Veteran LB K.J. Wright to retire if Seahawks don't sign him

Veteran linebacker K.J. Wright first entered the NFL when the Seattle Seahawks selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft, and he went on to spend a decade with that organization. Wright earned the only Super Bowl ring and Pro Bowl nod of his career with Seattle, but the two sides parted ways after the 2020 season. 

The 32-year-old wasn't ready to call time on his career last fall, and he ultimately put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. As Gregg Bell noted for the News Tribune, Wright let it be known during a recent appearance on SiriusXM's "I Am Athlete Tonight" that he's ready to ride off into the sunset of retirement if the Seahawks don't want him on their roster for the upcoming campaign. 

"I mean, I love ball, but I’m not willing to pick up and leave my family like I did last year," Wright explained. "Because my family had to stay back. They didn’t come with me to Vegas. I’m not doing that again.

"And so I think it’s pretty well known where I stand at, how I want to end my career, going into my 12th season. If it’s not in Seattle, then I’ll be all good." 

Wright, who turns 33 next month, added that retiring wouldn't be an easy decision, but it's a call he's willing to make.

"It’ll hurt. I know that walking away from the game will be, you know, that that’s hard to do," he said. "But they (the Seahawks) know where I stand. They know where I stand.

"But I love my family more than I love football. So I’m not willing to just up and go to a team mid-season for five months. I got three kids and I love them way more than just up and leaving them to play some ball. So we’ll see. Seattle knows my heart. It only makes sense for me to go back. And so we’ll see what they end up doing." 

Bell reports that Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is more likely to consider Wright "as a consultant or possibly a coach than as a player" at this stage. Bell also wrote that Wright doesn't yet wish to become a full-time coach because such a commitment would take him away from his young children for too much of the year. 

Wright generated headlines when he said during the conversation he thinks the Seahawks should start Geno Smith at quarterback over 2019 second-round pick Drew Lock and Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns should Seattle trade for the former No. 1 overall pick.