We are one week into NFL free agency for the Seattle Seahawks, and oh, what fun it has been, thus far. After the playoff loss in Santa Clara, the mission for this team was clear. Sign back Geno Smith, and then fix the front seven of their defense. So far, so good.

Actually, it’s been pretty damn good. Like, holly smokes good!

Plus, the best part of it is that I don’t think they’re done, and we still have the draft in a little more than a month to which Seattle has the fifth overall pick, and such. Make no mistake about it, the Seahawks are starting to sit pretty once again.

A week before free agency began they agree to a 3 year contract with pro bowl quarterback Geno Smith that is a shockingly team friendly one, and has been hailed across the league as the first true middle class contract given to a second tier starting quarterback. We can all debate just how good Geno Smith is or isn’t (I think he’s pretty good), but one think I think it is really hard to debate, even for the sharpest Geno skeptics, is how good that deal is for Seattle. It’s full of escalation clauses, and outs beyond this year. The fear of Geno regressing and Seattle being stuck with this contract is now nonexistent scenario. Bravo.

But again, that was before the March madness first week of NFL free agency began, what happened this last week is the what I think is the real fun for a lot of folks who follow this team with big passions. As we entered this week, I think most Seahawk fans braced for the reality that John Schneider was going to sit back and wait out all the big spending for initial frenzy of signings. Shockingly, he did not. He embraced an aggressiveness entering the market not felt in Seattle since the early seasons of Paul Allen owning the team.

On Monday, he signed former Denver defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones to a whopping 3 year $51 million contract full of guarantees to which, unlike Geno’s contract, Seattle is pretty locked into it. I have already written a piece on the Jones’ deal and what it all likely means for the club, but in a quick recap, I’m happy to break it down into a nutshell.

Dre’Mont Jones is going to be a significant piece to Seattle’s interior pass rush. Like Michael Bennett in past years, he will probably move around like a chess piece, playing some big end in base defense, and a lot of 3 technique DT on obvious pass downs. In football terms, he’s a gap penetrator, and he will attack with elite quickness and agility. To me, this signing signals a strong likelihood that Seattle will be returning to the more aggressive bear front again in their base defense, and that is exciting.

Seattle wasn’t done on the market, however, and on the very next day they brought back a familiar face to the defensive front in defensive tackle Jarran Reed, and that brought an immediate smile to my face. The signing was met with a little mixed reactions from fans, but I have always liked J Reed. I think he brings a nastiness a defensive front that Seattle was lacking in since he left in 2021.

J Reed is willing to do a lot of dirty work with guards and centers and tackles, can bring a violent tackling style to running backs, and has been a capable inside pass rusher in the past. Like Jones, I suspect that his signing suggests that Seattle will return to a more aggressive front, but we will see. Either way, a 2 year $10 million contract suggests that he is returning to become significant piece of the pie, and not a mere role player, and I like it.

Within the next following days, Seattle also agreed to one year contracts with former Lion center/guard Evan Brown, and former Steeler linebacker Devin Bush. Both players are only 26 years old, so there’s run to feel like there’s the potential of good upside left in their games, but the short term contracts also suggest that they are likely hedges for players they like in this draft class. That said, Brown has earned high markets as a pass blocker (especially at center), and Bush is a ultra speedy linebacker who was former top ten pick.

The addition of Bush, to me, shows that they want to add more speed to the front seven with guys who can cover the flats quickly and get on tight ends and ball carriers right away. I look at this as yet another signal to what Seattle is hoping to become on defense.

I would look at Washington State linebacker Daiyan Henley as a guy Seattle likely covets in this draft who Bush might be a hedge for. Henley is a pure cover LB who’s game is built on speed and understanding of routes due to his college conversion from wide receiver, but we will get more into draft conversations over the next few weeks.

For the purpose of this piece, let us continue with the splashy splash splashiness of Seattle Seahawk 2023 NFL free agency. After the Evan Brown, and Devin Bush signings, on Friday last week, Seattle did something a bit surprising and maybe even shocking. Seattle signed former Giant safety Julian Love to a handsome 2 year $12 million contract. Seattle was already fairly loaded up at safety with Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams, and Ryan Neal, who when healthy, I think we would all say are three pretty good players.

Love’s signing brought immediate intrigue into what Seattle’s designs are. Many speculated that Adams could become a cap casualty cutting in the near future. Some reports have sorta squashed that as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times noted on Twitter that his understanding of the signing is that Love serves as insurance of Adams being ready at the start of the season coming off of his quad surgery, and when returning, Adams will play a more expanded linebacker roll with the team.

This scans to me. Adams was already in a hybrid safety/linebacker roll with this team in past years, and maybe they envision him being more exclusively a nickel weak side LB along with Bush or whoever they draft. They could also move Love into the nickel corner role and allow Coby Bryant to work exclusively as an outside corner like he was all throughout college.

At any rate, Julian Love was not brought in as a hedge for any player in this draft. He was a really good starting strong safety for the Giants last year, was a tackling machine and made plays in coverage. He’s only 25 years old, too, Whatever this team has up their sleeves in terms of further revamping this defense, they see Love as a big part of it moving forward, and that is interesting stuff.

Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Mixed in with all these interesting moves, the Seattle Seahawks brought back Drew Lock on a handsome one year contract worth $4 million dollars with incentives that could push it to $7 million. A lot of fans were pretty “meh” about this signing, but to me, it clearly shows that Seattle really likes Lock a lot, and they are willing to pay him good NFL backup money to see what is still there with him in year two of being inside Shane Waldron’s system.

This Lock signing could also, of course, be nothing more than an expensive hedge for a quarterback they covet in this draft, but it could also as likely mean that Seattle wants to go another direction with their first few picks, and they very much see a potential scenario of Lock being the quarterback of the future for this team. He’s still quite young, and Seattle has already demonstrated with success, that they approach the quarterback position differently than many other teams in this league. If anything, this signing add more intrigue in what their thinking is at this position, and perhaps that is exactly what they want at this time. Stay tuned..

So what next for the Seahawks?

I don’t think they are done in free agency yet, and that’s exciting. John Schneider went on the air last Thursday on his afternoon show in 710 Seattle Sports, and stated that they are still in conversations with more veteran defensive linemen.

My guess to that is they want to add a veteran edge rusher, if they can, and probably one more DT or nose tackle to back up Al Woods. The draft is supposedly deep with edge defenders and not so hot with DT, so I kinda suspect that there is one more interior D-liner that they want make a play for. I wouldn’t rule out a trade for that guy, either.

I think they are still going to try to bring back Bobby Wagner. If they are returning to more of the aggressiveness of a bear front, Wagz can still be a pretty good blitzing linebacker in that front, and maybe he gives way to Adams (or Bush) in the nickel. However you slice it, Wagner is an invaluable team leader, and to me, the move feels destined, but we will see.

I also think this team wants to add a proven veteran running back to mix in with Ken Walker. Rumor has it that they have made an offer to Leonard Fournette. That would be a great type of back to mix in with K9, and add a bit more physicality to the position. I think this is a spot that they also want to draft at again.

Three things are certain in life; death, taxes, and Pete Carroll wanting a loaded backfield of runners on offense. IMO, Seattle didn’t have that enough last year. I doubt Carroll wants to feel that again in 2023.

How about the rest of the league?

Outside of Seattle, I think the Dolphins and Giants are the other clear big winners in this first week of NFL free agency with the aggressive signings and trades they made. Seattle, the Giants, and Miami were all surprising teams in 2022 that fought their way into the playoffs as wildcard teams, and are all now making aggressive moves to challenge for their divisions this Fall.

For the Giants, I love that they traded little for former Raider tight end Darren Waller, and were aggressive adding and bringing back receivers. They are trying to build around Daniel Jones, and giving him a big lightening fast tight end is a fun idea.

For the Dolphins, I love the trade for Jalen Ramsey and the fact that they gave away peanuts to the Rams for him. He’s declining a bit as a cover corner, but is still pretty talented and will be playing for Vic Fangio. He will know that defense they are trying to run down there, and he will be playing across another really good corner. I love that the Dolphins are signing back their top running backs, and are going to keep players who play well in their system run by mastermind Mike McDaniel. They also brought in good young linebackers in David Long and Malik Reed.

Mark my words, the Dolphins are not going to make it easy for the Buffalo Bills in 2023. As it stands now, they are my team who I think are most likely to be what the Eagles were last year in coming out of nowhere and taking the league by surprise. I’m weirdly sorta there for it, too. Sure, the owner is a dick, but the coach is so damn likable. I’m intrigued.

Speaking of the AFC East Division, it amuses me to no end how ridiculous the Aaron Rodgers to the NY Jets saga has become. What a stupid train wreck!

The doofus goes into a darkness retreat run by a bunch of Oregon Country Fair folk for a week, and comes out ready to be convinced to become a NY Jet, has them sign a bunch of his former Green Bay buddies, and then Green Bay decides they want more than the NY offer. Brilliant!

Folks, the smug one isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, and it is playing out in real time. The Green Bay Packers hold all the leverage in this. The Jets, as a stupidly run organization would do, showed their whole hand when they hired his bestie to run their offense, balked at signing Derek Carr when he was available in favor of a trade for Rodgers, and then starting bringing in former Packers per his suggestion.

Word has it that league sources believe that a trade for Rodgers is worth a second round pick plus a conditional seconder rounder if he decides he’s going to stick around and not retire next year. The Packers reportedly now want a first round pick and change. They know they have the jets by the short hairs with the Jets owner being desperate for Rodgers.

A huge part of me wants nothing more than this saga conclude with a massive impasse that involves no trade happening, and Rodgers deciding to sit out the first eight games of the season before he has to report to the Pack in order to collect his 2023 earnings. This would be a fitting conclusion to his legacy in Green Bay and who I kinda have always thought this dude is.. a total asshole.

As for the Jets in this scenario, gee, I don’t know. Maybe stick with the young quarterback you drafted and figure out how to finally develop one instead of constantly kicking these dues to the curb for another after a few seasons in their young careers. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Jets screwed over the Seahawks in the Jamal Adams trade, I would almost feel sorry for their fans, but screw ’em! Can’t teach stupid, yo!

In other NFL musings, it’s fun watching the mass player exodus happening with the LA Rams. They went Florida Marlin big chasing a ring by making big move after big move expensive player acquisitions, it paid off, but now they are paying the expensive price. They traded away Jalen Ramsey for pennies on the dollars, can’t afford to keep other key vets, and are without any first round pick yet again this year. As Jesus once famously said, live by the sword, die by the sword. I’m enjoying watching what is happening with this team right now, and I’m wondering why Sean McVay is even sticking around. Maybe they have designs to trade for Lamar Jackson, eventually. That would be a very Rams thing to do.

Staying in the NFC West, the 49ers have terrified me with the Javon Hargrave signing to their already stacked defensive line. Seattle better have plans in this draft to land a really good center and guard combination.

Who the fuck cares what the Cardinals are doing, really. Looks like they are going to trade away their best receiver. They might trade back from the third overall pick for more picks in order to conduct a quick rebuild. If I were a Cardinal fan, sticking with Kyler Murray and building around him would make me very nervous. Ultra moody attitude and injury proneness doesn’t sound like positive traits for the most important position in the game.

I like what the Texans, the Bears, the Panthers, and the Detroit Lions are all doing in free agency and trades. These are all four teams that I’m intrigued to see how their seasons unfold this Fall.

The Raiders remain a shit show that I have no idea what to make out of. Cut Derek Carr in favor of injury prone and significantly less athletic Jimmy G? This is the team I expect to either trade with the Cardinals or Seahawks to move up for a quarterback next month, but I also could see them stay at pick 7 and take a cornerback, or some weird shit like that.

Anyhoo. Fun offseason so far!

Waiting for the Seattle Seahawks to do anything in the initial phases of free agency over the past decade has become a bit of a fun self depreciating joke for fans on Twitter. To make light of the frustration of seeing big name players get gobbled up off the market signing elsewhere, the witty sorts on Seahawks Twitter offer up memes expressing their f’d up emotional states. It’s a bonding experience.

With the exception of 2011, when they were still roster building, the Seahawks MO in free agency has mostly been to wait it out, and not get caught up in big splashy signings. In 2013, when they made the splashy signings of the legendary pass rushing duo of Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett, they waited out the first initial week of signings to see who they could lure in on short term bargains, and the rest was history.

After paying Russell Wilson, however, even these sort of maneuverings became more scarce. The players that they would lure in would generally range from former first round busts who they would try to see if there was any potential left in them (there wasn’t), or older players who could serve as decent role players such as defensive tackle Al Woods. Whichever category a player would fall into, the general consensus with fans would usually comprise of a big fat disappointing “meh.”

