The best chin in American football is now a Seahawk (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

A few weeks ago, superstar Seattle Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson volunteered in an interview that he wanted his team to be aggressive this off-season in acquiring ‘superstars.” He mentioned adding to the pass rush (with Jadeveon Clowney) and some to the offense. This was a fairly uncharacteristic volunteer by Russell, as he is more regularly a “stay in you lane” sort of player, but it was also understandable. Seattle played a lot of football in 2019 against arguably stronger rosters and they relied on a lot of Russell magic to sneak out wins. Rarely did a game feel comfortable, and by the end of the season as they headed into the playoffs, even the most optimistic fan probably felt a bit spent.

On Tuesday February 18th, 2020, the Seattle Seahawks reached a one year $7 million deal with 34 year old veteran tight end Greg Olsen that included a $5.5 guaranteed portion. Those $5.5 million in guarantees tell me that they see this addition as more than an aging veteran coming in to be a role player and role model for the younger fellas on the roster. They likely see Olsen as a major piece to the puzzle towards building a Super Bowl contender in 2020.

The one year deal also probably signals that they haven’t given up on the upside of their younger tight ends in Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister, and this is probably even more encouraging than the addition of this crafty veteran. While Seattle is poised to have a big off-season in acquiring veteran talent to help their pass rush and possibly fill a few other positions, the ultimate goal of any franchise to to build a solid foundation off of younger players.

Despite his back to back seasons of being lost to injury, Dissly, in particular looks, to have the talent of being a foundational piece in the future, and Hollister impressed in 2019 when he was thrust into duty as a pass catcher. The addition of Olsen not only buys time for Dissly to properly mend coming back from his achilles injury, it also exposes these two younger talents to one of the most rock solid veteran players in the entire league. From this standpoint, this signing also makes a lot of sense.

As fun as this move is, it does not come without some risk. There is a reason why such a talent found himself available on the market. Olsen has missed 18 games over the past three seasons, for an average of over 5 games a season (on the more positive side of that, though, he only missed two games last year). He will be 35 years old when they start playing live ball this Fall. Will Dissly has yet to prove that he can stay healthy for a full season. It isn’t unfathomable to think that Jacob Hollister could still find himself the starter again at some point in the season.

What Seattle is betting on is that Olsen will stay fairly healthy, and Dissly will eventually come back strong, and that Hollister will take the next step forward. If health is relatively positive at this position, Seattle is going to have a really interesting three headed monster here. All three are solid pass catchers for Russell Wilson.

This is just move number one for adding “stars” to the team. With over $50 million in available cap space, I would look at the bulk of the remaining moves to be improving the pass rush. It could start with retaining Jadeveon Clowney and or Jarran Reed, or it could mean bringing in multiple players from outside via free agency and or trade. It looks like there could be A LOT of options available on the market. It’s going to be fascinating to see how Seattle attacks it.

If they lose Clowney in free agency, would they consider trading for Kansas City’s superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones? These are the type of splash moves I think we could ultimately end up seeing to fulfill Russell’s stated wishes this year.

And I can’t wait for it.

Go Hawks!