Impact of Seahawks’ early free agent departures
Mar 13, 2018, 4:50 PM | Updated: 4:53 pm
Former Seahawks TE Jimmy Graham is headed to Green Bay. (AP)
(AP)
Free agency doesn’t officially begin until Wednesday, but the Seahawks are already experiencing turnover with the loss of Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson.
With the exception of safety Bradley McDougald, the Seahawks haven’t yet added anyone to the roster. 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard took a look at what these moves mean so far for Seattle during his Blue 42 segment of Brock and Salk.
THE MOVE: WR Paul Richardson signs with Washington, TE Jimmy Graham signs with Green Bay
ITS IMPACT: Seattle needs to focus on surrounding Russell Wilson with more offensive talent.
BROCK’S TAKE: “It is a ‘have to.’ It will be a neccesary event as they start to shed some of this defensive salary. Last year they were right there with Jacksonville at the top of the league in the commitment they made financially to that defense; a little over $90 million was spent on that defense.”
Huard also referenced a recent comment from Seahawks left tackle Duane Brown that resonated with him. Brown spoke about Seattle’s future during an interview with Rich Eisen:
“I think it’s starting to go that way. You look at the amount of talent that was on the defensive side of the ball, at some point you’re going to have to even it out a little bit. I think bringing guys like myself in, to come in to add to that offense a little bit, I think there’s going to be some more movement made on the offense to kind of balance it out. When you’ve got a guy like Russell Wilson, I feel like we’re in every ball game. It feels like it’s making that shift a little bit.”
THE MOVE: Bradley McDougald re-signs with Seahawks.
ITS IMPACT: A potential trade of Earl Thomas is even more possible.
BROCK’S TAKE: “It gives them the liberty to really pursue a trade on the open market. And that’s what John Clayton said and I agree with him 100 percent. If this deal does not get done with Bradley McDougald, then I don’t think you have the freedom of opportunity to really go pursue a trade. And the gigantic but, or ‘if,’ in this is it’s gotta come back the other way. If they were to get a first round pick, if they were to get what they want, if their demand was to be met on that open market, then you move forward. That is the ‘if’ that I don’t think we’ll know until the next 48 to 72 hours.”