Last offseason, however, something shifted in the front office. Days after trading away Wilson, Seattle made a surprise initial signing of promising young edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu who was coming off a rookie contract and career year for the LA Chargers. That signing felt fun on many levels, and smart.

Nwosu was seen as an emerging veteran talent, and a good fit for their new system which would feature more 3-4 in their base defense. This was the type of signing I had been begging for years for this front office to make, and they made a serous financial investment in him, too, which to me, signaled more aggressiveness to build properly with free agency as a tool. Better yet, it paid off as Nwosu proved to be their best pass rusher in 2022.

Enter former Denver Bronco defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones in 2023. This is the free agent signing that I dreamed for Seattle to make, but was bracing for a reality that he would go elsewhere. Like Nwuso last year, Jones is coming off his rookie contract, and a career year. He’s an ascending talent at a position that is very hard to fill in the NFL, and that is a true pass rushing defensive tackle. At 3 years and $51 million dollars, Seattle is making an investment in him, too.

What I think this means moving forward is a few things. I think with Nwuso and Jones, Seattle’s front office is shifting focus towards investing in promising younger veterans much like they did with Avril and Bennett a decade ago. I don’t think it’s any small coincidence that these two players positionally can be compared to Avril and Bennett, as well.

Pete Carroll loves to coach a defense that has explosive guys up front who can disrupt the gaps, and harass the quarterback. I think, in Clint Hurtt’s first season as a Seahawk defensive coordinator, the Seahawks got away from that for the first time under Coach Carroll, and they now want to get back to that.

I don’t think it matters if this means more 4-3 again, or staying with 3-4, or doing the 46 bear front stuff again. With this investment in Dre’Mont Jones, I think we are going to see Seattle be more aggressive up front again, and that is exciting.

Jones is not a big hulking two gab defensive lineman. At 6-3 and 281 pounds, his game is attacking the gaps, and his best attribute to a defense is as an interior pass rusher. In short, he’s a classic pass rushing three technique who can also play the four and five technique spots, as well, a la Michael Bennett.

I think what this means for the Seahawks is very little passive two gapping stuff up front, for the most part. It would be a waste of valuable dollars to ask Jones to be that sort of player. In all likelihood, I think Seattle is probably heading back to the bear front stuff again which they ran mostly out of in 2020 and 2021 (aka 46 defense, aka stick front, aka 5-2-4, aka 3-3-5).

It is a growing trend in the league with defenses nowadays, and it takes me back to some stuff that Coach Carroll said during his last few presses conference of the season. When asked about how to best get his pass rush going again, Carroll said the key was the inside rush, and on another occasion when asked about his defense moving forward, it said that it wasn’t going to be someone else’s scheme, but rather they are going to make it their own scheme.

That last part stood out to me most. Much was made last year about Carroll embracing Vic Fangio’s unique 3-4 defense last year with the hiring of Hurtt and defensive assistant Sean Desai, who are both Fangio disciples. We don’t need to rehash the disaster that followed because we all know how bad this defense instantly became against the run, but during the four game win streak they went on in October and November, Carroll had them switch back to the bear front they had been running in previous seasons. The improvements were immediate, but they weirdly went away from it after their second game against the Cardinals.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a big surprise that Desai is no longer in Seattle. I think Carroll is dumping the Fangio thingy and is getting back to what he knows better. Dre’Mont Jones, to me signals that. Without getting super weighted down in football jargon, I think Jones is a return to the Michael Bennett role in Carroll’s defense. A guy who can play multiple roles in multiple fronts, and a guy who is going to make his hay attacking from inside.

Moving forward, I would love to see Seattle add one more bright young talent inside to play right along with him. I would be stoked if it was former UW Husky Greg Gaines to play the nose tackle spot beside Jones, and essentially become the Brandon Mebane to Jones’s Mike Bennett.

I also want to see them add a linebacker, and a center. It would be fun if it was Bobby Wagner coming back, but I just need a proven productive middle linebacker to fill the void of Cody Barton leaving and Jordyn Brooks coming off his knee injury. I prefer a quality veteran center playing in front of Geno Smith.

If Seattle can make these three additions to go along with Jones, then it really opens up the draft for them next Spring. They could go a few different ways with pick five. They could go quarterback, defensive line, offensive line, or trade back.

If an early run of quarterbacks happen, Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson at five is a reasonable projection for Pete Carroll, and it is probably his dream. A pass rush that includes Anderson, Nwuso, Jones, Gaines, Darrell Taylor, Boye Mafe, and Quinton Jefferson sounds like a lot of fun to be had in Seattle. I would love that fun.

This, I think, would be Pete Carroll’s dream scenario, as well. I’m excited to see how it all plays out.

Go Hawks.

The other day, in celebration of Geno Smith agreeing to a 3 year $105 million dollar contract, I decided to write up an expletive filled response aimed towards those who negatively responded to the deal on Seattle airwaves and social media. It was an impulse I couldn’t resist.

Geno Smith is an extremely unique situation in professional football. The closest other situation he can be compared towards is Rich Gannon of the Oakland Raiders in the early 2000’s. Both quarterbacks toiled through the league as backups after failing as starters early in their careers, but eventually found themselves successful quality QB1s in their thirties. The biggest distinction, however, between Gannon and Smith is that Gannon sustained his success, and Smith has yet to do that.

As the details of his contract are now revealed, what he has essentially signed is a three year contract with the Seahawks full of up front guarantees and escalation clauses. Most of the guarantees are attached to year one of this contract, while the remaining guarantees roll into 2024, but the team has the ability to escape those guarantees if they cut him in February of 2024, if he is not injured. They can completely move on from him in 2025 without financial penalties.

It is also worth noting that this contract has not incentives, but rather escalators. If he betters aspects of his 2022 performance in 2023, his 2024 salary increases. If he does that again in 2024, his 2025 salary increases. In totality of the potential of meeting all of these clauses, Geno Smith can make as much as $105 million in three seasons.

This is an incredibly team friendly deal that he signed with the Seattle Seahawks. I think it is very fair to say that he probably could have found a more player friendly deal on the open market. He wanted to remain in Seattle, though, and was more than comfortable signing this deal. More specifically, he was more than comfortable betting on himself again.

Personally, I think there’s pretty strong reasons why he should feel that comfort. He did really well in year one as a full time starter in Shane Waldron’s system in 2022. There’s no reason for him to believe he won’t do anything but be better in 2023 with all of his main weapons coming back, and a chance for Seattle to further bolster the offensive line in front of him.

He has a full offseason to dig deeper into the playbook with Waldron and to work with new QB coach Greg Olson to clean up some of his issues that led to fumbles and turnover worthy throws later in the season. I would not bet against his devotion to get better in this system.

I also would not assume that this automatically means that the Seattle Seahawks are going to draft a quarterback at the top end of the draft this year. I do think it is pretty likely that they are going to draft the position this year (and next), but I am skeptical as to how much they are into a guy like, say.. Anthony Richardson.. and maybe a few other of these quarterbacks being touted highly.

Seattle is very adept at sending out smokescreens when it comes to players that they are interested in. Last year at this time, they flaunted interest in Ole Miss QB Matt Corral who had certain connections to Pete Carroll. They let Corral slide, and slide, and slide his way down the draft. In 2012, it was Kirk Cousins who was connected to Seattle, and they shockingly chose Russell Wilson over him in the third round.

Seattle might really like a quarterback in this draft, and they have him as a target, but it might not be a guy most are talking about for them right now. I’m not saying this to be a contrarian to the notion of drafting Anthony Richardson (or Will Levis). I’m just saying that this front office is really good at poker, and be prepared to potentially be surprised.

I also think a deeper meaning with this Geno deal is that Seattle isn’t interested in getting stuck with a big time quarterback contract if the player isn’t able to sustain a high level of play. I think they felt burned by the last Russell Wilson extension, and they don’t want to blindly go down that road again.

I doubt that the Seahawks are going to do to Geno what Vegas did to Derek Carr and bench him late in the season just to escape having to pay him in 2024. Sure, if Geno has regressed to the point of warranting a benching, that can easily happen, but that’s a whole other thing. If he competently has this team in games, Carroll is going to roll with him, and not risk a mutiny situation in his locker room by switching to a rookie to get him reps.

This, I think, is the real deal with Geno Smith, and the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle has chosen to bring back a player who the locker room LOVES, and Geno Smith is no dummy. He has probably looked at how this locker room has embraced him, and has studied enough tape on Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, and he knows those dudes are not likely to beat him out of this gig anytime soon. CJ Stroud and Bryce Young probably wouldn’t either.

So for Geno, this contract is nothing more than a comfortable bet on himself again, and for the Seattle Seahawks, this is a great way to bring him back into their program, to protect themselves should things go scud for whatever reason, and to give them an out if a young quarterback is ready to take over for him sooner rather than later. In a nutshell, this is what both sides agreed to, and this is a really great deal for both sides.

Go Hawks!

I am giving you fair warning. I’m about to get a bit ranty through these following passages, but I hope you stick along. If a few F bombs slip out, well, just know that I could give two F bombs whether that offends.

The Seattle Seahawks signed Geno Smith to a three year $105 with $52 Million, and it was absolutely the right fucking thing to do for this franchise moving forward, if you want to see them win football games. He knows this scheme, runs it well, and the players absolutely love him here. Geno Smith is ADORED in the locker room of the Seattle Seahawks, and he’s a leader of this team. Of course he should come back.

“Can Geno Smith win you a Super Bowl?”

Honestly, that has been the single dumbest fucking question constantly to asked on Seattle sports radio airways over the past fucking month, and with this signing, I can only hope it gets asked less, and motherfucking less over time. Yeah, honestly, I hope that can be more laid to rest.

That said, of course he can win a Super Bowl with a good defense, if his 2022 play sustains over the next three years, and there is absolutely no reason why anyone should think that it can’t. I have asked people to list their reasons why he cannot do that, and their answers have come up generally as a bunch pretty lame ass nonsense.

“It’s an intuition I have about him.”

What intuition is that?

“He doesn’t have an it-factor.”

What is your ideal it-factor?

“He’s 32 years old.”

Ah, you’re agist, and you want a rookie starter. Got it.

These are the types of exchanges I have had with folks, and I don’t necessarily mean to make fun of anyone, but I have yet to see a detailed explanation as to how it is impossible for Seattle to win a Super Bowl with Geno Smith as their starting quarterback. Keep Geno and draft heavily on the defense for fuck sakes. Add another key vet like they did with Uchenna Nwuso last year.

Really, though, it’s pointless getting caught up in debates about Geno Smith with folks. I think most Seahawk fans dig the dude (at least in my wide circle), but those who don’t really do not have any single belief in him, even though he put up historic pass numbers last year for the club, and guided this team into the playoffs (a feat to which very, very few thought he would do when the season started).

Sure, these people can point to all the quarterbacks over they years who have had one decent season and then quickly faded away. Cool, I get it. I’m not exactly a Spring chicken to the sport, and I can easily add to their lists of examples.

I can also point to Rich Gannon, and Steve Young who sucked turds as starters when they were young, but had eventual second chances, became late bloomers, and had nice sustained careers in their thirties. I can also point to Jeff Garcia, and Kurt Warner getting late chances. I can even point to the fact that Matt Hasselbeck almost fizzled out of Seattle, was benched for over a year, and only got a second chance because of an injury to Trent Dilfer. Fortunately, for him and Seattle, Matt made the most of his second chance.

People are going to see whatever they want with the uniqueness of this Geno Smith situation. For me, I really dig his potential to remain a quality starter in Seattle for a while.

The truth of the matter is that Geno Smith doesn’t tackle ball carriers, or block for them, he doesn’t sack quarterbacks, or cover tight ends, and he doesn’t catch. Geno Smith quarterbacks in a system that he seems to know pretty well, is pretty accurate in it, and seems like a pretty good fit for how it is supposed to run.

With this signing, Seattle can now focus their off-season on shoring up the defense so that their front seven is formidable over the next three season. Believe me, that is going to now be their MAJOR focus for the rest of this off-season between free agency, possible trades, and the draft.

Coming out of the this recent NFL combine, it appears as though this draft class is deep at edge rusher, cornerbacks, and defensive tackle. All areas on the Seattle’s defense where they need to add more.

