Seattle Seahawks Prioritizing Cornerback Early in the Offseason

By Paul Novak | Mar 5, 2015

With the eventual loss of cornerback Byron Maxwell the Seattle Seahawks look to be prioritizing the starting spot that he’s vacating in the Legion of Boom’s secondary.

After serving for five years in the military while on Active Duty in the U.S. Army, there is one saying that I can recall more than any other.

“The chain is only as strong as the weakest link.”

By now there is little arguing that could be made when you state that the Seahawks have the best secondary in the National Football League. Richard Sherman is widely regarded as one of the best cornerbacks, along with Darrelle Revis. Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas have both earned Pro Bowl honors as well as All-Pro selections in multiple seasons.

Byron Maxwell has stood his ground with his teammates and shown that he’s not someone who opposing teams can target while the other three-quarters of the field are covered. His likely departure however will do just that.

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With contract figures that Maxwell will garner in free agency, it’s hard to imagine the Seahawks even being able to consider making a respectable offer. This leaves a big weakness in the chain. We saw how the Patriots took advantage of a nickel corner for the Seahawks being replaced by a bench player.

Now it’s a starting roster spot that Seattle’s front office will be tasked with replacing.

With free agency getting ready to really turn interesting over the next few weeks the Seattle Seahawks have already shown to be focused on bringing in a reliable option to join the Legion of Boom.

Unrestricted free agency begins on Tuesday. If the Green Bay Packers don’t re-sign Tramon Williams by then, Seahawks general manager John Schneider will make a strong push to bring in the veteran corner that he signed to the Packers’ practice squad in 2006.

The name will most likely not be familiar to too many Seahawks fans. Tramon Williams is the cornerback that allowed the game-winning touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse in overtime to send the Seahawks to the Super Bowl

Estimates are that the Packers corner will fetch between $4-6 million on the open market. The Packers have already reportedly offered Williams $5 million over two years, however at 31-years-old the veteran wants a multi-year-contract in the 3-4 year range.

Next on the list is ex-Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams, who was released earlier this week in order to reduce payroll for the upcoming season. Williams is reported to be meeting with the team today.

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Cory Williams had an off-year in 2014, but at 6-foot-1, he provides the size that the Seahawks covet from their secondary.

If this tells us anything, it’s that the Seahawks have an obvious desire to install a veteran into the secondary opposite Richard Sherman rather than entrusting a rookie, or one of the other corners already on the 53-man roster.

Aside from signing linebacker Mister Alexander two days ago the Seahawks haven’t made too many ripples in the water with who they’re bringing in for a look. Undoubtedly there are others, and cornerback isn’t the only position in need of addressing.

The reports on Tramon and Cary Williams that have become public clearly show a priority to ensure the weakness in the defensive chain doesn’t come via the departure of Byron Maxwell.

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