Staley doesn't anticipate AFC success for Wilson after trade

It's hard to imagine anyone happier over Russell Wilson's departure from the Seahawks than Joe Staley. 

The former 49ers left tackle experienced the fiercest years of the rivalry between Seattle and San Francisco, most of which were negative memories for him. 

After Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, the Seahawks then released All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner. Staley and 49ers fans alike had plenty of reason to celebrate.

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Get 'em out of here! Both of them," Staley said Wednesday on KNBR's Papa & Lund. 

"We don't need Russell Wilson in the NFC West anymore, he can take his talents to the AFC -- I don't think he's going to do that great, honestly."

After losing both Wilson and Wagner, two leaders on each side of the ball for Seattle, Staley views the latter as the bigger loss. 

"And then Bobby Wagner," Staley said. "Gosh, that is a bigger loss, I think, for the Seattle Seahawks than the quarterback. They've lost both their quarterbacks on both sides of the ball in one day. Unbelievable. What the heck are they doing up there in Seattle?"

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When asked to expand on his belief that Wilson won't have much success with the Broncos, Staley revealed that he's never truly been a firm believer in the Seahawks quarterback being one of the NFL's best at the position. 

"No, I don't," Staley said. "I'm not a huge Russell Wilson believer. There's a lot of people who put him up in the top echelon of quarterbacks in the NFL in the last decade. But I think a lot of the success, even if you go back to the years they were dominating us, it was more of that defense. They were able to play a slower-paced game and take those shots downfield. But you saw once that defense was gone, the Legion of Boom was gone, they started kind of picking away from that pass rush.

"It was more of a run-of-the-mill defense and was more on Russell Wilson's shoulders. Even with all those weapons that he had, you look at D.K. Metcalf, one of the best receivers in the NFL, Tyler Lockett, who I think is better than anybody he has on Denver's roster right now currently ... I don't know if he has the weapons around him to be successful in Denver. And also they don't have draft picks because they had to give all those draft picks up to get him over there. So I don't think he's going to be a huge difference-maker everyone thinks he's going to be."

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Staley himself never faced off against Wilson, but certainly had a great view from the sidelines. 

Always a thorn in the side of San Francisco's defense, Wilson and the Seahawks' offense tormented the 49ers for over a decade. 

Now, Wilson will be a headache for AFC West teams ... or will he? 

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