If there is an early run on quarterbacks, as it is expected to be, Seattle could be in line to take one of Will Anderson, Jalen Carter (yes, I’m aware of his sketchy reckless driving), and Tyree Wilson (assuming that he’s a freaky athletic tester at his upcoming pro day). Any one of these guys could be an immediate jolt of energy to their front seven, and could become cornerstone players. At pick twenty, they could add an explosive linebacker, or a run stuffing force of nature at defensive tackle like Michigan’s Mazi Smith. They could also go corner to create a dynamic bookend duo with Tariq Woolen.

There is a path moving forward where Seattle does build back a dominant defense again while paying Geno Smith, but here’s another real beauty of signing Geno as they enter this draft; because of the nature of this contract, if there is, in fact, a quarterback that Seattle really loves sitting there at five, they could take him, and not feel any need to throw him into the fire right away.

If they love Anthony Richardson (as reports suggest that they do), and he is there at five, Seattle with Geno Smith is probably the most ideal landing spot for the raw yet tremendously talented quarterback. He can redshirt 2023, and learn how to become a quality NFL quarterback, and they could open up competition in 2024, or 2025.

The full details of his deal won’t be revealed for a few days probably, but my guess is that it is designed to give Seattle a way to move off of the deal in a couples seasons, if they so chose. This is what smart teams do. This is the way to handle the unique situation with Geno Smith. They approach it from the perspective that they love the dude like a quality pro bowl starter, and are willing to go down this road with him, but also keep the possibility of developing a talented young quarterback behind him, if they can.

So let’s be very real about all of this. Geno Smith was never going to make $25 million APY with the season that he just came off of, breaking franchise passing records in his first year as a full time starter for this club, guiding Seattle to the playoffs, getting voted into the pro bowl, and earning an MVP vote (something to which Russell Wilson has NEVER EARNED). The Seahawks were supposed to be an ass team in 2022, perhaps the worst team in the league, and Geno Smith carried them to the playoffs as a top ten performing quarterback in the league. He was due this contract, and if Seattle wasn’t going to pay, another team would have, abso-fucking-lutely.

There is absolutely no middle class at all for starting quarterbacks in this league. Good veteran ones who have made pro bowls and led teams to winning records get PAID A LOT OF MONEY, and guys who are on cheap rookie contracts are working their asses of to eventually get PAID A LOT OF MONEY. If they league was truly interested in setting a middle class up for veterans with lesser talents than Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, they would. Plain and simple.

Geno Smith is being paid the fair market money that he has earned, and the truth of the matter is that football contracts are not baseball contracts, and the initial sticker price is usually not the actual price. Let’s be really clear about that.

So, let’s stop this garbage debate as to whether or not Geno Smith can take this team to a motherfucking Super Bowl. Obviously, Seattle thinks he can, otherwise they would not have made this motherfucking deal, and if people want to point to John Schneider about how well he scouts and assesses quarterbacks in terms of the draft (as many love to point out these days), then perhaps they should trust that John Schneider believes Geno Smith is pretty fucking good in this league.

At the very least, John likely believes that Geno Smith is good enough to lead them to a Super Bowl in this coming three year window should they not find a quarterback that they love enough to take this year, or next. That is ultimately what this deal is.

They know they can win with Geno Smith now. Geno has proven that to them, otherwise, this deal would not have gotten done.

Yes, Geno definitely provides them a three year window to find the next young franchise quarterback on a rookie deal, most likely. Maybe that guy falls to them in this draft this year, maybe it’s next year with Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Junior, or Drake Maye, or some other dude in 2025.

Maybe, also, if you can fathom this idea, Geno just gets better and better over the next few seasons. Then maybe in 2025, they believe he’s too good to move away from, and they sign him to another three year extension.

Did you mind just explode as you read that? God, I kinda hope it did. I can go on.

Maybe, just maaaaaybeeeee we are at the earliest stages of a fucking fantastically glorious era of Seahawk football where they win titles with Geno Smith as their MVP quarterback. That would be pretty cool, and maybe in that, every single year he says that he’s still not writing back to all the dumb asses who continued to talk shit about him, year in and year out, as if he was the same punk 22 year old who threw a bunch of interceptions for the Jets over a decade ago.

Because that’s what I think the real issue is with some people who continue to have hang ups about him. They cannot fathom, in their minds, for one fucking second, that his 2022 season wasn’t anything more than fluky. They cannot fathom that he’s a legitimate franchise quarterback who is here to stay.

“How come he’s been a backup for the past seven seasons if he’s really that good?”

Well, I don’t know. Maybe because the New York Jets are an extremely shitty organization that’s gives up on young quarterbacks too soon, and they kinda fucked him over. Maybe there was a nasty stigma that followed Geno with front offices, and maybe there’s a little inherent fucking racism involved in white cultured front offices with that nasty little stigma. Maybe Seattle, with Pete Carroll who is willing to take chances on players that others aren’t, was the perfect place for him to finally land, and get rooted with.

All, I know is this. I really enjoyed watching Geno Smith quarterback last year for my favorite team. Yes, his first eleven games were better than his last six (MVP worthy, in fact), but I am not in the least worried about his drop off in performance back in December. His offensive line was battered, the defense was wet turds against the run, and there was a struggling run game. I think he gutted through it fine. I see a guy who is a good quarterback who can get better in this system, and a better Geno Smith sounds really, really good to me.

If you doubt that, fine. Doubt away. Be pissed off about this deal.

If you hate this deal, I drink your tears of rage and sadness. Beat chest, cry to the heavens for Pete and John to be fired if you want, but I think this was the right move for the Seattle Seahawks to make on many levels. The players love him, the coaches and front office believes in him, and if they were to pick up a young quarterback with a high pick this year, or next, I think Geno Smith is the perfect quarterback for that dude to learn from.

Geno Smith is a really cool fucking story, and if you cannot get behind that, then I do not think you understand the culture of this team, nor do you really care. Sad. I hope you at least like puppies, though, or kittens.

For me, I think this news is awesome. I’m excited for this off-season, I stoked about this draft, and I’m thrilled that Geno Smith is staying as my quarterback.

Go Hawks.

Another day, another ditty about the pending Seattle Seahawk quarterback situation. Well, why not, right?

Right now, the Seahawks have no quarterback on their roster, and while most signs point to Geno Smith probably signing back with the club, until that happens (or doesn’t), fans, writers, and radio show hosts are going to speculate and debate what the team will, or should do. Like it, or not, this is the top issue on most of the minds of those who follow this team.

While I have firmly been on Team Geno’s Coming Back Y’all, I’m willing to explore the possibility that he isn’t. After all, recent news has added a shade of doubt in the minds of some, so let’s explore that.

One of the bits of news that has added fuel to speculation is that Dave Canales, Seattle’s long time offensive assistant and quarterback coach, got swept away from the PNW to coach the offense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; a team in the Sunshine State to which Geno Smith is from. Doesn’t it seem logical that Geno should want to follow?

Sure! The Bucs have some nice offensive weapons, a pretty good defense, and they are in need of a starting quarterback due to Tom Brady finally hanging it up. It would make perfect sense for Geno to be, at the very least, intrigued.

Here’s the thing, though, the Buccaneers are in ninth ring of salary cap hell because of that massive Tom Brady contract being still on their books. They are going to have to cut players and rework a bunch of salaries just to get out of the negative $50 million hole they are currently boiling in.

Simply put, they cannot afford Geno Smith, and there is now word that they want to eat the costs of Brady’s contract this year in order to have money to spend in 2024. In other words, the Bucs are sailing towards a rebuild.

I believe Canales was hired most likely to try to get the most out of former second round pick Kyle Trask. They are probably hoping that Anthony Richardson somehow falls to their pick at 19, or maybe they got Stanford QB Tanner McKee in their designs later in the draft.

I’ve seen it suggested that maybe Tampa would be willing to part with Vita Vea and a high draft pick for Geno Smith, and that would be a way they could afford Geno’s salary. This is certainly a fun thought for Seahawk fans, but I just don’t see it happening.. at all.

Vea is a rare defensive tackle with the size of two adult humans along with the athleticism to be a true disruptive pass rusher. There is not many beings on this planet outside of a yeti capable of doing what he can do, and he’s young. Why would Tampa part ways with that for a 32 year old quarterback who has had only one really good season of NFL football in his career?

I don’t even see a straight across player for player trade happening here, and I love me some Geno Smith. You don’t successfully construct a rebuild by trading away your best young players for older players. If Tampa is willing to offer Vea straight across for Geno, well then sign me up for that, but it’s not happening. No way. No how. Sorry.

So, I would say that, if any veteran quarterback is heading to Tampa Bay, it’s likely to be Drew Lock, who won’t be expensive, and also has a connection with Canales. They could bring him in, create an open competition between him and Trask, and also see whatever the draft brings. If I were to lay a bet, I would drop cheddar on this being their most likely move.

The other bit of news, of course, is that the Seahawks just replaced Canales with long time NFL QB coach and offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who helped develop Drew Brees, and has also gotten the best out of Jared Goff and Derek Carr in more recent years. It took all about a few moments on Seahawks Twitter after the news broke for folks to speculate what the addition of Olson means.

Are they going to bring in Derek Carr? Draft Will Levis? Just stick with Geno? Ride with Lock? Make a trade?

Hmmmmm.. I think they just stick with Geno, but for the purpose of this piece, let’s suppose that I am waaaaaaay over-reading the love fest between Geno and the team. Let’s say that they appreciate each other, and want to continue down this NFL road together, but they have reached an impasse, and he finds a deal elsewhere greater than Seattle’s offer.

Well, what would Seattle then do? Do they bring back Drew Lock, or draft someone, or add a different veteran to the mix?

Maybe they do do all three, or two of the three. Maybe they shock us and make a splash trade for a big time vet. We will, in earnest, look at all of these, and try to figure out what feels probable if Geno bails.

Let’s shoot for the moon first and work our way back to reason.

Seahawks go big and trade for Lamar Jackson

This is the really, really big exciting scenario, right? Right?????

I mean, come on. Imagine Lamar Jackson doing his Lamar Jackson stuff with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Noah Fant, and K9 all together on this offense.

His contract will prove insanely expensive, and Seattle will have to fork over serious draft capital given his young age and upside. Maybe they tag Geno and ship him to Baltimore in the package to lessen the amount for high draft picks, but right now, envisioning a healthy Lamar in this offense in Seattle is about as tantalizing a thought as it gets in Seahawk football.

The main problem is his health, though, and the style of his play that invites injuries. If Seattle were to make this bold investment in this guy, and tailer their offense around him, they would probably need to develop someone behind him who would offer some similar skillset because this dude is likely going to miss games as a starter, especially if he’s going to do his Lamar things against that 49er defense.

They would also have to surrender the idea of building this defense up with top end talent on the defensive line with the draft picks they would be giving up in order to acquire him. In short, say goodbye to the idea of drafting Jalen Carter, Will Anderson, or Tyree Wilson fifth overall, and because of his massive contract, they aren’t likely to be heavy shoppers in free agency, either.

So what’s my verdict on this scenario?

I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance on a Haitian nudie beach that Seattle trades for Lamar Jackson. He’s going to expect a fully guaranteed contract, and he gets injured.. too much.

I think the only reason why Seattle would entertain this is if owner Jody Allen is pushing for it to make this team more attractive in an eventual sale. However, for all we know, she intends to hang onto this club for another decade (or more) to maximize the price tag in any sale. That could very easily be her aim.

Nope, sorry. As fun as it would be to see Lamar in Seattle, I do not see this happening. I’m happy to eat a bug if I’m wrong.

But in chase you’re not totally convinced that they won’t pull off a trade for another top end quarterback in place of Geno Smith, let’s explore another scenario.

Seahawks trade for Aaron Rodgers

If this goes down, expect half of the Seahawk fan base to vomit in their mouths. While Rodgers is a folk hero to the anti vaxxer crowd, he’s as smug of an egotistical athlete as there is in sports.

He’s the dude who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else in the room, and has no problem with throwing teammates under the bus after a loss. You think Pete Carroll wants that in Seattle with his locker room full of merry men?

Rodgers would cost less in draft capital than Lamar Jackson would, and that’s the big plus. Perhaps, again, Seattle could franchise Geno Smith and package him to Green Bay, and they could hang onto the fifth overall pick.

Admittedly, he would also be a pretty damn good fit for their system, and John Schneider was the guy in Green Bay who reportedly was chiefly behind drafting him. Hate this idea if you will, but there are some compelling reasons why Seattle could try to do this, if the cost is right.

So, what’s my verdict?

There’s not a nudist’s chance in Nome, Alaska that the Seattle Seahawks trade for Aaron Rodgers. After dealing with the challenges of Russell Wilson and his agent, do you really think Pete Carroll wants to then deal with the most moody, high maintenance quarterback in the league? No f’ing way.

