Huard: Could Seahawks have done anything differently this offseason?
Jun 29, 2023, 1:37 PM
John Schneider and Pete Carroll watch Seahawks practice on June 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
The 2023 NFL Draft is in the books and NFL free agency is essentially accounted for. With that being the case, is there anything the Seattle Seahawks could have or should have done differently this offseason?
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That’s a question former NFL quarterback Brock Huard tackled during Thursday’s Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports.
Huard told his co-host Mike Salk and producers Maura Dooley and Justin Barnes that he sent them a list of free agents – and he noted “you made fun of me” because most of the names he wrote down are older players at the tail end of their careers.
“And you’re right, five years ago they were Pro Bowlers, and you could win a Super Bowl maybe with that list of players,” Huard said. “And there’s not a D-tackle on it.”
Nose tackle is easily one of the biggest question marks remaining for the Seahawks as they were one of the NFL’s worst defenses against the run in 2022, and their likely starting nose tackle is rookie fourth-rounder Cameron Young.
“So then I went back last night and thought, OK, if they could do it all over now, knowing what they know now, knowing the way the draft unfolded, knowing the way free agency unfolded, should they have done something differently?” Huard said.
When looking back on the free agency cycle, Huard said there was really only one name that stood out: defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson, who signed with the Cleveland Browns.
“He played in Minnesota for some years, with the Giants a couple years. Good player. He got four years, $57 million. He’s about the only kind of nose tackle (available),” Huard said. “… He’s 6 foot 3, 330 pounds. Good player, not a dominant player. Outside of that, I couldn’t find another free agent on all 31 other teams that was just a bonafide, difference-making nose tackle.”
“So even going back knowing what we know now to the start of free agency, that big ole nose tackle with a big body, he wasn’t there,” Huard added. “He wasn’t there. Some of this, ‘Hey, we’re only going to play a 3-4,’ they’re not. They’re not. And if they don’t have it, they’re going to mix their fronts and they’re going to move people around and they’re gonna fit guys into some different spots. And I guess maybe the only (one they may regret) would be Al Woods. But they made a strong determination – knowing more than anybody else does about Al Woods – that they just were not going down that road a third time.”
Listen to the second hour of Thursday’s Brock and Salk at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story.
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