JOHN CLAYTON

Clayton: Ifedi struggled for the Seahawks, but it’s wrong to call him a bust

Mar 27, 2020, 12:11 PM

Seahawks Germain Ifedi...

Former Seahawks RT Germain Ifedi should not be labeled a bust, John Clayton says. (Getty)

(Getty)

The Seahawks bid farewell to Germain Ifedi and George Fant when they brought in four offensive linemen in free agency.

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Ifedi ended up agreeing to a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears. Fant hit it big by getting a three-year, $27.3 million deal from the New York Jets. Ifedi’s contract hasn’t serviced yet but it probably doing to be in the $4 million or $3 million range, but it could be a little less.

For roughly the combined yearly salaries of Ifedi and Fant, the Seahawks landed Brandon Shell, B.J. Finney, Cedric Ogbuehi and Chance Warmack. Shell is the leading candidate to start at right tackle. Finney could start at guard or center.

What’s interesting about the contracts is that the Seahawks may have added two starters who come in for less money combined than Fant. The numbers have surfaced on Shell. He got a two-year deal for $9 million, less than the earlier reported two-year, $11-million deal. Finney got two years, $8 million. Fant makes $9.1 million per year.

Ogbuehi came in for a little more than expected. He got a one-year deal at $2.3 million. The former Cincinnati Bengals first-round choice will compete to be top backup tackle and be available to take over Fant’s role as a blocking tight end.

Warmack, who didn’t play last year, got one year at $910,000 that counts $750,000 against the cap.

Ifedi’s departure after four years offers an education of what’s the latest trend in the NFL Many call Ifedi a first-round bust. He struggled against pass-rushers. He had too many penalties. Calling him a bust, though, is completely wrong.

Ifedi was the second-to-last last pick in the 2016 first round. If you look back at drafts in 2015 and 2016, Ifedi did something very few did among first-rounders taken from the 21st pick to the 32nd: He held down a position for four consecutive years. That’s not happening around the league for first-round picks in the second half of the first round.

He started 60 of 64 games. The only other player drafted from 21 to 32 during that time is Green Bay defensive lineman Kenny Clark. Playoff teams land picks from 21 to 32. Normally, the prospects available there have second-round grades because most teams usually don’t give more than 16 or 17 first round grades on their boards.

That’s why you see John Schneider trading down so often. You can try to get the players you like and add some draft choices.

The first-round busts are the ones who either didn’t win starting jobs or get cut or traded before the end of their four-year contracts. Wide receivers Josh Doctson and Laquon Treadwell, guard Josh Garnett, defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche and quarterback Paxton Lynch were first-round busts. They didn’t survive four years.

The recent trend is that only one player per year taken between the 21st and 32nd pick goes to the Pro Bowl. Cornerback Byron Jones was that player from 2015. Kenny Clark was the only true Pro Bowler from the bottom of the 2016 draft.

Where that is important is that the only way to keep a first-rounder after four years is if he is a Pro Bowler because of the high cost of the fifth-year option and the price of giving a long-term deal to a Pro Bowl starter.

That’s why you are seeing general managers trading first-rounders in the third and fourth years of their contract.

Ifedi may have been a disappointment, but he wasn’t a bust.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s John Clayton on Twitter.

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Clayton: Ifedi struggled for the Seahawks, but it’s wrong to call him a bust