Rodgers is not a culture fit for this team, he’s old, and he’s expensive. Not going to happen. Let him go be a Raider.

But I got an idea about another vet Seattle might be willing to trade for.

How about the Seattle Seahawks trading for Justin Fields?

Hmmmm..

If the rumors are true that the Chicago Bears are willing to trade him away because they are more sold on another quarterback, first overall, this gets way more interesting for Seattle than Lamar Jackson or Rodgers, in my view. It feels more possible, anyways.

Fields has undeniable flash on the field as a duo threat quarterback. Right now, I would say he’s more of a runner than thrower, but the same thing was kinda said last year at this time about Jalen Hurts. Interestingly enough, in college, Fields was thought to be more of a thrower than runner. With Greg Olson as the new QB coach, could Seattle unleash his full potential as a thrower?

I don’t know what to make of Fields. I’m also not totally sold he’s as a guy who will blossom into any big time QB, and it’s not just because he’s a former Ohio State dude. Let’s think about this.

If Chicago is willing to deal him, and not take possibly a generational defensive tackle in Jalen Carter, with a defensive minded head coach at the helm, what does that say about Justin Fields as a developing player? Excuse me if I sense a red flag here.

Maybe they believe Bryce Young will be the next Patrick Mahomes, and has traits at the most important position in sports that are too rare to pass up on. This is certainly possible, or maybe after two seasons with Fields, they just sense a ceiling that isn’t likely going to be very high in this league, and they want to correct a mistake made by the previous regime.

That said, maybe with the addition of Greg Olson on their coaching staff, Seattle would be intrigued to take a shot with Fields. After all, their system is supposedly pretty quarterback friendly, and maybe Olson is able to get the most out of him like he had done with Derek Carr and Jared Goff.

Fields would have three years left on a rookie contract (if Seattle were to pick up the fifth year option), and therefore, he would be significantly cheaper than Geno Smith. Essentially, Seattle would have a three year window with him to see if he can be their long term franchise quarterback, and he would come here with some pretty nice offensively weapons around him.

I do not see Seattle willing to deal the fifth overall pick for him, that’s not happening, but the twentieth pick becomes possible. Here’s the thing, though, Washington picks at 16h, the Jets pick at 13, the Titans pick at 11, and Tampa picks at 19. All of these quarterback needy-ish teams could make a better play for Fields than Seattle, if Seattle isn’t willing to surrender pick number 5.

How likely to I think this could possibly happen?

It’s a maybe, but not super duper likely.

So, if no big splashy trade for a veteran quarterback, how about free agency?

This is potentially a more interesting question, and I think there’s going to be a few out there worth exploring. Let’s start with the biggest name first.

Seahawks sign Derek Carr to the multi year deal offered to Geno Smith

Say what you will about Derek Carr, but I kinda like him.. at the right price.

I think he’s a decent starting quarterback who was a dedicated player for a crap organization, and who had to cycle through six different offensive coordinators for nearly a decade. Who knows how he might have blossomed in a more stable situation.

I think he could be a really good scheme fit for Seattle, and a solid culture fit. He’s tall, athletic enough, and he can make every NFL throw with decent enough accuracy. I think he’s a genuinely a really good dude, and I don’t think it would take long for players to embrace him here in Seattle.

Call me crazy, but I see him as a perfect guy for Pete Carroll to put his arms around him, and love him up after being dejected in Vegas. I think it’s likely Carroll could get the most out of him here for a while. I think it’s also very interesting that he had two of his best seasons being coached under Greg Olson.

So what are my feelings on the likelihood of this happening?

It’s an interesting idea. If he is willing to take what Seattle was going to offer Geno Smith, I wouldn’t be upset, to be honest.

In my mind, though, I think Carr’s likely going to have a hot market. I can see most of the NFC South being interested. I could also see Washington being interested, and we already know that the Jets are into him. If Seattle is intrigued, they would have to probably compete with these teams now.

Would Seattle be willing to entertain bring him in while they are negotiating with Geno? Supremely doubtful, in my opinion.

I think Derek Carr only becomes an option if he is still on the market when free agency begins, and Seattle has elected not to use the franchise tag on Geno Smith. I seriously doubt Carr would still be available on the market by then.

But wait a second, how about Jimmy Garoppolo in Seattle?

Well, well, well. An old friend is back. Here we go on the Jimmy G to Seattle train again.

This was a big rumor during training camp last year, right?

There were reports that Seattle had done due diligence on Pretty Boy, and felt like he would be a fit, but then Pretty Boy decided to take a significant pay cut to stay in Santa Clara. My guess is that he probably because he knew Trey Lance would struggle and he would get his starter job back and be able to reset his 2023 market.

I will make this one short. I don’t think Seattle will have interest in Garoppolo this time around. Maybe they did last August when they weren’t totally sure how Geno or Drew Lock were going to sustain the 2022 season, but not likely anymore.

For one, this dude can’t stay healthy enough. However, I think the bigger reason is that frankly, Geno Smith is a superior quarterback with better arm talent and mobility, and he’s proven significantly more durable in his time as a starter.

If anything, what the 49er season proved last year is that their system is so damn good and they got so much talent, that almost any capable quarterback who knows how to run it can have success. Sam Darnold could end up there next year if Brock Purdy isn’t good to go, replace a struggling again Trey Lance, and find himself success.

So what about Sam Darnold in Seattle, then?

Well, this is kind of an interesting one to me, to be honest. I can kinda see Seattle being interested if he’s out on the market, and things have broken apart with Geno and the team.

This is just a hunch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Seattle has always taken at least a bit of a fancy to him. He seems like a Pete Carroll type of quarterback from the old USC days, and there’s an obvious USC connection between the two.

I also think that in this Shane Waldron offense, Darnold has traits that could make him an interesting fit, and like Derek Carr, I think he’s genuinely a good dude who Carroll would probably love to coach up, if he had to do it.

For me, I think the main issue with Sam Darnold isn’t lack of talent, but lack of an ability to stay healthy. Every year, this guy gets injured. I think this has been the biggest hampering factor to his overall development.

At best, I think he’s a guy you bring in along with Drew Lock, and you have both of them compete for the starter spot like Drew and Geno did last year. This is not a super appetizing prospect, but truthfully neither was letting Drew and Geno battle is out last year, and look what happened.

This is a scenario that wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Seattle do if they allow Geno Smith to walk away, frankly. It just feels very.. Seahawky.

But what about Drew Lock who they supposedly were impressed with all season in practices? Can’t he just be the guy moving forward?

Yeah, there’s that. Sure, he could be the guy.

John Schneider apparently dug him coming out of the 2019 draft class. He’s big, athletic, and has the arm talent capable of making pretty NFL passes. Physically, he’s got everything you are looking for in today’s NFL quarterback.

Mentally, though, I think there’s still a lot of questions. He came out of college in an offensive system that was bad at developing quarterbacks for the NFL. In the third preseason game against Dallas, he looked truly awful (although, he was coming off covid), but maybe, as the season went on, he genuinely was showing signs though practices of picking up the Waldron offense, and was impressing.

I’m skeptical about how much, though. Let’s think this through for a moment.

If he was really impressing his coaches like Carroll suggested in the press, that he’s going to do big things in this league when he gets his chance to start again, then why have they been so outwardly determined to say they want Geno back?

I will call this bluff. I think if they truly believed that Drew Lock is ready to take off as a starter, Pete Carroll wouldn’t have been so eager to talk up Geno after the playoff loss to San Francisco. He would have been much more measured. Carroll used that presser to campaign for Geno’s return, you could feel that.

I think the most likely situation between Drew Lock and Seattle is that they like his upside, and they are hoping that he will come back and develop further behind Geno Smith. I think talking up Drew was more likely their recruitment tool for him to return as a developmental player, and that’s how I think they view him.

So, no, I do not think it’s Seattle’s Plan B to just bring back Lock and think they are in good shape if Geno departs. I think Plan B is mostly like Lock and someone else.

Right now, I’m calling this scenario of Drew Lock poised to become Seattle’s new QB1 a definite “yeah, I dunno.. maaaaaaybe.”

So how about this draft then? Why wouldn’t they just draft their next franchise quarterback at fifth overall when they will be in position to do so?

They could do this, certainly. Maybe they really like Will Levis a lot, and just want to see him workout to confirm their belief in his potential.

He’s a big, athletic dude with a strong arm, and he’s played in a system at Kentucky that is similar to Seattle’s. They could see him as the most natural fit out of any quarterback in this class.

Levis also had to gut through a tough SEC conference playing on a team with significantly less talent than others in the that conference, and he completed over sixty percent of his passes last year going against those defenses. It’s possible Seattle sees him as being battle tested enough, along with his natural fit.

Or maybe they really love Anthony Richardson, or it’s CJ Stroud, if he falls (doubtful he does). Yes, this is certainly all very possible, and they just want to see how these guys perform at the NFL scouting combine next week.

Here’s kinda what I think. Regardless of what Seattle does with Geno, they have to look long and hard at these quarterbacks. They also have to look long, and hard at any pass rushers who would be available at five.

They have to study all of these guys, and if they determine that a guy like Levis or Richardson would be a better player than Jalen Carter, or Will Anderson, or Tyree Wilson, then they have to take that guy. They have to do it even if Geno Smith is back.

My question is this. How likely they see these quarterbacks this way?

This isn’t a question meant to dismiss them as QB prospects. There’s processing and accuracy concerns with Levis that sound a lot like what Drew Lock’s issues have been in this league, and there’s accuracy and lack of experience concerns with Richardson. You can look at their big upsides, but you also have to weigh what their floors might be, and on the surface their floors look dicey, to put it mildly, and perhaps too dicey for fifth overall.

If they take one of those guys at five over a premier defensive lineman, and they bust out of the league, while Geno Smith plays pretty good ball elsewhere.. woof. That’s not going to be good for this franchise at all, on any level, if they are hoping to compete for a title in a few short seasons. It will set their designs backwards.

But maybe they feel that with the addition of Greg Olson on the staff coaching quarterbacks, they can feel more secure taking one of these dudes and rolling with him early. That could be a thing.

However, I do think the final thing you also need to ask is how much does a 72 year old defensive minded coach wants to use that fifth overall pick on a quarterback instead of taking a defensive lineman he’s probably pretty excited about? That’s probably the biggest question to ask.

I’m hugely skeptical about this idea. If it was a different coach, either an offensive minded coach, or just a younger one, maybe I would feel differently.

With Carroll, he would have to be convinced that he could win right away by taking rookie QB fifth overall. That’s a big ask, in my view.

At his age, I don’t know how much he is willing to run through the growing pains of a raw rookie passer even if he thinks Olson might be the right QB coach to bring him along. Carroll is only signed through 2025, and therefore, I think there’s a natural push to get this thing going right away for serious contention.

I would say though, if Seattle does love one of these quarterbacks and takes the plunge with him at pick five, that would be pretty damn exciting. There is perhaps nothing more thrilling in professional sports than getting blessed with a young quarterback on a rookie deal, and if Seattle were to take Stroud, or Levis, or Richardson at five, it wouldn’t take long for me to get the excitement juices flowing, even if they brought back Geno Smith.

I’m just skeptical that this is what is going to go down. If anything, I’m more willing to wager that Seattle will walk back Geno either on a multi year deal or the franchise tag, and they will hope that a quarterback needy team like maybe Vegas, or Carolina, or Atlanta comes calling for the fifth overall pick with an offer that they can’t refuse.

Seattle has many areas to improve on this roster whoever the QB is. There’s defensive line, linebacker, guard, and center. Those are probably the big four, but then there’s also third receiver, running back behind K9, and maybe corner opposite of Tariq Woolen. That’s seven potential spots of need on this team to compete in a tough NFC West next year. So, yeah, I can see a trade back (or two) being a very real thing for this club, especially if Jalen Carter and Will Anderson are snatched away before pick five.

So what do I think is the most likely scenario that happens if Seattle doesn’t sign Geno Smith, you ask?

If that occurs, I think the prospect of bringing back Drew Lock becomes the most likely thing. I think they probably add another vet to the mix, but it won’t likely be anyone of great significance. Maybe it’s Sam Darnold and Drew Lock battling it out next August and Lock is given the leg up because of his familiarity with the offense like Geno was last year.

I think, if this happens, it increases the likelihood that Seattle really likes someone in this coming draft, and maybe they are willing to take them with that first pick. The thing of it is, though, if that’s the case, Seattle would have to be careful not to telegraph it too much, and that could be a challenge.

