Here's what the Seahawks need to focus on in the offseason
by Prince Bolin, Seahawks FTFN writer
Generally, the Seahawks had a pretty good year. They made the playoffs once again, the defense showed promising signs of improvement, and the offense burst out of the gate on fire. Despite the positives, the Seahawks also had another mediocre ending to their season based off of their aspirations and expectations. Things just seemed to fall apart after the first eight games and into the playoffs. There are a few ways they could improve this offseason, despite limited cap space and draft capital.
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Keep Russell Wilson Happy
I’ll say it again for the people in the back, keep Russell Wilson happy. I can’t express this enough. If you’ve followed the news over the past two weeks, you’d know that Russell Wilson expressed his frustrations with getting hit too much. This was a direct message to the front office and coaching staff, but it didn’t seem that serious until Thursday morning. The Athletic posted an article detailing the power struggle within the organization, focusing mostly on Pete Carroll’s reluctancy to genuinely listen to Wilson’s suggestions and opinions on the direction of the offense. Any situation where your franchise QB storms out of a room is not a good sign and isn’t healthy for the team as a whole. Carroll has so much power that even his own son, Nate Carroll, left the team because he was unhappy with his role. Needless to say, this is a major problem. Wilson has earned the right to have input on the offense, and he shouldn’t be shot down by his own coach. Another report came out later that morning announcing that Wilson’s camp introduced trade destinations to the Seahawks, including the Saints, Raiders, Cowboys, Dolphins and surprisingly enough, the Jets. ESPN confirmed this but made it clear that Wilson did not demand a trade. Despite that fact, his camp approaching the front office with trade destinations is not a good sign. This marriage is dwindling before our eyes and they need to do something about it quickly, or the Seahawks won’t have a franchise QB for much longer. The team has some good linemen, but they need to trade for, or use their limited draft capital to build a more formidable front for Wilson. Easier said than done.
The Seahawks Carousel of Free Agents
This offseason is a big mystery for the Seahawks, simply because they have so many players that are going to be free agents. This is on top of core players like Jamal Adams, K.J Wright, Shaquill Griffin, and Chris Carson. Carson is likely gone, as the value of the RB position has seriously gone down in value. The Seahawks should focus on resigning Adams, considering we gave up a large amount of draft capital for him. K.J is their longest tenured player and is still playing at an elite level alongside Wagner, so he deserves to be extended. He has mentioned that he will not take a hometown discount. Shaquill Griffin is a bit tricky because he isn’t necessarily that lockdown corner, but he’s still pretty good. As long as he isn’t asking for too much money, he should be on our short list of extensions.
The team has a rather long list of free agents, including Carlos Hyde, David Moore, Ethan Pocic, Cedric Ogbuehi, Jacob Hollister, Luke Willson, and Nick Bellore on offense. On defense, Bruce Irvin, Benson Mayowa, Damontre Moore, Quinton Dunbar, Neiko Thorpe, Lano Hill, Damarious Randall and Poona Ford (restricted). As you can see, the Seahawks have a bunch of important defensive players that need to be resigned. It’s not possible to resign all of the players listed above, but they need to solidify the defensive line which picked up steam in the second half of the season.
The Seahawks will be making a lot of moves this offseason, as they don’t have a first or third round pick. Only four in total, which is abysmal. Expect them to trade down like they usually do every year. The Seahawks are also currently $4.4 million to $7.8 million under the salary cap, according to Over the Cap and the Roster Management System. They don’t have much to work with to start, so we’ll just have to wait and see what they do to open things up. They’ll need to be creative.
by Prince Bolin, Seahawks FTFN writer
