Drew Lock, Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks.
Last Tuesday, the city of Seattle and the Seattle Seahawks nation was rocked by the news that the team traded their franchise quarterback to Denver. Russell Wilson and a fourth-round draft pick went to Denver.
In return, the Seahawks got back three players, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, tight end Noah Fant, and quarterback Drew Lock. They also got a haul of good draft picks. Seattle received two first-round draft picks (number nine overall this year and one in 2023), two second-round draft picks (number 40 overall this year and one in 2023), and a fifth-round draft pick.
That’s quite the return for an aging quarterback. Then just as quick as Mike Tyson’s one-two combination, the Seattle Seahawks cut Bobby Wagner. That means the captains and leaders of the offense and defense are both gone. Just for good measure, there are rumors Seattle is shopping Tyler Lockett.
Quoting the great Vince Lombardi, “What the hell is going on out there?” For one, I can tell my colleagues that I’m right. I said if Wilson is traded, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Wagner and Lockett are also no longer members of the Seattle Seahawks.
Getting back to the aftermath of these huge moves, the Seattle Seahawks team needs changed drastically. They can add a quarterback and linebacker to go with their offensive line, defensive line, and cornerback needs.
Seahawks General Manager John Schneider’s grand plan hasn’t totally come into view yet. Seattle just opened up a bunch of cap space and acquired some very valuable draft capital. They can now be a bigger player in both free agency and the upcoming draft than they were at the beginning of March.
Their cap flexibility should make what they’re doing more of a reload and not a rebuild. If Schneider and Pete Carroll can navigate personnel smartly, they can be back in playoff and Super Bowl contention in no time.
Let’s assess all of this and see where the Seattle Seahawks stand.
As a result of the trade, the Seattle Seahawks acquired almost the same number of draft picks as they had in the upcoming draft then they had before it. Most importantly, they now added two more first-round picks. These are the most valuable picks as they are where teams most commonly find elite playmakers.
A majority of mock drafts have the Seattle Seahawks taking a quarterback with their first-round pick. Personally, I don’t think this is a good idea.
This year’s quarterback draft class reminds me of the 2019 class. A quick recap of the notable names in that class: Lock, Dwayne Haskins, Daniel Jones, Ryan Finley, Will Grier, Jarrett Stidham, and Jake Browning. Daniel Jones is the only one who is still a starter, but his days may be numbered.
They have additional cap space to sign a quarterback but this year’s free-agent class also isn’t great. Jameis Winston is arguably the best available, and how big of an upgrade is Winston over Lock or Jacob Eason? This is a debate for another day.
What’s probably best for the Seattle Seahawks is they shore up some of their more significant areas of need. For example, their future left tackle and edge rusher.
This year’s draft class is deep at both of those spots. However, the free agents class for left tackle isn’t very deep. It does have some players who are legit upgrades and younger than former LT Duane Brown. Subsequently, the free-agent class for edge rushers is deep.
The Seattle Seahawks can land a legit impact edge rusher this offseason. So far, they have added Uchenna Nwosu. And shortly after they cut, Carlos Dunlap II and Kerry Hyder Jr.
This fall, Sunday alcohol sales are expected to rise in Seattle. Wait that sounds like it could be a positive if you are a local bar owner. Anyways, the Seattle Seahawks aren’t expected to compete for the playoffs in 2022. It wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about how a full year of Wilson would put the Seahawks back into the playoffs.
Quite frankly, no playoff football is boring. And knowing that there won’t be any playoff football in 2022 for the Seattle Seahawks is even more depressing.
While this trade helped the team get draft picks and cap space, it didn’t fill any positional needs. Shelby Harris is a nice rotational defensive lineman but not a dominant pass rusher.
The Seattle Seahawks could enter this season with a quarterback battle between Lock and Eason. Neither of these guys inspires much hope or optimism. Still, if you look at either guy just right, you can see a path to success. The odds of that happening are very slim, but it is possible.
Finally, while getting Noah Fant to be the starting tight end and arguably the best tight end the Seattle Seahawks have had in the last decade. He still has no one throwing him the ball. So, this will add even more pressure to Shane Waldron to help scheme open both Fant and D.K. Metcalf. Speaking of Metcalf, he might have an even worse season than last year, which will only fuel his haters even more.
In one of the Seattle Seahawks fan groups I’m part of on Facebook, one of the admins posted that the group went from 75.2 thousand members to 27.1 thousand in one hour of the Wilson trade news. 48.1 thousand members left the group in one hour!? That can mean a few things: 1) there are a lot of Russell Wilson fans, or 2) there were a lot of bandwagon fans. It’s most likely some of both.
Regardless, that number is still shocking. However, 12s shouldn’t be jumping ship as the Seattle Seahawks were always going to face a day when Wilson would no longer lead the team.
Some fans said they would have preferred the Seattle Seahawks had received an offensive lineman in return instead of a defensive lineman. That was never going to happen. Denver doesn’t have a surplus of offensive linemen.
Asking the Broncos to give up the number nine overall pick, shrink their available cap space AND give up an O-lineman wasn’t realistic. Overall, I’d say Schneider did a masterful job with these moves.
The loss of Wagner is impactful, but not as much as you might think. According to Pro Football Focus grades, his ability cover has declined over the last three.
Jordyn Brooks showed he could be a tackling machine, like Wagner, and Cody Barton played well in the middle after Wagner was injured in Game 14.
This year’s free-agent linebacker class is strong. Schneider can always add someone from there to plug and play.
It may not appear like it now, but the Seattle Seahawks are in a much better position now than they were. Their future looks good, especially after the 2022 season. 12’s will have to live through it.
Stick with PNWS for more fallout from the Seattle Seahawks’ decision to rebuild.