At fifth overall, with only four quarterback thought to have the talent to be worthy of top ten selections, Seattle runs a risk of a team jumping in front of them if Drew Lock and say, Andy Dalton are their only rostered quarterbacks. If they have spent big money in free agency to bolster their offensive and defensive lines, it would also be a pretty big telegraph what their intentions are at five.

While it sounds crazy that a run of quarterbacks happens in the top four, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility. All it would take for that to potentially happen is if Arizona sees two quarterbacks go in front of them, and then for them to sense that Seattle has designs on one or both of the other ones, and they maybe drop back to the Vegas pick. Then maybe Carolina has an urge to jump right in front of Seattle at four.

This is why you don’t ever want to go into any draft being quarterback needy, if you do not have to do it. Ideally, you would want to feel like taking a quarterback high is a luxury pick, kinda like when Green Bay took Rodgers when they still had Brett Farve in his prime.. and John Schneider was in that front office.

This perhaps not only circles back to a need to sign Geno, but it strengthens it. If they love Anthony Richardson and they don’t want anyone sniffing that scent, having Geno Smith on a four year contract is probably strong camouflage. Having Derek Carr probably would be, as well.

Anything less in this free agent market would probably be more of a tell. Injury prone Jimmy G, injury prone Sam Darnold, or Jacoby Brissett, or Baker Mayfield aren’t likely to convince GMs that Seattle isn’t thinking quarterback at some point.

Honestly, though, for every avenue I see Seattle going as an alternative to bringing back Geno Smith, I see a stronger argument for them to bring back Geno Smith, even if they just franchise tag him for 2023 (which I think is likely if they don’t reach a contract with him in the next couple weeks). So, yeah, I think they will probably just bring back Geno Smith, and maybe, just maybe they draft a quarterback either this year, or next year (cough, cough Michael Penix Junior) and they develop that dude behind him.

This is the natural conclusion that I come back towards given all these variables around this team from the head coach, to Geno as a system and culture fit, and where this team is at. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.

And if I am wrong, I am happy to eat a bug.

And yes, if they draft Anthony Richardson, I will probably get pretty damn excited.. because that’s what happens when your team drafts a quarterback high. Everyone starts daydreaming about what can happen for the club next.

If that happens, however, let’s hop Richardson blossoms into something closer to Josh Allen than Jamarcus Russell.. because drafting a quarterback in round one is a genuine crapshoot every single damn year, and that is just another reason to bring Geno back, and make the dude happy.

Go Hawks!

“Can the Seattle Seahawks win a Super Bowl with Geno Smith?”

This seems to be the popular question used these days to debate whether or not the Seattle Seahawks should sign Geno to a long term contract.

Seattle Sports 710 morning talk show host Mike Salk uses this question on callers and guests in support of his belief that Seattle should not pay him a lot of money, but instead, they should add an expensive pass rusher like Vita Vea (via trade) and go with Drew Lock as QB1. If I were a caller or a guest on his show, I would probably counter that Vita Vea and Drew Lock sounds a lot like the Tampa Bay Bucs when they had Jameis Winston and a great defense was wasted because of it, but that’s just my view.

But I’ve seen other people asking this question lately on blogs and social media, as well. For me, I don’t know how useful of a question it is other than to hang onto prior beliefs about Geno Smith, and then perhaps use it as future ammo against Seattle brass, if they fall short of a Super Bowl title with him at quarterback on a bigger contract.

Personally, I prefer to lean towards reality, and realistically right now, I think there is about a ninety percent chance that Geno signs a contract to stay in Seattle. I also believe that contract is probably going to be longer termed, and it’s going to induce sticker shock with some folks. I’m not fighting it, and I’m not sweating it, either.

If Seattle signs Geno Smith to a three or four year contract, I am taking that as a positive sign that they believe that they can win a Super Bowl with him at quarterback, and if we trust John Schneider to properly evaluate a rookie quarterback (as many people love to say he’s pretty good at), then we should probably equally trust him about Geno Smith. Again, this is just my view on it, but don’t let my novice football insight sway you.

Pro Football Focus also believes that Geno’s high level in 2022 wasn’t fluky, and there’s nothing to indicate that his play isn’t sustainable. If we are to use advanced analytics as a measure as to what a player is worth, PFF’s analytics say that Geno is worth a lot and a big four year contract could be in his future. Here are their exact words regarding his production.

“Nothing about what he’s doing is fluky or excessively bolstered by things like play action, an outlier performance in unstable metrics like passing grade against pressure, or any other method you use to try to poke holes in his production this season. Smith’s 79.8 overall grade and 87.6 grade from a clean pocket this season ranked ninth and 12th, respectively.. His 14 passing touchdowns on throws of 20-plus yards were two more than the next-best quarterback, and his 5.6% big-time throw rate ranked fifth.. There’s no current indication we should expect some massive regression, either..We can go on and on, but the fact of the matter is that Smith played like a legitimate top quarterback in the NFL in 2022.”

Okay. Cool kids love to look at analytics to support their views, right?

Well, you are certainly free to disagree with Pro Football Focus, but the entire basis of their business is to break down all the minuscule deets on individual player performances. With quarterbacks, it’s not just about throwing for 300 yard, 3 TDs, and O INTs in a game; it’s also about the player throwing an accurate ball that was dropped, going through progressions, and throwing to the right read on the given play, etc.

PFF is quite fond of Geno Smith as a quarterback. They were fond of him during the 2022 preseason when a lot of fans felt “meh” and pined for Drew Lock, and they stayed fond of him through the regular season, as well.

Essentially, they’re now saying dude is pretty good, and should be paid as such. Pretty good in the current quarterback market is probably greater than $25 million a year. That’s just the facts, Jacks.

Now, you can say “thanks for everything Geno” and wish him well somewhere else. You can hope for Seattle to give Drew Lock a shot and/or draft Will Levis or Anthony Richardson. Your beliefs are yours, and I’m not one to say they’re wrong, or stupid, or whatever. I’m just going to ask this line of questioning as it pertains to these 2023 Seattle Seahawks looking to improve.

What does 72 year old defensive minded head coach Pete Carroll want to do at quarterback right now with his team that just made a surprising playoff run?

Does Pete Carroll want to continue with a guy he knows really well, and knows can play well for him in his system as he adds a few more pieces around him with the high draft picks he has?

Or does he want to bring along a raw highly drafted rookie, or a raw inexpensive veteran like Drew Lock and spend more in free agency with hopes of catching the 49ers?

Call me crazy, but my hunch is that Carroll really wants Geno Smith back. On top of that, I kinda think that at the VMAC, Carroll tends to get whatever he wants more times than not.

And for those who doubt how much Carroll wants Geno back, and think that his 2022 production, while good, is not the end all be all, I suggest you look a little bit farther into what is really, really, REALLY important to Pete Carroll. It’s his culture.

Pete Carroll is many things as a head coach. He’s a master motivator, he’s defensive minded and believes in protecting the ball, taking the ball away, yadada yadada yadada da.. right?

Above all of this, Pete Carroll is a supreme culture builder and maintainer. Geno Smith is a big time Pete Carroll culture guy, make no mistake about it.. BIG TIME.

The locker room LOVES Geno Smith. On top of proving more than capable in the Shane Waldron offense, Geno has demonstrated that there’s no substitute to hard work and endurance in the face of doubters and odds makers. I would not underestimate how much that means to Carroll as he continues to build this program.

For every cheap vet they take a flyer on, or late round rookie they draft, or undrafted rookie they sign, Coach Carroll can now point to Geno Smith and say “look, the whole league gave up on this guy, but I believed in him, and gave him a chance.. and look at him now.”

Do not think for a second that Carroll doesn’t believe that is vitally important to his way of coaching. I am not certain about a lot of things, but I feel pretty certain about this.

So, yeah, as I weigh all this out, I think the very safe bet is that Geno Smith is going to be the Seahawk QB1 for the next few years, or more. This is what my gut tells me, and I believe that not only is his play likely sustainable, I think it’s likely only going to get better. I bet Seattle believes this, as well.

I don’t think they’re too hung up on his age. Yes, he’s 32, but he’s only been a starter in this league for a totality of three seasons. now. Of course, he’s got room to grow as a passer. Why wouldn’t he?

And why should we assume that he’s got only two or three seasons left of quality play? On what basis?

He’s not taken a lot of hits over the years, and judging from the naked eye, he keeps himself in peak conditioning. In fact, at this point, he looks like a much better athlete than the quarterback he replaced here in Seattle.

If we are to give a younger quarterback the benefit of the doubt about growing and getting better as a passer after his first few seasons starting, why wouldn’t we give Geno Smith the same benefit?

My hunch is that Seattle is preparing to give his this benefit of doubt, and I think it’s likely for a three or four year contract. I think Seattle believes that they can win a Super Bowl with him, and frankly, I think they can win a Super Bowl with him, as well.

I think the plan is straight forward. If they cannot reach a deal with him before the start of free agency, they will use the franchise tag on him.

I think they would love to get the deal done before free agency in order to know how much remaining cap dollars they will have available to be shoppers at other positions. If they cannot reach a deal before free agency, that likely hinders what they can do, and I think they would prefer to avoid that.

That may not matter so much in the bigger picture because I think, big picture, the draft haul that they have from Denver is going to truly define their future Super Bowl chances. In short, I think the Seattle plan is to do the inverse of what you would do with a quarterback on the rookie contract; I think they want to pay Geno and build around him mainly through the draft.

The Seahawks have ten picks in this draft class and four picks within the top sixty. They pick 5th overall and 20th in the first round. In round two, they pick 37th and 52nd. They can and might likely will trade back in the first round for more picks with either the 5th or 20th (or both). They could end up with five or six picks in the top sixty.

Seattle’s biggest needs (assuming that Geno will be back) are interior defensive and offensive linemen, and probably off ball linebacker. Low and behold, judging from what has come out of Senior Bowl week, this draft looks potentially very good at defensive tackle with some good interior offensive linemen and linebackers, as well. With two picks in the top twenty of this draft, and four in the top sixty, Seattle has ample flexibility to attack this draft for these needs.

I won’t go through all the scenarios in my mind about what Seattle could do (there’s a lot, actually), but let me throw out one example of what Seattle could do in this draft. I think this is a good one.

Let’s assume that they didn’t make any big splashes in free agency, but got a bit of work done adding to the roster with some value signings. Maybe they added a DT, a running back, a linebacker, and shelled out a bit more cheddar on a decent veteran guard. At five, Seattle selects Texas Tech edge rusher/defensive lineman Tyree Wilson.

At 6-6 276 lbs, Tyree is a guy getting a lot of buzz right now for Seattle at five. If you look at his highlights online, you can see why.

He’s super long with 36 inch arms, he looks crazy explosive, and maybe most importantly for Seattle’s needs, he can line up all over the front seven either in a three point stance (like an end or a tackle) or a two point stance (like a linebacker), and make splash plays against the run and pass. He also has a frame to which he can add more mass over time. He can grow to become a Richard Seymour or Arik Armstead type, or he can stay closer to where he’s at, and be like Michael Bennett. If he is a good combine tester, he’s going to appeal to Pete Carroll greatly, and as they continue flirt between using 3-4 and 4-3 stuff, a versatile explosive dude like him up front could become quite invaluable.

Now say at twenty, Seattle drops back a bit towards the back end of round one. Let’s say the Giants are hot for a receiver and offer Seattle picks 25 and 89. At 25 and 37, Seattle lands Minnesota Center John Michael Schmitz and Wisconsin DT Keeanu Benton, two of the brighter stars that came out of the Senior Bowl week. Seattle gets a talented athletic center who fits their zone blocking scheme, and a DT who is big enough to play nose and yet athletic enough to play three technique and can pass rush at both spots.

Boom. Two significant pieces added to the front seven and a significant piece added to the offensive line. Maybe 2023 will bring some growing pains for all three players, but maybe all three make early impacts like Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, Tariq Woolen and Ken Walker had in 2022.

Either way, with Geno Smith signed for multiple years, a picture can be easily painted for Seattle to make a Super Bowl run, especially if they additionally find bright young talents at picks 52, 83, and 89. Speedy, hard hitting Washington State linebacker Daiyan Henley could be there at 52, and maybe they add a couple quality offensive weapons in round three, or a really good guard or corner.

This is but one scenario worth fantasizing about, and who knows? Maybe Seattle does take a swing on a quarterback at some point who they think can developed into having a bright future as a starter. Illinois QB Tommy DeVito drew praise at East West Shrine Bowl practices for showing the ability to pick things up quickly from coaches and throwing with good anticipation and placement. Perhaps, he’s a guy they low key like and are willing to take a shot on later in the draft.

