying to trade their first and a 3rd. Maybe a third team was in the mix, not that much of it matters now.

[TBBills]

I heard the Browns wanted Josh Allen also but goofed and put Baker Mayfied's name also. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by TBBills

[The Jokeman]

29 minutes ago, Utah John said:

I don't buy this.  Seattle convinced themselves years ago that they MUST keep Wilson at all costs.  They ended up (a) gutting their great defense to be able to keep one guy, Wilson; and (b) now having an over-the-hill Wilson and almost nothing else. 

 

In 2018 Seattle was still a strong team overall but they were NOT going to move on from Wilson.  Absolutely not.  Carroll would have quit.  And the idea that they would give up their prized QB who was still playing well to move on to a rookie with a high ceiling but a very low floor, is just nuts.

Unless the thought was keep paying QBs low money and keep the legion of boom together. 

[Milanos Milano]

I bought 2 elephants and I was going to start a circus, but it didn’t work out. 

[WickedGame]

36 minutes ago, IronMaidenBills said:

I bought 2 elephants and I was going to start a circus, but it didn’t work out. 

They probably just need a year of development behind a veteran elephant. 

[thenorthremembers]

If Josh had the 1st two seasons he had here in Seattle after they traded Russ both Carroll and Schneider would be out on their cans.  I call bs.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

2 hours ago, Buddo said:

I'm pretty certain Nix did want to draft Wilson. I've seen enough stuff about it over the years to believe it.

 

What they didn't know, or think, was that anyone else was going to take him that soon - they thought he was still going to be around for their next pick.

 

I can't remember exactly, I think it was the previous year, but they were also interested in Cousins, and intended to take him if he was there at their pick, but the Redskins completely fooled everyone by taking him, after already taking RG3.

 

Some of this came out at the time, iirc, but was clarified after they took EJ, where Nix stated that they needed to trade back up, because QBs were being taken a lot earlier than they used to be, and they were worried he wouldn't be there. He may have even referenced both Wilson and Cousins at that time, as guys who went a lot earlier than they thought they would.

 

Teams will try and wait things out, if they believe 'their guy' will still be available. It happened with Kyle Williams - Modrak persuaded Marv to wait another round before selecting him.

 

Essentially, Nix was saying that QBs, were being 'overdrafted', and he simply didn't see that writing on the wall soon enough.

But instead they traded up for the great TJ Graham, lol. 

[MrSarcasm]

3 hours ago, eball said:

There are lots of stories popping up, NOW, about how much interest there was in Josh Allen THEN. 
 

Color me skeptical. Lots of GMs and scouts trying to save face. 

Yep. Any good PR person would be smart to float a story out there, claiming that their people had tried to get the best player of the draft.

 

The best story is one that can't be disproven.

 

In other news, I hit my max lifting goal today 632 lbs.

 

 

[Milanos Milano]

1 hour ago, WickedGame said:

They probably just need a year of development behind a veteran elephant. 

They didn’t want to work for peanuts. Collective elephant agreement. 

[Thurman#1]

6 hours ago, Joe Mama said:

They traded up one spot to "steal" Graham, I had forgotten about the Buddy Nix clown show.

 

 

Nix was good outside QB and coaches. And he was handicapped with coaches because of the impending ownership change. Nobody wanted that job as Ralph Wilson's health grew worse.

 

They thought they could get Wilson a round later. A bad decision when looked at with hindsight. Hindsight makes everything look easier than it actually is in real time, though. The reason Wilson lasted to #75 is that nobody knew how good he was going to be. It looks obvious now but at the time nobody knew. Every team had multiple shots at him, and he lasted to #75.

 

 

Not sure I buy this rumor about the Seahawks, though. I can imagine it's possible. Equally it could be just talk.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Thurman#1

[mannc]

Just now, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Nix was good outside QB and coaches. 

Fact check: No, he was not.

[Rick 'r Mortis]

[djp14150]

3 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

Always wondered why we outbid ourselves and gave up TWO second round picks to move up 5 spots when Arizona was on record saying they wouldn’t give up more than one 2nd and was trying to trade their first and a 3rd. Maybe a third team was in the mix, not that much of it matters now.

 

Thry wanted buffalos other 1st in the deal because they knew the teams wanted a QB.  When  teams want a QB teams raise prices that go about trade value charts.

 

buffalo wanted to hold that other 1st so they gave up the 2 2nds

1 hour ago, thenorthremembers said:

If Josh had the 1st two seasons he had here in Seattle after they traded Russ both Carroll and Schneider would be out on their cans.  I call bs.

in Seattle Josh would have sat for 1-2 yrs.  they would not have traded Wilson and gone with Allen as a rookie.

 

in any trade up Thry would have had to give up their 1st the following year at least ( they were drafting around 27).  Thry go with a rookie the pick becomes a top 10-12 pick.

[Richard Noggin]

5 hours ago, eball said:

There are lots of stories popping up, NOW, about how much interest there was in Josh Allen THEN. 
 

Color me skeptical. Lots of GMs and scouts trying to save face. 

Lest we forget our own Doug Whaley's self-proclaimed, retroactive draft wisdom.

[Brand J]

1 hour ago, djp14150 said:

 

Thry wanted buffalos other 1st in the deal because they knew the teams wanted a QB.  When  teams want a QB teams raise prices that go about trade value charts.

 

buffalo wanted to hold that other 1st so they gave up the 2 2nds

Yes, I remember. But again, the question is why did they bid against themselves? No other team was giving up more than a single 1st and a 2nd. If I remember correctly the Cardinals second round pick was even after the Bills. Bills could’ve told the Bucs “you get our first and the first of our 2nd round picks, take it or leave it” and started talking to the Bears. Bucs option would then be to select Vita Vea, or take a much lesser offer from the Cardinals, which wouldn’t make sense. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter much because they hit on a QB who has HoF potential, but why give up more than you have to if no other team is willing to beat a more reasonable offer?

[JohnNord]

5 hours ago, cisco2403 said:

 

I just listened to the clip and Patrick actually says that Seattle was going to trade Wilson to the Browns and take Josh Allen not Chicago. This would make more sense. 

Thanks for clarifying.  Probably thinking about the recent trade rumors 

[blacklabel]

22 hours ago, JohnNord said:

You might be right.  Ironically last year Tim Graham interviewed Buddy Nix who told him “we were THIS close to drafting Russell Wilson,” even though he doesn’t seem like the traditional type of QB Buddy coveted.  

I actually do recall that being in the rumor mill around the time of the 2012 draft. Buffalo was one of the teams Russ visited with the most in the lead up to the draft. They talked with him at the senior bowl, at the combine, had him in for an official visit, and attended his pro day. They were definitely interested. I wanted them to draft the guy. I’m just a fan but after watching the game for so long you can get a feel for players who just have it. And seeing his college tape, that was the vibe I got, height be darned or whatever, this dude has poise, presence, accuracy, solid arm, etc. The Bills were rumored to be targeting him in the 4th round, which is where a ton of other teams also had him ranked. Seattle and maybe a couple other teams had him ranked in the third and that’s where they took him. 
 

A few years later they were targeting another QB in the 4th, Dak Prescott, but Dallas took him before Buffalo could use their second 4th round pick on him. Their Plan B in that situation was ol’ Cardale Jones.