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Seattle Seahawks and Evan Mathis: does it need to happen?

By Dan Viens

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Ever since the Philadelphia Eagles released All-Pro left guard Evan Mathis in June, the whispers of how he might be able to help the Seattle Seahawks began.

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After a horrendous showing by the Hawks offensive line in their first preseason game Friday night, those whispers have grown to primal screams.

I heard it in the stadium during the game, I’ve seen it on Twitter, and frankly I’ve wondered myself if a marriage between Mathis and the Seahawks makes sense.

But for those hoping to see it, there doesn’t seem to be much chatter about it around the league.

A month ago, Mathis’ agent Drew Rosenhaus said at least six teams were interested, and Mathis said his options would become more clear as camps opened a couple weeks later.

Two weeks into camp he’s been mentioned as a possible target of the Dolphins, and now the Vikings are being mentioned after they lost Phil Loadholt for the season with a torn Achillies. There is zero chatter from national reporters about any interest from the Seahawks side.

As you can imagine, there are financial reasons. But it may be more than that.

There is some discrepancy between spotrac.com and overthecap.com as to exactly how much cap room the Hawks have left, but it appears to be somewhere around $5 million. Mathis was said to be seeking exactly that amount for the 2015 season to sign with a team, but the more time that goes by the more his asking price may have to drop. Clearly the market for him at $5 million wasn’t there. The Dolphins are reportedly willing to pay him $2 million.

If Mathis was willing to play for that amount, the Seahawks could be in play. After all, some players at this stage in their career may be willing to take a one-year deal with a contender in hopes of getting a better deal next year. But we don’t know if Mathis is one of those guys, and even if he was…….would Seattle want him?

If the Seahawks operated in traditional ways, maybe. But the Seahawks don’t do anything traditional. They believe in the players they have, and they invested heavily on the offensive line in this year’s draft. They’ve also pinpointed the offensive line as a place where they can save some of the money they need to invest in long-term deals for all their other young stars, and their confidence in Tom Cable to get the most of the unit is what drives this philosophy. They felt so confident in this approach, perhaps even to the point of being cocky, that they were able to trade Pro-Bowl center Max Unger to New Orleans to bring back Jimmy Graham.

The bottom line is…… one bad preseason game isn’t going to force them to blow up their game plan.

Instead, what we’re likely to see this week is a shuffle in the depth chart; new players tried in new positions, and a lot of intense, profanity-laden coaching-up from Cable.

Sure, they could take the easy route and just plug in a proven All-Pro to solidify left guard moving forward into another potential Super Bowl year.

Should it happen? As you can see it’s an easy case to make. But if the Hawks really loved Mathis and thought he was the answer, they would have made that move before camp.

COULD it happen still? It’s possible, but unlikely.

It’s just not the Seahawk Way.

Next: Defensive Line Roster Battle Update

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