Wyman: History shows the Seahawks have always been ‘going for it’

Throughout the last week, Jake Heaps of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Tom, Jake and Stacy has made it clear he’s disappointed that the Seahawks have not been more aggressive this offseason, especially when looking at the roster makeup of the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs.

Related: Is it time for Hawks to go all-in before Super Bowl window closes?

Seattle has made a lot of acquisitions, but none have really been seen as big or “splash” moves, which is something Heaps has clamored for, either with the Seahawks trading for an impact player like Jets safety Jamal Adams, or by re-signing defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

And many agree with Heaps that the Seahawks need to do something major in order for the offseason to be seen as successful, but former NFL linebacker Dave Wyman of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore says that the “going for it people,” as he called them Friday, are missing the mark with that sentiment. Wyman said that the big thing he’s looked at is the team’s history over the lastt 10 years under head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider.

“They’re willing to take risks,” Wyman said, noting that the first major move of Carroll and Schneider’s tenure was trading for running back Marshawn Lynch, who ended up becoming arguably the franchise’s best-ever running back.

That risk taking, Wyman said, shows that this is a team that regularly “goes for it.” He pointed to the team signing players who were in trouble with the law or the league, such as linebacker Mychal Kendricks, defensive end Dion Jordan and receiver Josh Gordon. Others were players who had fallen out of favor with their teams, like Lynch and receiver Percy Harvin. Some of those players have worked out while others did not, but Wyman said the team’s willingness to make those moves shows where the team stands year to year.

“To me that kind of adds to the aggressiveness,” he said “And some people might say ‘well, it’s because he’s a really good player’ or ‘this guy’s a bad guy’ but I always look at it more as I don’t think there were many coaches who were going to give Marshawn Lynch a chance and Pete Carroll, to his credit, has done that and John Schneider has been willing to go make deals on guys like that.”

Another facet of the Seahawks’ roster building over the last decade is how active the front office is with trade candidates and free agents.

“It’s not just about (potentially) taking a flier on a guy like Antonio Brown (this year), it’s being in every deal and when I went back and started going through … they traded for Duane Brown,” Wyman said, acknowledging the 2017 trade with the Houston Texans that gave Seattle it’s current left tackle. “And especially if you want to talk about supporting Russell Wilson, the first year that they signed Russ to his first multi-year deal (in 2015) … that same year, right after that, they traded Max Unger and a first rounder for (tight end) Jimmy Graham to get him another weapon. So it’s not like they haven’t done that to him.”

Graham’s Seattle tenure is polarizing as he ended up setting the Seahawks’ record for all-time touchdowns by a tight end, but he wasn’t a great scheme fit and it felt like they tried to force him the ball, limiting the rest of the offense. But giving up that much in draft capital as well as a perennial Pro Bowl center in Unger showed the Seahawks’ willingness to make a big move that could have a high reward.

“I think they’ve taken risks, they’ve taken players, they’ve gone all-in, they’re in on every conversation when it comes to a trade,” Wyman added. “They’ll consider anything. I mean, they were one of the only teams that brought in Colin Kaepernick. And you hear every once in a while from people that they’re in on Antonio Brown exploring that possibility.”

Even in the draft, where the Seahawks have been known to trade down and stockpile picks, Seattle has been aggressive in trading up for receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, who combined for roughly 2,000 yards last season.

The team still has roughly $14 million in cap space per OverTheCap, and that leaves some room for another late-offseason or mid-season trade. We saw one of each last year, the first being with Clowney, acquiring him just before Week 1 and the in the season they traded for safety Quandre Diggs from the Detroit Lions ahead of the trade deadline.

“They were aggressive on (Clowney). A third-round pick and then they shipped off Jacob Martin and Barkevious Mingo and then they got the Texans to pay almost half of his salary,” Wyman said. “They’ve been pretty aggressive, they’ve been successful but again, there’s been some swings and misses … but they’ve tried. They’ve tried to get those guys and have been aggressive, so I guess I don’t understand the ‘they’re not going for it’ people.”

In addition to top free agents like Clowney, the Seahawks this offseason have been linked to some high-profile trade candidates such as safety Jamal Adams of the New York Jets and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Wyman said not to count out the Seahawks making a move for a player of their caliber at a later date.

“There’s still a possibility because they do things like that,” Wyman said. “… To me, I would say there’s a better than 50% chance that they at least really try. And maybe they lose out. Maybe another team offers two (first-round picks to the Jets for Adams) or something like that, but I would be surprised if they weren’t second or third on the list. And they have the benefit of knowing that a lot of these players, they want to go win. They want to go somewhere they can go and win and that’s what they’ve done here.”

You can listen to Wyman’s thoughts on this topic, as well as whether co-hosts Bob Stelton and Jim Moore agree, at this link or in the player below.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore on Twitter.

Could Brooks earn playing time for Seahawks at the expense of Wright?

Follow @TheBGustafson