Here we are, over a week after the Seattle Seahawks won a sloppy Monday Night Football against a tough Houston Texans team, and still they have yet to make any trade. I won’t lie. I am pretty surprised that they haven’t, and I might even say that I’m a little bit annoyed.

The bye week felt like the optimal time to tweak the roster a bit with an addition (or two), and have those players ready to practice before flying to DC for a Sunday Night Football match against the struggling yet formidable Washington Commanders. Guess I misread the tea leaves on what Seattle would be doing this past week.

They could still make a trade, of course. The trade deadline is exactly one week away from today. I just felt like this past week would have been more ideal in getting a newly acquired player out here and settled into practicing.

There is also the possibility that Seattle sees things differently with players they already have, and believe that they have all the pieces necessary to compete for the division title. After all, they currently rest tied for first place in the division, and will have three of their top defenders returning to their already top shelf defense. They will also have impressive rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts returning to their offense to help put a little extra mustard in their run game with possibly second year guard Christian Haynes returning from IR to practice at right guard behind the somewhat struggling Anthony Bradford.

The return of Ouzts will definitely get any diehard Seattle Seahawk fan’s excitement level up some, but the idea of Haynes mixing in with Bradford probably isn’t going to get even the most optimistic fan’s juices flowing. When thinking about trade scenarios in regards to the Seahawks, most fans will probably point to right guard with all the Tik Tok videos gone viral ripping on Bradford, and the fact that Haynes was never able to beat him out last Summer during training camp, in the first place.

The problem is, however, that bad interior offensive line play is a league wide epidemic. The 49ers, for example, have a horrendous offensive line situation that they surviving despite of, and the list is long filled with other teams behind them in a similar boat. In my opinion, a bad team is less likely to part with a decent offensive lineman because that player will be seen as a building block for next season.

Even Wyatt Teller, the 30 year old pro bowl guard for the Browns who is set to be a free agent this offseason, could be hard to pry out Cleveland. The common fan might assume that he wants out of there, and the Browns in a lost season would be sellers, but Kevin Stefanski is a good coach, and the Browns might be well positioned to draft their next quarterback next Spring with how their season is going. In short, Cleveland might be holding onto hope that Teller will be a pending free agent that they can convince to stick around.

As I look around the league at other bad teams, I don’t know if I see another offensive lineman worth trading for who will likely be better than what Seattle already has. Second year guard/center Jackson Powers-Johnson appears to be on the outs with Pete Carroll in Vegas, but if he can’t vibe with ultra positive player friendly Pete, is he going to be a guy who Seattle will take interest in? 35 year old pro bowler Kevin Zeitler might like to get out of Tennessee, but would the Titans want to trade their best offensive lineman in a year where they are trying to develop their star rookie quarterback?

Even Cesar Ruiz with the Saints, a player I have mentioned multiple times as a potential trade target for Seattle (given the familiarity OC Klint Kubiak has with him), feels like a pipe dream trade scenario. He’s young and contracted for multiple years, and NOLA is trying to build a new foundation with their young head coach in place. Trading away a 26 year old right guard who has played decently in the past feels too counterproductive to what they want to do moving forward.

Sticking with the Saints, you could say that Trevor Penning, their former 2022 first round pick who busted out at tackle and has shifted to the left guard role for them, could be a reasonable target. Maybe, but maybe not if NOLA wants to continue taking a good long look at him at guard. Again, poor interior offensive line play is a league wide issue, and teams with young talent are probably more apt to want to see them developed through the trials and tribulations of a season then wanting to trade these guys away for a bag of peanuts and make a bad situation worse.

Think of it this way; Anthony Bradford might be the most suspect player on Seattle’s starting offensive line, but what exists behind him might be way worse. For as bad as some of these selectively edited Tik Tok videos are of him, he has the size and strength to win on initial contact against bigger defensive tackles in the league regularly while run blocking. It is just him climbing to the second level of a defense where things can go comical for an online content creator. If you take away Bradford with this offensive line, and insert Haynes or someone else, there is no guarantee that player wins regularly on initial contact, and therefore, you make a not so great situation worse. Same goes for bad teams trading away offensive lineman.

