Byron Maxwell headed to Eagles, Seattle Seahawks still have other options
By Keith Myers
Just as 12th Man Rising writer Thomas Oide predicted almost a week ago, Byron Maxwell is headed to Philadelphia. Depending on the source, the deal is for either 5 year and $50 million, or for $6 years and $63 million. Either way, that was way too rich for the Seattle Seahawks.
Maxwell is a good player, but that is a lot of scratch for a team that already paying for Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor in its secondary. At some point, the team needs to start investing into other positions on the roster.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Seattle can ignore the cornerback position either. Maxwell is gone. Lane and Simon are both recovering from surgeries that threaten their ability to play next season.
The must find a player capable of starting at the position, be it in free agency or the draft.
Free Agency
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Not only is Maxwell off the market, but so are the other
similar players at his position.
Brandon Flowers re-signed with San Diego. Kareem Jackson re-signed with Houston.
The next tier of cornerbacks aren’t as good, but will also be more cost-effective to sign. I’ve already profiled a few options for the Seahawks. This includes Chris Culliver, Charles Tillman, Patrick Robinson and Walter Thurmond. All of them are still options.
I’d also add Will Blackmon and Devon House to the list of potential options. Both would be solid additions to Seattle’s roster.
NFL Draft
The Seahawks have done a great job of turning late round draft pick into solid NFL players. Richard Sherman, Byron Maxwell, Jeremy Lane and even Tharold Simon all this that description.
Unfortunately, none of them were ready to contribute right away. Only Sherman managed to do much as a rookie. The rest took at least a year before they were ready to play in the NFL.
The Seahawks don’t have time to wait on a late round pick to develop. So while the Seahawks are likely to take a player like Auburn’s Nick Marshall late in the draft, that doesn’t fill their need at cornerback for the 2015 season.
If Seattle cannot sign a suitable starting cornerback in free agency, then they will be stuck using an early draft pick on one. Washington’s Marcus Peters would be idea, assuming he is still available when the Seahawks pick at the end of the first round.
Another option to keep an eye on is Byron Jones out of UConn. He’s an athletic freak that fits the profile of a Seattle cornerback. He is also relatively unknown, which means he should still be available at the end of the second round.