Seahawks look to past to fill the cornerback role

The Seahawks plan to work out former Seattle player Byron Maxwell on Monday. He isn’t the only option to step into the Legion of Boom, either.

As everyone now knows, The Seahawks lost the irreplaceable Richard Sherman Thursday night to a torn Achilles tendon. The search, or more accurately, scramble, to replace the irreplaceable is well under way. In case you missed it, here’s Sherman’s address to his fans on Twitter:

So where do the Seahawks turn? Seattle started by looking to their past, as former member of the Legion of Boom Byron Maxwell will get a look Monday. Maxwell spent his first four seasons in the league with Seattle and worked his way into the starting lineup in his third season. He spent the last two seasons with the Miami Dolphins, but was benched earlier this year. The Dolphins released Maxwell last month.

Since then he worked out for the Atlanta Falcons. Obviously Falcons head coach Dan Quinn knows Maxwell, yet didn’t see enough to sign him. Add this to the fact the Dolphins first benched then released him, and things don’t look promising for Maxwell in Seattle. I’m hopeful that he shows enough, though. Coming back to a familiar system may be just what he needs to get back on track, and give the Seahawks some depth at corner.

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Seahawks will look at more than Maxwell

Seattle will also work out Trovon Reed, who was in six games with the (now) Los Angeles Chargers last year.  Reed was on the Seahawks practice squad in 2015, so he too has some familiarity with the system.

Seattle has just four cornerbacks on the active roster. It may be a stroke of luck that Jeremy Lane wasn’t traded to the Texans after all. He, along Shaquill Griffin, Justin Coleman and Neiko Thorpe, are it. Mike Tyson and Akeem King are on the practice squad as well. If Maxwell doesn’t sign, I think it’s a toss-up whether they sign Reed or activate Tyson. Reed has regular season experience, Tyson has more time in Kris Richard’s system.

Related Story: Have injuries closed the window for Seattle?

One bright spot is the future of DeShawn Shead. He’s eligible to come off the Physically Unable to Perform list. As it stands now, he’s expected to be ready to return to practice in a couple of weeks. With Seattle’s defense turning into a MASH unit, the timing couldn’t be much better.