Seahawks move from Hauschka to Walsh is great for the team

So why did the Seahawks let Hauschka walk for Walsh?

Money. It’s that simple. Hauschka was in the final year of a three deal that paid him $8.55 million. He made it clear he wanted a similar deal. Meanwhile, the Seahawks saw that a player with similar talent was on the market. Note, I said similar, not the same talent. Walsh went off the rails in 2016, which cut his asking price considerably. His previous contract with the Vikings had been for four years at $13 million. As Richard Sherman pointed out recently, NFL contracts aren’t quite what they are in the other major sports. Of that $13 million, less than $4 million was guaranteed.

So Walsh was available for the relative pittance of $1.1 million for one year. Hauschka signed with the Buffalo Bills for 3 years and $8.85 million, a slight bump above his old Seattle deal.

Will the risk pay off? Walsh did have a worse season that Hauschka, they’re no denying that. Then again, if Hauschka’s percentages hadn’t dropped, I probably wouldn’t be writing this. I’d say risking $1 million on Walsh bouncing back is a smarter move than betting $4 million on Hauschka doing the same.

How the Seahawks win with this move, no matter what

And what did the Seahawks do with that extra $3 million? They spent $1.8 million on safety Bradley McDougald, who could have a huge impact on their playoff hopes. Another $855,00 went to quarterback Austin Davis, who will battle for the Seahawks backup gig this season.

Or you could just look at Eddie Lacy’s contract, and see that the Seahawks guaranteed Lacy $1 million less than what Hauschka signed for with Buffalo. Add in the $750,000 guaranteed to McDougald, and I’d say that’s a very smart deal. For the money they saved by signing Walsh – with no guaranteed money, by the way – the Seahawks added their probable starting running back and a safety that can fill three roles in the secondary.

If Walsh can get back to some semblance of his pre-2016 form, the Seahawks will have replaced their kicker and at the least added considerable depth to both backfields. Both the offense and defense sorely needed to be shored up. If he crashes and burns – which I do not think he will do at all – there isn’t one dime of guaranteed money at risk. There isn’t even a signing bonus at stake.

I believe Walsh will be the answer for the Seahawks. I believe he’ll rebound nicely, and help the Seahawks in a deep playoff run. No matter what, his contract certainly helped the Seahawks pick up other key players to make that push.