He’s back: Seahawks sign back Bobby Wagner to their defense 1 year after cutting him

That keen interest has become a reality.

The Seahawks are signing back Bobby Wagner to their defense 12 months after they released him.

Seattle and its Super Bowl champion and six-time All-Pro linebacker from the 2012 through ‘21 seasons agreed Saturday on a one-year contract worth $7 million.

Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs broke the news on his Twitter account online Saturday afternoon. Diggs has been lobbying for Wagner’s return to Seattle all month, since the Los Angeles Rams released Wagner after his one season playing for them.

“Seahawks fill a huge need in the middle of their defense! Reported by @qdiggs6

“12’s rejoice!!” Diggs posted on Twitter.

Tyler Lockett was another of the Seahawks to post on social media his excitement at Wagner’s return. Many of Seattle’s veterans who have played with Wagner saw his return to the team as the last piece to complete a hugely successful free-agency period for the team this month.

This month, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider acknowledged talking to Wagner about his free agency.

“We have been able to now, so Pete and I were able to talk to him the other day, and we had a great, awesome, frank conversation,” Schneider, the team’s general manager, said two weeks ago during his regular segment with Seattle’s KIRO-AM radio. “So he knows where we are, and we know where he’s at.

“We have so much respect for him personally and professionally, so we were able to talk through some things. And, yeah, we know where it’s going.”

This month at the NFL’s annual scouting combine in Indianapolis, multiple league sources told The News Tribune the Seahawks were keenly interested in signing back Wagner after his year away.

Seattle has major issues with both the starting inside linebackers that replaced Wagner during the 2022 season. Jordyn Brooks recently had surgery to repair an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee from January. He is likely to remain out past the start of next season. Cody Barton’s contract expired. He signed a free-agent contract with Washington this month.

“I love Bobby, you know. He’s meant the world to us and our program and he played particularly well against us (last season, for the Rams),” Carroll said this month at the combine. “So, you know, we’ll see what happens.”

Saturday, it happened.

For Seahawks fans and Wagner’s many friends still on the team, it’s an exciting cap to weeks of splashy signings and upgrades to the defensive front seven Carroll has vowed to improve. Seattle signed 26-year-old defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones to an uncharacteristically rich and early free-agent deal worth $17 million annually. They signed back tackle Jarran Reed, who had 10 1/2 sacks for Seattle a few seasons ago. They signed from Pittsburgh free agent Devin Bush and from the New York Giants safety Jordan Love.

Bush and Wagner are likely to begin the 2023 season as Seattle’s starting inside linebackers in its 3-4 scheme.

Wagner turns 33 in June. He played one season for Los Angeles after Seattle released him 12 months ago. The Seahawks did that to save $16.6 million against the 2022 salary cap on the final year of his non-guaranteed Seattle contract.

As he has for years, Wagner was again representing himself, without an agent.