Are Seahawks ready to be Super Bowl contenders again?

It’s been a few years, but are the Seattle Seahawks ready to get back to the Super Bowl with a new cast of characters built around Russell Wilson?

The Malcolm Butler goal-line interception is a play that lives in infamy in the Pacific Northwest.

The Seattle Seahawks were seemingly one yard away from winning back-to-back Super Bowls. Since Butler and the New England Patriots ripped that Lombardi Trophy out of their clutches, the Seahawks have not won an NFC Championship. Players retired and the iconic Legion of Boom secondary dissolved, leaving the quarterback who threw the costly pick behind.

No, it hasn’t been all bad for Russell Wilson since that fateful Sunday. His play has elevated in the seasons since. Wilson is arguably the best quarterback in football not named Patrick Mahomes. Despite roster turnover, Wilson has been the one offensive constant for Pete Carroll’s Seahawks. In his early 30s, is Wilson ready to make Seattle Super Bowl contenders again?

Outside of the 2017 season, Seattle has qualified for the playoffs in every season of Wilson’s career. Even in that campaign, he was a near-NFL MVP candidate who almost dragged the Seahawks at the nadir of their rebuilding stage under Carroll into the playoffs. After winning a road playoff game over the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson can now carry this team to the Super Bowl.

His legacy is already an incredibly strong one. He’s a six-time Pro Bowler and is probably the best quarterback in football that hasn’t been named First-Team All-Pro yet. If Wilson were to hang up the spikes in the next year or so, he’s arguably done enough to earn Canton enshrinement. However, he needs to be the reason Seattle wins another Super Bowl to amplify his greatness.

Losing Doug Baldwin to retirement last year hurt, but Wilson developed a strong connection down the stretch with D.K. Metcalf during his rookie campaign out of Ole Miss. Linebacker Bobby Wagner is the new face of the Seattle defense, so he has that side of the ball covered for Carroll. If Seattle can run the ball as it did before the cluster injuries, it can win the NFC.

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Of course, playing in a tough NFC West division won’t make it easy for the Seahawks. However, not playing in the same conference as the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs only aids Seattle’s quest to get to Tampa Bay for Super Bowl LV next year. The roster is getting close. The Seahawks’ Super Bowl window has opened again.

It’s time for Wilson to make his mark.