The chorus of NFL reporters saying a Russell Wilson trade could still come to fruition is getting louder and louder. First, Adam Schefter told the world not to discount a trade coming later this offseason. Then, Jeff Darlington echoed his sentiment. Now, Dianna Russini is saying the same thing.
“The door is still open,” Russini said on ESPN’s “Get Up” Thursday morning. “This isn’t something people are just speculating about. We know. I’ve been talking to enough people who say that the Bears aren’t taking this off the table.
“They don’t have pictures of Andy Dalton stuck all over the wall, and changing the way that building looks, saying he’s the guy. It’s just going to come down to whether or not this deal can come together.”
Interestingly, there’s even more to that Russini report, per Pat McAfee. While we couldn’t find the following quotes ourselves from the videos “Get Up” posted to their various platforms, McAfee provided some cliffs notes on his own show.
“Dianna Russini goes on 'Get Up,' and she’s like, ‘Listen, everything you heard is still real,’” McAfee said. “Russell Wilson’s team, from her sources, on ‘Get Up’ she said, Russell Wilson’s team not happy with what the Seattle Seahawks did this free agency — 75 to 80% of that offensive line that he doesn’t like are coming back. So all these things are still being said. Still wants to be traded.”
But with that comes some bad news for Bears fans hoping to land Wilson.
“He gave permission to his agent to allow four teams to be announced as possible trade locations,” McAfee said. “Dianna Russini said he’s open to other teams as well.”
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As Russini sees it, the main obstacle standing between the Bears and Russell Wilson is that Ryan Pace still needs to help John Schneider find a path to their next franchise quarterback.
“Seattle hasn’t figured out the answer at quarterback if they were to deal Russell,” Russini said. “So until they can figure it out— and I don’t think they’re going to think Andy Dalton’s the answer— they ain’t moving on Russell Wilson until they figure that out.”