Seahawks: A Breno Giacomini reunion is a bad idea

Despite the temptation, the Seattle Seahawks need to resist the urge to sign Breno Giacomini as the veteran offensive tackle they need.

The New York Jets released Breno Giacomini over the weekend. The time it took for people to connect the dots and suggest that he could return to the Seattle Seahawks would have needed to be measured with a quantum oscillator.

I mean, it makes perfect sense, right? The Seahawks need a OT. They’d prefer one that came on the cheep and won’t block any of the youngsters on the roster one finally develops into a starter. That description sure seems to fit Giacomini.

The problem here is that the Seahawks need a player they can count on to be a starter in 2017. I’m sorry, but Giacomini is no longer that guy.

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The big Russian last played in Seattle back in 2013. He was mostly competent then, but a lot has changed over the last three seasons.

For starters, Giacomini has been playing in a power blocking system. His skill set is much better suited for that system than Seattle’s zone scheme. Asking him to go back to zone at his age and perform at a high level is not a recipe for success.

There is also the health concerns that developed last year. Breno played just five games last season, all related to a back injury. He started the year on the Physically Unable to Preform list. After being activated for just 5 games the Jets placed him on IR with the same back injury.

As anyone who has dealt with back issues will tell you, these things just never get 100% back to where they were. Trust me, this part of getting old really sucks. There is also just no way to effective play on the offensive play with a bad back.

All of that showed in the five games that Giacomini played last season. All that raw power and strength that made him a good run blocker throughout his career was gone. Sadly, all his penalty and pass blocking issues were still there. That made for a terrible combination.

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If the Seahawks want to bring in Giacomini on a minimum salary benefit deal to see if he can do the impossible and get back to where he was a couple of years ago, I’m all for that. It’ll almost certainly end the same way it did for Brandon Browner last year, but it never hurts to try.

On the other hand, bringing him back as the veteran addition to help stabilize the offensive line would be a major mistake. He just simply isn’t that guy anymore.