Salk: Was Dwight Freeney a ‘must have’ or ‘can have’ for Seahawks?

After the Seahawks announced the signing of seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney Tuesday night, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Mike Salk wondered whether making the move was a luxury. That is, with all the shuffling and injuries on the offensive line, did Seattle need a veteran defensive end?

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“I think it’s pretty easy to look at as a ‘can’ move,” Salk said. “‘Oh, it’s just Pete adding to his defense, obviously they need help on the O-line, and Pete just keeps adding to the defense’ … They’ve been great the last couple weeks, even without Cliff Avril, why would you possibly need to add money there instead of somewhere else?”

The Seahawks defense has had a strong showing through the first half of the season. They held the Giants to just two successful third-down conversions (out of 12 attempts) and 177 net yards, including 46 yards on the ground. Against the Los Angeles Rams two weeks prior, Seattle recorded a season-high five turnovers.

There is one stat that has been off, though: Through twelve games, the Seahawks have just 12 sacks. It’s something Salk is hoping can be boosted with the aid of an experienced pass rusher.

“Two sacks a game for this Seahawks defense? That’s not what you would have expected,” Salk said, “especially when I tell you only three teams in the league have fewer sacks than them: Tennessee, the Jets, and Tampa. That’s it.”

In 2016, the Seahawks finished with 42 sacks, thanks to a career-high 11.5 sacks from Avril and 10.5 from Frank Clark. They recorded 37 in 2015 and in 2014, and 44 in 2013.

“Now, granted, they’ve had a bye week, so it’s not a perfect stat,” Salk said, “I’m not saying they’re third-worst in the league. We know that quarterbacks are trying to get the ball out quick against them. I’m not saying they have a bad defensive line or anything close to it – I think they’re pretty darn good and they show up when they need to and stop the run, despite not being oversized. They’re a great defensive line.

“But 12 sacks? That’s not enough through six games. And now that you’ve lost Cliff Avril in addition to that, you can see why you’d want to bring in a pass rushing specialist for late in games to try to add to that total, especially if you’re able to generate a lead. So, I think I start to understand why Dwight Freeney is here. I love it, I think it’s a good move for them.”

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