Regardless, having the quarterback situation taken care of prior to free agency, and definitely before the draft is likely critically important to them. If Seattle believes that they have that position solidified with Geno Smith, I am more than trusting that, and if his contract prevents them from being big free agent spenders, I’m not going to sweat it.

At the end of the day, I would rather see this team built up through this draft, anyways, and if next season we see Tyree Wilson, John Michael Schmitz, Keenu Benton, and Daiyan Henley are all Seahawks along with Geno Smith and what’s also on this roster, well then, bring on the f’ing 49ers. Maybe the Seahawks aren’t Super Bowl winners next year, but I’m going to like their chances a lot greater in 2024 and 2025 with a young roster built up quality talent, and a cagey, mature, well conditioned veteran at quarterback who knows how to get it done within their scheme.

I have to think they’d like the prospects of that, as well. In fact, I think this is the likely plan.

And yes, I believe that they can win a Super Bowl with that.

Go Hawks!

Well, the 2022 Seattle Seahawk season came and went like a flash, and now so have the playoffs. We learned a lot about this team, and a few of these other playoff teams I think, as well.

We learned that John Schneider can still draft really well, and we learned that Geno Smith can quarterback pretty well after all. We also learned that Pete Carroll can still coach up a young team.

Additionally, we learned that year two of Shane Waldron’s offense looked a lot more promising than year one did. Let’s hope that in year two of Clint Hurtt’s defense in 2023 finds the same good step forward because, let’s face it, year one of his D was a hot mess akin to a 26 year old thespian trying to shake their midwest roots in New York City.

We also learned, and maybe most importantly learned, that a surprise team from last year who went 9-8 and snuck into the playoffs interestingly enough had themselves a very aggressive offseason last Spring, and have now earned themselves a Super Bowl trip. Yes, I’m talking about these Philadelphia Eagles, and let them be a model for these Seattle Seahawks, and how to attack their offseason this year.

The Eagles kept with their quarterback who many still had questions about, designed their offensive further around him, added more around him, and then completely loaded up on their defense. Therein lays the blue print for which I think the Seahawks should follow, and here is my wishlist for them as follows.

Extend Geno Smith to a reasonable multi year deal

I want Geno Smith back. I think too many fans are trying to convince themselves that he isn’t very good and that largely has to do with the sticker shock of the quarterback market along the other needs on this team. That’s fair to a point.

For me, I think Geno Smith is proven to be a really good quarterback in this offense, and don’t get me wrong, I completely understand the desire to draft a young quarterback. I just don’t know if that quarterback needs to be taken high (or this year).

I get it that a golden ticket in this league is to get a talented passer on a cheap rookie contract. I just don’t think that Seattle’s roster is built up enough with blue chip players to which a rookie passer is going to find the same success that Russell Wilson did when he was a rookie.

I also don’t frankly know if there is a quarterback in this draft who will truly be better than what they already have with Geno Smith, and I’m the sort who would lean more towards the known commodity over the unproven, especially at this position. Call it fear of the unknown, if you will, but I personally think there’s an advantage to having good insight on the known commodity.

In short, if the Seattle Seahawks want Geno Smith back, I’m taking that as a positive sign that they believe they can win a Super Bowl with him. Why else would they want to sign him back?

Having said that, I also think that the big caveat to this idea is that they want to sign him to a deal that will allow them to spend money at other positions to give him the best possible roster to work with. In other words, I don’t think they want to get sucked into another big inflated quarterback contract that forces them to play musical chairs with the rest of the roster like they’ve done with Russell Wilson over the years.

My gut tells me that means they don’t want to sign Geno to a Dak Prescott type of contract. I think they probably want to sell him on more of a team friendly deal in the spirit of what Jimmy Garoppolo signed a few years back with San Francisco; one that will have multiple years, will offer security for the player, stability to the position, and affordability so the team can acquire and retain other really good players around him.

I don’t know what the market will hold for Geno, if he tests it. I could see a team step up and offer a big contract for sure, but I could also see GMs being nervous about Geno’s situation, given his age, and only having one year of success. Would they offer a guy who will be 33 in October a multi year contract significantly greater than $30 APY and sell their fanbase on him being the guy to lead them to a Super Bowl title after seeing how expensive and older Ryan Tannehill fizzled out in Tennessee and expensive and older Derek Carr fizzled out in Vegas?

I’m not so sure.

There is a real possibility that Geno’s best deal available is in Seattle, and I would be completely comfortable if Seattle signed him to a three or four year contract. I won’t get caught up in the dollars. He said that he wants to return and finish his career here, and Pete Carroll and John Schneider say that they want him back.

I also won’t get too caught up on his age either. I think there’s every bit the chance he’s like the 1993 Ford F-150 that your uncle keeps in his shop and drives three times a year to go fishing and hunting with. He’s older, but his mileage is low, and he’s got good tread on his tires.

Maybe most importantly to all of this, the locker room wants him back, and if Seattle trots out Drew Lock and, say, Will Levis next Fall, there might be a mutiny amongst players, especially if Geno Smith is balling out elsewhere while Lock or Levis is struggling. So, I do very much believe it is in Seattle’s best interest to reach a fair deal with him.

They like him, and he likes them. He knows this offense, runs it well, and he gets what Pete Carroll wants. He likely won’t be a headache moving forward, and can be a great leader moving forward.

What I am really hoping for is that they will find a solid middle ground, and this will get done. I completely get that Geno needs to do what is best for himself, but my hope is that Seattle offers him enough money and years so that he feels like he is reasonably compensated, and in turn, he offers enough of a deal so that they can utilize free agency enough to solidly build around him, and not just depend on hitting with every pick in the draft every year.

My hope is that this is the sweet middle ground both sides reach with each other. So, let’s get this one done, and get to the other big task at hand.

Fix this defensive scheme, improve the talent up front, and be like the Eagles!

Pete Carroll talked about needing more in the front seven of their defense, and that to me suggests that they would absolutely love to draft a Jalen Carter or Will Anderson at five overall if either lands there to them. I think there’s also a chance that they are glued into many other front seven players in this draft, as well. There could be multiple players they want in the first, second, third, and into the middle rounds.

This means little to me, though, if the Seattle defensive coaches don’t better sort out their scheme. By the words of Carroll, it sounds like that not only did they perhaps not use certain players the right way, they also put too much on their plates in terms of doing too many different things.

Can’t have that. Can’t win with it.

In terms of defensive scheme, I’m going to say this plainly. Be like the Eagles!

Watching the NFC championship game, I could not notice how much it appeared like the Eagles ran a lot of bear looks (aka 5-2) against the 49er offense, and took them to task. The Seahawks ran this style of defense against the 49ers the last couple years of with pretty decent success. They just had better players at certain spots like Carlos Dunlap, and Jarran Reed making impact plays.

Seattle started this season out moving away from it, and were terrible on defense in result, but shifted back to this front during their four game winning streak last year. Then weirdly, they shifted away from it when they started losing again.

It’s been a total mystery as to why this all happened, but judging from Carroll’s own words about wanting to go back to being heavier up front again, it makes me think he wants to dump the whole 2-4-5 thing they used with way too much frequency, and get back to more bear. Praise be the Football Gods if that proves true for the 2023 season because that front drove me nuts as a fan.

My super big hope is that they will, in fact, run more bear again, and this Eagle defense has to be the model for them to follow. Make no mistake, the Eagles front seven is a LOADED group.

In order to run this style of defense, you need really good 3 technique defensive tackles and bad ass nose tackles, as well. You have got to be LOADED UP FRONT. Jalen Carter would be the dream in this draft, but I think it will probably be unlikely that he lands to Seattle at pick 5. This is partly why I think we likely see a trade back.

What might be available for Seattle a little further down in the draft is a talented DT like Clemson’s Bryan Bresee, who is young and raw, but also has undeniable physical tools for an interior defensive lineman. They could also be compelled to select Michigan’s Mazi Smith later on, who is a huge athletic guy that might be the perfect fit for Hurts up front if they want to run more bear fronts.

Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson will get talked up about a lot as we near the draft, and is increasingly intriguing. He’s a 6-6 275 lb long freaky dude who projects to play inside and out like Michael Bennett did. Some think he’s got the frame to add more weight to play inside. If he’s a big combine tester, he might be the guy to watch for Seattle over anyone else. He honestly might be “their guy” right now with the way he can be moved around, and how much Carroll loves that sort of versatility up front.

In terms of free agency, there might be a few decent young-ish DT types on the market who could attract Seattle. KC’s Khalen Saunders could be an interesting young get, or Denver’s Dre’Mont Jones. Seattle could take a dip here, and double up in the draft like they did last year at edge with Uchenna Nwuso in free agency, and Boye Mafe in early round two.

In terms of edge players, I actually kinda like what Seattle has brewing with Darrell Taylor, Nwuso, and Mafe, but in no way do I think this position group is set. I think they have to continue to draft this spot, and if Will Anderson happens to land at 5 to Seattle with Carter off the board, I don’t know how you pass that up. Will Anderson can be lethal in this league as an edge rusher, and would probably be the ideal fit for Seattle.

In terms of linebacker, I think Seattle has to look at free agency and the draft. Jordyn Brooks is coming off a serious knee injury that might not have him ready for the start of the season, and Cody Barton is a free agent.

I don’t know how invested Seattle would be with Barton. I think he’s better than what some fans suggest, but I don’t see him as any major difference maker. I also think Tanner Muse is probably just as good and might become better if given the opportunity, and Seattle has club control on Muse.

If I were Seattle, I would probably try to bring in a veteran from the outside who could be a real thumper for a more aggressive front seven. I would try my hand at Pittsburgh’s Devin Bush because of his youth and speed, but I might settle for Miami’s Elandon Roberts who showed nice production but is a bit older and probably way more affordable.

In terms of the draft, if Oregon’s Noah Sewell ends up picked by Seattle at some point, I wouldn’t scoff at that selection. Sewell looks like a classic old school thumper at middle linebacker.

The real linebacker draft target for Seattle might be Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders who might remind Carroll of some of his old USC linebacker, Clay Matthews. Sanders can play off ball, cover and hit, and he can line up as a rusher, and I have to admit, the idea of landing Tyree Wilson, this cat, and a freakishly athletic big bodied DT like Mazi Smith has me salivating. That’s a lot of size, speed, and strength added to the front seven on rookie contracts.

Regardless of how this all shakes out, Seattle needs to improve the front seven and better simplify the scheme. Get better and be better at it. Defensive tackle, edge, and linebacker need to be major targets in the draft, MAJORLY.

Be like the Eagles!

GET BETTER ON THE INTERIOR OF THE OFFENSIVE LINE

Notice I did that heading in caps. Weird that this isn’t top of the list by the aggressive nature that I typed this out. Truthfully, this is a majorly major need for me, as well, and it directly ties in the importance of Geno Smith.

Geno Smith needs a better pocket to throw out of, y’all!

This cannot be over stressed. If Seattle is going to sink a decent amount of cheddar on this dude and call him the franchise quarterback for the next few years, protect him better up front; plain and simple. Schneider did an excellent job drafting two starting tackles last year. Now, he needs to go get a really good center and guard.

My preference is that they invest more in a proven quality veteran center, and then use one of their top picks on a guy coming out of college who will project towards being a really good guard. This, in my mind, is what Mike Holmgren would likely do, and I’m for it.

One veteran center who might be hitting the market is former Seahawk center Ethan Pocic who Pro Football Focus graded out really well this year. Twelves will scoff at this because of his time in Seattle blocking for Russell Wilson, but Seattle obviously knows him well, and he’s still young enough to think that he can stick around for a while and maybe solve the revolving door issue in a second stint. He’s also a player who won’t likely break the bank in a signing, and Seattle can still take a shot at a center in the mid rounds of the draft this Spring. Oregon’s Alex Forsyth could be a decent option.

One thing’s for certain, though, and that is Seattle needs a better situation at right guard than an aging gimpy Gabe Jackson, and an injury prone Phil Haynes. Haynes would be alright to bring back as an inexpensive edge for drafting someone there, but they need to draft high at least at one of these interior offensive line positions, and my vibe is that maybe pick twenty is the sweet spot for that to happen, if they take defensive line with their first pick.

However they go about it, I want Seattle to get better here, and if they decide to spend most of their remaining free agent dollars on two good young vets to solidify center and right guard, I will not be disappointed. More dollars spent on the offensive line probably means more draft picks spent on the defense, and this might actually be the best way to go.

Get K9 a running mate

Ken Walker III is an exciting player for the Seahawks moving forward. There can be no denying that. He could easily blossom into the best player on the team next year, and that’s saying something.

