Seahawks sure have a lot of great trade bait. Too much, apparently.
According to one writer, the Seahawks have so many great players to trade practically no one will be left. I’d prefer we keep at least a couple of them.
Found a great article today on a sister site, nflmocks.com. It is a FanSided site, but that isn’t why I’m bringing it up. George Stockburger’s premise is simple and very intriguing. He identifies the one player each team in the NFL should target to bring in via trade. Really good stuff, and I was anxious to see who George thought the Seahawks should go after. I’ll get to that soon enough, but as I was browsing through the teams, I came to a horrifying realization.
George Stockburger wants to destroy the Seahawks. Now I don’t cast aspersions lightly. I would never ascribe dark and evil motives to anyone, let alone a fine writer like Mr. Stockburger, without overwhelming evidence. Not being sarcastic, it’s a great article. But what else can anyone think when they realize that the Seahawks aren’t just targeted once – the first proposed trade is of course Earl Thomas for the Dallas Cowboys. Earl’s picture is even the lead for the entire article; thanks a lot, George.
See, you’d think that as each team has one player as their target, every team would only give up one player. Nope, not in the evil world created by George. The Seahawks aren’t only designated to give up Thomas, oh no. The Seahawks have another great player slated as trade bait. If this evil dream ever came to fruition, you could also say goodbye to Tyler Lockett. George sees Lockett as a great fit for the Green Bay Packers. He’s right, too, but I’m pretty sure the 12s like how Lockett fits with the Seahawks.
Why trade two Seahawks when you can trade three? Or even…
But wait, that’s not all! Why trade two Seahawks when you can trade three? That’s right 12’s, as George sees it, K.J. Wright should move east and start smashing heads for the Philadelphia Eagles. As with the previous moves, sure, it makes great sense for the Eagles. I mean, why should the Seahawks be greedy and hang on to another of their top players, right? I’ll admit, Lockett isn’t in the same class as Thomas, but he could certainly have a big year in 2018. He’s another year removed from that nasty fracture, and he may not have to do as much special teams duty this year with Rashaad Penny on the team. This could be a big contract year for Lockett.
You thought you were safe now, didn’t you, 12s? You thought the carnage was over, and the master of Seahawks disaster had done all the damage he could. Ah, that’s so funny. No, George has only held back his coup de grace until now. Actually, I did, as he slated this player to travel to the Oakland – or maybe by then Las Vegas – Raiders. And Oakland comes before Philadelphia in the alphabet.
No, it isn’t Russell Wilson, but it’s close enough. Not content to take K. J. Wright, George would absolutely destroy the Seahawks linebacker corps. Yes, he wants to ship Bobby Wagner off, too. Of course the Raiders can use Wagner. If you assembled an All-Time NFL team, they could use Wagner. George, I just have to ask: what have the good, kind, decent people of Seattle ever done to you to deserve this?
Ah, the one player the Seahawks should target? According to the article, we should go after Jason Verrett. He had a good year in 2015, and has played in five games since then. He’s a 5’10 188 pound cornerback. You may recall the Seahawks like height at the corner so much they moved 6′ 3″ rookie Tre Flowers from safety to corner. This is truly the one player that really made no sense to me.
Seattle Seahawks
Actually, the trades do make sense
Now if I can be serious for a moment or three, let’s address the reality. All four of the trades do make sense from a financial standpoint, and that’s one of Mr. Stockburger’s main points. Lockett, Wright, and of course Thomas will all see their contracts expire before the 2019 season. Thomas wants his contract extended, in case you’ve somehow missed one of the biggest stories of the Seahawks offseason.
Wagner’s contract expires before the 202 season, as does Wilson’s. Seattle would have to spend a whole lot of cash to keep Thomas and Wright around, and then they’d face 2020. Bobby Wagner makes even more than Earl Thomas. And no one will make anything close to what Russell Wilson will pull down in his new contract. So in some ways it makes sense to dump salary now, before you’re forced to. Otherwise you may have to just release a great player hoping he can’t find a better deal. And watch as he signs with your bitter rival 800 miles to the south.
Almost everything George wrote makes perfect sense, although I don’t agree that the Seahawks might as well fold their tents and stock up on young talent. One of these trades would be bad enough. Two, and I’m pretty sure most 12s would be miserable. If all four ever came to be, well…George, I would never give out your address, I swear to you. But you might want to move, just in case.