We're nearly two weeks into the new NFL year, and one of the league's most reliable defensive players remains unsigned as of Monday morning.
Bobby Wagner, who was released by the Seattle Seahawks on March 9, still lingers on the open market. The veteran linebacker is coming off his eighth consecutive Pro Bowl season, during which he set a new career high for total tackles in a single season.
Wagner's free-agent status, of course, has nothing to do with the 31-year-old's skill level. As Peter King reminded in his latest Football Morning in America column, Wagner's situation is all about financials.
"Rams have legitimate interest, but not at Wagner's price -- he's thought to be asking for about $11 million on a one-year deal," King wrote for NBC Sports. "The 32-year-old linebacker is still playing very well, and he'd be a luxury item for the Super Bowl champs. If he wants to stay in the same division as the team that dropped him, Seattle, Wagner will have to recalibrate his asking price down. He may just find another team -- Baltimore? Dallas? -- with more money available."
Wagner is in a tricky spot. He's not going to have many more opportunities to land a big-money deal, but one has to imagine he's champing at the bit to legitimately compete for a Super Bowl again. The 10-year veteran might not be able to kill both of those birds with one stone, so he's probably going to need to decide in the near future which objective means more.