Having said that, I did find myself rather desperately wishing Seattle had more behind him at running back as last season wore on. That’s taking nothing away for DeeJay Dallas, either. I like Dallas, but I want to see Seattle returning back to being more of a dynamic running team. I think it’s going to help Geno Smith out at quarterback, but it’s also going to greatly help out the defense next year.

I would not mind seeing Seattle bring in a veteran who isn’t likely going to be very expensive. I personally don’t know how much Seattle can rely on Rashaad Penny coming back, but if it’s for a cheap deal, I would be fine with that. I would still want them to draft the position, though.

I think my actual preference is for Seattle to draft the position again, and if UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet is sitting there for them in round three, I would be through the roof with excitement if they drafted him. He’s a big fast tough runner who could easily be the thunder to K9’s lightening and that would be fun to watch for years.

Figure out the third receiver and build more depth behind DK and Tyler

Right now, Seattle has one of the best receiver tandems in the league. So, I get it if some think this is a selfish ask out of me, but I can’t help but feel greedy at this spot.

I just think Seattle needs more behind DK and Tyler. Dee Eskridge has yet to really show much, and I know a lot of that is due to injury, but even when he’s been healthy, he just hasn’t really seized anything. I don’t even know what he is. I assumed a slot receiver but maybe he’s just a Percy Harvin type of gadget guy.

He’s got to take a big leap forward in 2023, or the funky little 2021 draft class is going to look like a massive disaster.

Behind him isn’t much, but I do like Dareke Young’s potential as a run after the catch guy I assumed Eskridge was supposed to become. Young is a big physical freak too, and could blossom into a role that can be used in multiple ways like a Cordarrelle Patterson type who’s a receiver and a running back.

But that’s kinda what Seattle has on the roster right now behind their superstars. A couple of guys with interesting potential, but are still unknowns.

This might be the single biggest reason why I wouldn’t mind seeing Seattle drop out of 5 into the back half of the top ten. If they get an offer from quarterback needy Carolina to drop back to 9, and get picks 37, 60, and their first round pick next year, Seattle still might be able to land a really good defensive lineman at 9, and then have two extra picks in round two that would make taking a receiver at some point early-ish a fun luxury. Plus they would have two first round picks next year, if they want to pursue a young quarterback in 2024 to groom behind Geno.

Also, this draft appears to be loaded at receiver and it would be wise for Seattle to take advantage of that. The best way to Seattle to take advantage is after a trade back.

The type of receiver that I would love to see Seattle grab is a pure route runner with good quicks and sure hands. In short, I want another Doug Baldwin.

As I watched Geno this year in this offense, I couldn’t help but think how much Doug would have enjoyed playing in this style of quick passing. Tyler feasted well this year in it. Doug would be devoured. There looks like their are players in this draft that fit Doug’s mold as a quick short area pass catcher.

Be selective on who to bring back in 2023 and be prepared to make tough decisions

Days after their season ended, Seattle locked up their pro bowl kicker, and that was a wise move. Their pro bowl quarterback should come next.

I think Seattle should also bring back Ryan Neal at safety because he’s a leader and a good player. I think Seattle should bring back restricted free agents in cornerback Michael Jackson, and linebacker Tanner Muse. Both have performed well enough to think they can be a part of this thing in the future.

After that, I don’t know who else feels like a need to be brought back. I don’t know if Poona Ford and Coby Barton fit this scheme any longer. I think they might be better served in more of a traditional 4-3.

I’ve already said that I would prefer this team to bring in a better center option than Austin Blythe. I don’t need another journeyman center situation. Spend more on a better player, and have him be the guy here for a few years.

At right guard, I think Gabe Jackson is a likely cap casualty, but I don’t know if Phil Haynes warrants more than a veteran minimum deal to return as a hedge for someone else in the draft. Haynes has teased as being a decent player, but has never been able to stay healthy, and he clearly wasn’t good enough to beat out Jackson at right guard. Is it important to therefore bring him back? I dunno.

Shelby Harris was a good player for Seattle but is he worth $11 million next year? It would be good to keep him around if they can add an extra year or two to his deal in order to drop his 2023 salary down, but maybe he becomes a cap casualty if the want to sign a younger DT on the market with more upside.

The massive elephant in the room is, or course, Jamal Adams. As talented as he is, he’s expensive and has never stayed healthy enough in Seattle. Do they try to rework his deal or designate him as a post June 1st release if the Geno Smith contract is pricey?

There’s other elephants in the room like Will Dissly’s expensive contract, and Bryan Mone’s, as well.

I’m not saying that Seattle to slash the contracts of all these guys, but Geno Smith won’t likely be cheap (even if he does cut Seattle a deal), and if Seattle wants to invest in some free agent solutions to fixing their front seven, they’re probably going to need to open up more money somehow. There’s going to have to be decisions to be made, and maybe some tough ones.

Make the tough decisions, Seattle!

In conclusion, how likely is it that Seattle can fulfill this my wish list?

I honesty don’t know. I think it’s going to be a real challenge.

I recently posed a question to Seahawk beat reporter Corbin Smith on Twitter for his podcast as to how Seattle can sign Geno Smith and still replicate the Eagles defense in 2023. His response on his podcast was that it would most likely have to be done by nailing the draft again, and that after a Geno signing, it’s unlikely Seattle will do much big time shopping in free agency.

In short, they probably won’t go after the big name DTs on the market like Fletcher Cox, Da’Ron Payne, and Javon Hargrave. At best, they might move enough money around to find a decent mid tier DT, maybe a younger guy like Khalen Saunders who was rotational with the Chiefs but showed promise, sign him to a moderate two year deal with a chance to establish himself as a quality starter and hit the market again, and hope to hit on another DT in the draft.

The key is finding a good comprised ground with Geno Smith, and therein lies my hope. Of course I want what is best for him whatever he decides it to be, but my hope is a reasonable.. let’s just call it what it is; a “team friendly” deal in Seattle.

If he is unwilling to entertain this, and wants to max out his earnings, and finds a better deal elsewhere because Seattle was unwilling to go beyond a certain number, then of course the team needs to have a solid plan B in place. We will discuss Plan B options in a later piece, as I’m sure many others will or already have, as well.

Assuming that they do reach a contract with Geno, though, if all Seattle does in free agency is add a decent center, linebacker, and defensive tackle, that should be enough to set this draft up nicely to start picking good players without feeling the need to be desperate for a specific position. This draft will have good defensive linemen and edge rushers, and it will have guards, corners, receivers, and running backs.

But it all hinges on finding that sweet middle ground with Geno. Hopefully, they get that done.

I’m here for it. I eager to see this offseason get underway.

See the Eagles. Be the Eagles.

Go Hawks!

So, the Seahawks got lit up pretty good against the 49ers on Saturday, didn’t they?

I mean, losing the game to a final score of 23-41 with a final touchdown coming in garage time should leave a sour taste in any player and fan’s mouth. It should sting even more knowing that at the halftime, Seattle actually held the lead, 17-16, and looked like the team with better momentum. That second half must have surely been bad football for the Hawks.

Well, yeah. It was pretty awful. The defense stopped tackling and covering, and while the Seattle was able to continue moving the ball offensively, Geno Smith fumbled the ball in the red zone on a strip sack, and then later threw an interception when everyone on the sidelines and stands knew Seattle had to pass to catchup. Both turnovers led to 49er points that kept getting piled on, and so forth, and so on. Thus, we have this final score.

This essentially was the game, and really, I’m kinda alright with it. Let this game be a learning experience for this young team, and this quarterback who hasn’t been a regular starter in this league since 2014.

The truth of the matter is that the San Fransisco 49ers are a bunch of booger eaters, as are most of their fans who aren’t my friends or extended family members. Nick Bosa is a booger eater supreme, but he is also an incredibly talented booger eater, and the best at his position. So are a bunch of his booger eating buddies, like booger eating Deebo Samuel, and booger eating George Kittle, and booger eating Fred Warner. Seattle went down to Santa Clara and give this game a good fight for a half of football, and they lost to a superior, booger eating team. It’s that simple.

The 49ers have superior offensive and defensive lines to go along with the many top end talents they have at all the skill positions, and they have a bright young rookie quarterback who is making football look easy. Frankly, this should be a team playing in a championship, and Seattle has a lot of work to do to get closer towards their level.

While the reality is that while it might take Seattle a couple more seasons to be able to truly match San Fransisco, they are most definitely off to a fast start. In fact, I’m more excited about this coming offseason than maybe I have been since I became a fan in the early 1980’s.

Seattle is blessed with having found a pro bowl worthy quarterback in Geno Smith who has stated that he wants to remain in Seattle and finish his career here, and they hold nine picks in the 2023 draft to which they can further construct their roster with. One of those picks is the fifth overall, and the pick after that is 20th overall. Seattle is a rare playoff caliber team in position to draft a player 5th overall, and that should make fans of a lot of other teams fairly envious.

This is why this sort of thumping the 49ers gave us isn’t overly upsetting for me. San Francisco is superior, and let them eat their cake. They are set up to win now, but will be tighter against their salary cap in 2023 with a lot of players set to enter free agency. Much like the Rams last year, they could be a team that wins it all in February, only to lose key players in free agency in March, and get ravaged by the injury bugs next season.

For me, the plan for Seattle should be pretty straight forward. Figure out a way to keep Geno Smith here longer term, and use that high end draft capital to better fill it out around him. There’s other players set to enter free agency for Seattle that I believe they need to consider keeping, as well, like Jason Myers, Ryan Neal, and probably Cody Barton, but they need to keep Geno, especially if Pete Carroll isn’t leaving anytime soon (which, let’s face it, he likely isn’t).

I will write a more comprehensive piece about how I think their offseason should go down in the following days, but this is a sneak peak at it. Keep Geno and a few other guys, dip your toes in free agency on the offensive line (if you can), but build most of it through the draft.

As for this team this year, I feel like they met their natural conclusion. They were talented enough to be a middling team who got surprisingly good play at quarterback, and they found themselves as the seventh seeded playoff team in the NFC. They were basically the inverse of the 2011 Seahawks; where this time around the offense was actually pretty good, but the defense was largely a hot mess.

A lot of crap is also being made right now about the officiating that occurred in the season finale against the Rams that helped Seattle win that game, but screw those for making a stink about it. Bad officiating that helped Seattle against the Rams made up for some of the bad officiating that hurt Seattle earlier in the season like it did during the game against the Raiders. What comes around, goes around.

All in all, I am proud of this team, and had more fun as a fan this year than I’ve had in a long while. It was fun watching them grossly exceed many expectations and prove many doubters wrong. It’s fun watching blow hards like Colin Cowherd and his doofus buddies look like idiots when it comes to Seattle.

After thirteen years in this league, it’s stunning to me the amount of people who cover the NFL still don’t understand Pete Carroll and his culture building ways. Ten playoff appearances now in thirteen seasons should cement just how special this dude is as a coach, and at age 71 he most definitely still has it.

But he still has a lot of work to do. The two biggest offseason priorities must be to settle the quarterback position, and fix that defense either by scheme or talent, but probably by both.

Also, in my opinion, Carroll needs to continue getting back to his DNA on both sides of the ball. Getting beat like this by the 49ers can help towards getting him there. Their defense is modeled after his infamous 4-3 one that was the league leading defense for four seasons in a row and won a Super Bowl. Their offense is all about running the ball and getting smart point guard style quarterback play.

This can be the Seattle Seahawks in 2023 and beyond. This mission is there for the undertaking should Carroll choose to accept it.

I suspect he will, and I’m very excited to see it unfold.

Go Hawks!

In many mythological tales, heroes are tasked to undertake an insurmountable feat to which the likely outcome of success feels as likely as a tiki torch staying lit during a cyclone storm. These stories have gotten recycled over the years into various fiction and in film.

In The Lord Of The Rings, a tiny two foot dude had to carry with him a magical ring to which the most sinister and powerful force in the land was searching for it, and he had to take it to a volcano called Mount Doom, and toss it into the flames with thousands of seven foot orcs (who would gladly eat him for a snack) hanging around the place. Good luck with that.

In Star Wars, a naive farm boy had to fly a tiny x-wing fighter down this narrow exterior corridor of the Death Star with skilled tie fighter pilots behind him (including his evil dad who happens to be the greatest pilot in the galaxy) looking to blow him into pieces, and he had one shot with a photon torpedo to get it inside an extremely narrow shaft that, if launched perfectly, said torpedo would travel down the shaft and hit the main reactor of the planet killing battle station, and blow it up. His chances of success were like my chances of not being socially awkward at an Oscar party.

