NFC Notes: 49ers, Russell Wilson, Seahawks

49ers

• Albert Breer of SI.com reports that there’s a belief in league circles the 49ers will want two second-rounders for QB Jimmy Garoppolo.

Russell Wilson

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said that his relationship with Russell Wilson had nothing to do with sending him to the Broncos and felt Denver’s trade package was too good of an opportunity to pass up. 

“It wasn’t about that. It wasn’t about the relationship, it was about opportunity. I know, Russ may describe it differently, he was open for another chance. To see what could happen, he’d seen a lot of great players and great athletes do a lot of great things by making that move somewhere in their career, whether it was the quarterbacks we know of, what happens in the NBA, baseball guys do it, we’ve just seen that happen and I think it intrigued him and made it available after a long discussion, a lot of time together and all of that. We were eye to eye and both said okay, let’s go down this road and see what happens, knowing that it was still extraordinarily difficult to make a deal happen. It was so hard, because there were three different elements to this as well as all the rest of it to make it come together, so we were going to have to work together if it was going to take shape. All the while, thinking that it might not go. It was really difficult, but I think because we hung in there and had the background and relationship, we were able to make it through it and makes some sense of it and it’s going to benefit Russ going forward and it’s going to benefit our club going forward too,” said Carroll, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. 

Carroll voiced confidence in QB Drew Lock and pointed out that he was 4-1 as a rookie at one and had “terrific” numbers on third downs. 

“If he plays like he did early on, I think you got a shot. If you go back to his first year, when he was balling as a rookie. When he was 4-1. His third down numbers were terrific, taking care of the football really well and all that. It just didn’t, for whatever reason, the coordinator left after that time, times changed for him and he didn’t play to that same level. So exactly what we had evaluated, John’s process that evaluated, he showed. John stayed with it and followed him all the way through his career, we think he’s still that guy,” said Carroll, via Henderson. 

Carroll added that they want their offense to continue with a high-efficient attack and be sure to limit turnovers. 

“What we need in our offense is the same thing we’ve always needed, whether it was Carson Palmer or Russell Wilson, we need a point guard. We need a guy that plays the game and moves the ball around to the guys that are open and does all the things that manage the game so that we can play great football. Because we’re going to win with defense, with how we play special teams, with running the football, to help the whole thing fit together. That’s never changed, it’s never been a philosophy we needed to alter, other than to continue to grow and make it dynamic and present and current and all. That’s what we’re looking for, we need to take care of the football. If the guy can do that, and we can teach him to do that, Russell was famous for it,” said Carroll.

Seahawks

• Seahawks OLB Uchenna Nwosu believes his fit in Seattle is perfect for his playstyle: “The scheme. I feel like the best thing for a player is not always the best amount of money, it’s about the scheme, being able to fit in. and I hear the culture here is really good.” (Bob Condotta)
• Seahawks LB Uchenna Nwosu‘s two-year, $19.055 million deal includes $9.5 million signing bonus, his $1.0535 million salary in 2022 is guaranteed and his $7.5 million in 2023 is non-guaranteed. He can also earn up to $510,000 annual in per-game active roster bonuses and another $500,000 in playing-time incentives. (Aaron Wilson)