The hope for every team with a bad offensive line situation is that young players grow together through the course of an NFL season. The hope for NOLA is that Penning and Ruiz develop together in a lost season. The hope in Tennessee is that Cam Ward is protected enough with Zeitler on the line, that he grows as a passer as a rookie. The hope in Vegas is probably that JPJ can be reached by Carroll and Chip Kelly. The hope in Cleveland is probably that they can convince Wyatt Teller to sign an extension next offseason instead of collecting a mid to late round pick for him now.

The hope here in Seattle is probably that Anthony Bradford can settle in more at right guard coming out of the bye week, like it, or not. This doesn’t mean that Seattle won’t try to search for a good veteran guard option on the trade market if a bad team suddenly says uncle in the eleventh hour of the trade deadline. It just means that maybe that type of trade isn’t likely coming, and Seattle has to look at other means to maybe further fortify their team heading into the second half of the season.

If I were in GM John Schneider’s shoes right now, with the trade deadline approaching, I would stay on the offensive side of the ball, and figure out a way to improve my team’s third down success rate which as drastically dropped in the last two games from somewhat respectable to bad. I think perhaps the best way to do that is to give Sam Darnold one more weapon to throw the ball at on obvious passing downs.

With the kind of year that Jaxon Smith Njigba is having, it might sound a bit weird to suggest that Seattle needs more at receiver, but when you look at what is behind JSN, I am not so sure. Cooper Kupp is great in the run game as a perimeter blocker, and he provides a decent option for Darnold to throw at on first and second downs, but on third and long, he lacks separation needed when defenses know Seattle needs to pass. Tory Horton had a promising start to his rookie season, but has quieted down considerably over the past few games, and against the Texans on MNF, Darnold’s connection with him seemed noticeably off. I think Jake Bobo just sorta is what he is, and he will never be a quick separation guy on critical third downs.

It feels more unlikely now that NOLA will trade away Chris Olave, so I am kissing that pipe dream scenario away bye bye for Seattle, but I am wondering if his mate, Rashid Shaheed, could be a viable draft target. Shaheed knows Klint Kubiak’s system, and is a speed demon receiver who I think Seattle could use quite a bit on all three passing downs, if they needed to pass more.

He’s a natural run after catch guy, and he’s a field stretcher. His presence on third downs, with JSN, and Kupp would likely give a defensive coordinator a thing or two to think about. He’s also a great returner and would provide extra special teams value to an already good special teams situation.

Another receiver that I think might be a viable option for Seattle is disgruntled Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers, and I do wonder if a player for player move would be almost inevitable for him. While, personally, I wouldn’t trade away Riq Woolen at this point given the injuries Seattle has endured in their secondary this year, the return of Devon Witherspoon to the defense does open up some possibility of it.

I can imagine Carroll wanting to add Woolen to his defense given their background together. I can imagine Seattle seeing the addition of Meyers as a rental player for the second half of their season being a spark for their obvious passing down offense. I can see Meyers seeing at opportunity to further spark Seattle’s offense as they aim for the playoffs being a better opportunity to cash in as an NFL free agent next Winter than sticking around in Vegas during a wasted season would be for him. I can see a scenario where a third down three receiver set of JSN, Kupp, and Meyers would have an exciting feel for Seahawk fans.

Another benefit of adding Meyers or Shaheed to this offense on second half of the season rental contracts is that either addition wouldn’t necessarily impede Tory Horton’s development as a potential future WR2 to JSN. I’m still a Horton believer, but it is noticeable how quieted down he became in the last two games where he didn’t catch a single pass while being targeted. That’s not good enough, but it is worth noting that in the last two games, Seattle faced two top end defenses.

This leads me to think Seattle doesn’t need to break the bank for a Chris Olave, or a Garrett Wilson, or even a AJ Brown. They just need a veteran who made gets this offense a bit more than a rookie fifth round pick, and maybe in that, adds a bit more of a secure third down passing option for Darnold.

I would be awesome to get a stud offensive lineman, but I am not holding my breath on it. I think that is probably a move for next offseason.

But I do think giving Darnold another viable target on third downs could be the difference between being a playoff contender to being a championship worthy team this year with this defense, and the explosive nature of this offense on first and second downs.

So, let’s do that.

Go Hawks.