In the 1960’s WWII war film The Dirty Dozen, a small group of US military convicts had to conduct a secret mission to assassinate top level Nazi officers in a mansion surrounded by enemy soldiers everywhere, and a few of these guys had the psychological profiles of the Dumb and Dumber dudes if they were homicidal maniacs. Basically, this was a suicide mission, and if any one of these convicts actually managed to be lucky enough to make it out alive, their prison sentences would be lifted. Frankly, I would stayed in my cell and took my chances with Brutus.

So, as I circle to this game this Saturday between the feel good Seattle Seahawks and the dominant looking San Fransisco 49ers, I cannot help drawing parallels. On it’s face, the chances of the Seahawks going to Santa Clara and pulling off an upset feels pretty remote.

The strength of the 49ers is their defense, for certain, but their offense is no slouch, either. They can limit any good offensive team from scoring, and they can put up a lot of points. Call me crazy, but I think that’s a pretty good thing to be in this league. I mean, this is what I want Seattle to be. They were this once, but that feels years ago, now.

In his Tuesday press conference, when Pete Carroll was asked about what makes the 49er defense so special, there was a very sobering tone in his delivery. He described them as being able to line up, and not fool anyone, that they run a simple scheme, but they are so talented that they can play so fast and connected that it becomes a challenge for any offense to do anything against them.

When I was listening to Coach Carroll describing that 49er defense, my first thought was that’s how his Legion Of Boom defense was once described. It was a simplistic 4-3 scheme but because the players were so good and they knew it so well, they could dare a Peyton Manning in his prime, and then stop him.

The San Fransisco 49er defense is Darth Vader. It’s powerful, and menacing, and it knows it can take any opponent down. It’s hard to run on, and it’s hard to pass on, and Seattle’s greatest weakness right now is probably the interior of its offensive line. No doubt that the 49ers are looking at Seattle’s struggles at guard and center, and they are licking their chops in this one.. again.

If Seattle cannot get a run game going to help out Geno Smith, that defensive line will be all about destroying Geno’s cinderella story. It’s that simple, and this isn’t bringing up what Seattle must do defensively to slow down an offensive that has all kinds of top end weapons and a good offensive line, and a rookie seventh round pick quarterback who’s been channelling Joe Montana for the last six weeks.

So, I am really painting a pretty big gloom and doom scenario for the Seahawks this Saturday, aren’t I? Well, of course I am!

The Seahawks are going into this game spotty on their offensive line, thinner at receiver and tight end than they were the last time these two teams met (which it wasn’t pretty for Seattle), and they are thinner at linebacker now, as well. They are also apparently going to have to play this game in some crazy cyclone type of weather scenario, and God only knows what can happen with the ball in that situation.

Maybe, just maybe in some weird way, this psychotic weather forecast benefits Seattle, but that’s like thinking that because Halle Berry forgot to put in her contact lenses, she will think I’m Brad Pitt when I’m standing next to her at that Oscar party. These are the hopeful thoughts of a desperate soul down to their last saltine cracker before that have to start eating rat feces for survival.

Practically the only thing that I can think of where Seattle might have some advantage is that Ken Walker has been hot running the rock lately, and Seattle didn’t have him in the game during the last matchup back in early December. Walker (aka K9) is a legitimate big play artist with the ball in his hands, and I believe he’s on a trajectory of superstardom in this league. On a wet and windy game where linebackers and DBs might have hard time finding their footing, he could have enough explosive plays to open things up more for Geno Smith to find his guys downfield as the game wears on, if they can manage to stay within a one score game.

For that to happen, the defense has got to be ON IT. It is worth noting that for the last four games, their defense has been trending in positively. Cody Barton has played well at middle linebacker in place of Jordyn Brooks, and Tanner Muse has been a pleasant surprise next to him. The pass rushers have also come alive more lately, most notably defensive end Darrell Taylor. The corners and safeties haven’t been bad, either.

The key for the Seahawk defense is to stop the run, though, and by nature of design, the 3-4 base defense isn’t as ideal of a run stopping scheme as a 4-3 defense is, and Seattle is does a lot of 3-4. This game against a 49er offense that runs it at you in a lot of different ways really has me missing Pete Carroll’s old 4-3 scheme. It was a good match against Kyle Shanahan’s offense. My hope and prayer is that everyone on this defense balls out extra special this Saturday to prove my concerns wrong. That would be awesome.

The only other last thing that gives me some hope for a Seattle upset to occur is that there are enough instances where when a divisional rival sweeps another divisional rival during the regular season, and those teams find themselves playing against each other in the playoffs, the team that was swept figures out a way to win. It has been said before that beating a team three times in a calendar season is hard to do in football.

Maybe it’s that the team that was swept has a better sense on how the plays will come in against them in the playoff match, and they will have better answers against those plays. Maybe it’s because the team that has won twice underestimates the opponent more, and the team that was swept is playing with more overall determination, and it surprises. Maybe it’s because the coaches of the team that was swept have looked at the few things that worked well, and have come up with a better plan to put those things in action. Maybe it’s a combination of all of these things with a little bit of luck, as well, but I can think of a number of occasions where the team that was beaten twice in the regular season wins the match in the post season.

So, maybe, just maybe the Seahawks travel down to Santa Clara and play a game against a superior divisional opponent, and they find a way to beat their mortal enemy. After all, David figured out how to beat Goliath with a rock and a sling, Luke figured out how to beat the Empire, and Eminem figured out how to beat the bully rapper with his witty words.

Maybe the Seahawks led by Geno Smith, with a help of K9, and a defense that stays gritty enough, figures out how to take down George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey, and Nick Bosa, and Fred Warner, and Deebo Samuel, and the rest of this 49er roster that is too intimidating to continue listing. As crazy as it sounds, maybe it really isn’t that bonkers.

After all, what does Seattle have to lose? They have gotten farther this season that most of the talking head experts thought they would. If they get boat raced by the 49ers, nobody will be shocked, the storyline will be that they were a team that exceeded expectations, and are another offseason away from true contention, at least.

In a way, this might free them up more. They might look at this like the band of misfit brothers from The Dirty Dozen, and say “fuck it, let’s go right at that dragon and slay his ass.” Maybe this inspires things to happen that catch the 49ers off guard ,and gets them out of their sorts. Maybe they force Brock Purdy into a bad play and turnover that leads to an easy score that puts Seattle up in the game, and makes San Fran play a little tighter.

Maybe, just maybe Seattle does just enough to stay in it, where Geno throws an absolute dart to Tyler Lockett for a score that stuns the Santa Clara crowd, and the Seahawks feed off of that momentum at the end.

Maybe, just maybe the 49ers pick a bad time to have an off game, and Seattle picks a great time to have a signature game.

Am I going to pick Seattle to win this game? Not really, but I’m not going to say that they have no shot at it, either.

I think they do, but they are going to need a lot of things to go right to kill this dragon of the NFC West. They’re going to have to get through the orcs, and past the tie fighters to pull this one off.

Thank God they have emerging talents like K9 and sensational rookie phenom cornerback Tariq Woolen. Thank goodness they have a pro bowl quarterback in Geno Smith, and a pro bowl safety in Quandre Diggs, and a pro bowl kicker in Jason Myers, as well.

If I have to slay a dragon, I want these guys on my team. Here’s to hoping they pull it off.

What a cherry on top of Seattle’s surprising season that would be. Either way, though, I’m proud of this team, and I look forward to what they do next year. But let’s get it done.

Go Hawks!

The 2022 Seattle Seahawks are a playoff team after trading away the best quarterback in their franchise history.

The 2022 Seattle Seahawks are a playoff team after having swept the team that has owned their butts for over the last half decade, and who also won the Super Bowl last year.

The 2022 Seattle Seahawks are a playoff team who are quarterbacked by a guy who hasn’t been a regular starter in this league since 2014, but after being given this chance by Pete Carroll, blossomed into a pro bowl passer at age 32, stunningly.

The 2022 Seattle Seahawk are a playoff team because the 2022 Detroit Lions went into Lambeau Field (a place where they rarely win), and they beat Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on the last game of the regular season.

Raise your hand if you saw all of this coming at the start of the season?

I’m one of the biggest, dopiest Seahawk homer Twelves who you will ever meet in your lifetime, and I didn’t see this happening. Nope. I gave a very wishful prediction at the start of the season that Seattle would get to a 8-9 finish with some thought of playing meaningful games in December, but I never anticipated Geno Smith would play this well, and carry it through the season, by and large.

So, yeah. I’m pretty darn happy to see my Hawks finish 9-8, and finding themselves in the playoffs with the help of Detroit.

I don’t know what’s to happen for this team in the coming offseason, and how different they will look next Fall. I don’t know if Geno is signed to a long extension, or a rookie quarterback will be battling Drew Lock for the starting gig. I don’t know if the 3-4 experiment on defense this year is permanently here, or if we see a shift back to his traditional 4-3 in order to be a better run stopping defense again. I just know that these 2022 Seattle Seahawks will be a memorable bunch for me.

I have no allusions of this team going on a deep post season run, either. All conventional wisdom would suggest that they will get creamed once again by the superiorly talented 49ers down in Santa Clara next Saturday, but for me, it’s not about going deep into the playoffs.

It’s about getting an extremely young roster to understand what it takes to get to the playoffs and how to play once they are there. If they actually do upset the 49ers, that would be as big of a euphoric joy for me as I’ve had in sometime, but I am not expecting it. In a way, that makes being in the playoffs more fun.

The Seahawks aren’t defending anything. They aren’t the class of their division. If the Rams would have been healthier this season, third place in the division might have been Seattle’s ceiling this year, and the severely banged up Rams did everything they could to spoil Seattle in this match.

But Seattle got through it with a win, and to me, that’s all that matters. They finished the season strong with back to back home wins that got them into the playoffs, ultimately. This was my big ask for them after they lost to the Panthers, 49ers and Chiefs all in a row in December.

There’s momentum to be gained in this now. There should be a feeling that, if the offense commits to Ken Walker III running the ball, good things are going to happen, and opportunities are going to had for other players if they get enough reliable quarterback play, like Geno Smith brought through most of the season. There should also be a feeling that, if the defense can limit the big explosive plays enough, there’s enough of a growing nucleus that, with another successful offseason of free agency and the draft, something can be built up again that can be pretty special in Seattle in the near future.

Getting this win against the Rams, as much of a struggle as it was at times, has meaning in these ways. Seattle avoided a second half of the season slide that would have maybe raised more questions about the future than provide answers. Finishing 8-9, after being 6-3 at one point, would have been a long talked about thing through the following offseason that potentially would have made Pete Carroll’s words of optimism ring more hollow.

Finishing 9-8 avoids that, and gives a better sense that the young defense is trending the right way, and the offense is probably a player or two away on the offensive line of being truly dominant (assuming that the quarterback situation is sorted out). I need to feel these trends as a fan.

These 2022 Seattle Seahawks are not a perfect team. They have blemishes on the roster. In my opinion, they need to be significantly more stout at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, but those are issues to address once free agency begins in a couple months, and probably the draft again.

What they have now going for them now, however, is chemistry, and grit. They will fight hard, they will fight together, and they will continue to grow together in doing so.

This is really what the opportunity is for them heading into this post season, in my mind. It’s about continuing to grow together, and that is critical in becoming a great team again.

I’m proud of these 2022 Seattle Seahawks. I’ve had fun watching Geno Smith surprise, and K9 dazzle, and Darrell Taylor finish strong after struggling for a while, and Tariq Woolen blossoming into greatness before our eyes.

I’ve loved watching Al Woods make big man tackles in the middle of this defense, and Cody Barton proving doubters wrong as he got way better during the second half of the season. I loved watching DeeJay Dallas shine in the last two games, and finally being used more as a runner.

The feather on the cap for me is ending this season sweeping a Rams team that featured a quarterback who many Seahawk fans wanted Seattle to go after last offseason (including myself). Geno Smith did not have a great game in this finale, but if I learned one thing this season, it’s that he’s definitely a better quarterback than Baker Mayfield is, and I take comfort in knowing that Pete Carroll knows way more about quarterbacks than he’s given credit for. This gives me great comfort going into 2023, actually.

So, yeah. I like what is happening with these Seattle Seahawks right now. Their season was up and down, but they feel like they are one more solid offseason away from being a real contender again.

They will have the fifth overall pick next Spring to take a player who can be a special addition. I’m not hung up on who it might be, or what type of position it should be. I just ask that they pick a guy who will truly be a special difference maker, and key building block.

But right now, let’s savior this season, and this opportunity to be in the playoffs with a chance to upset the 49ers. There is no expectation of Seattle doing that, and I kinda dig that. I dig it a lot, actually.

Go Hawks.