Seahawks need a right tackle but Jack Conklin might not be the guy

The Seahawks might be looking for a replacement for right tackle Germain Ifedi this offseason. Jack Conklin is available. But he might be too expensive.

Finding someone to take Germain Ifedi‘s right tackle position is going to be a bit tricky for the Seahawks. This is not to say that Ifedi was one of the better right tackles in the NFL over the last four seasons, but he did stay healthy and was a bit better the last two years. Staying healthy is important on the offensive line. But Seattle could do better than Ifedi.

Of course, while I am writing this the Seahawks could be thinking of offering Ifedi a contract to stay in Seattle for the next five years. Maybe Ifedi won’t come at a high price, or not as high as some other free agents that could be looking at signing. One of those players is Jack Conklin who was drafted in the same year as Ifedi and has been playing for the Tennessee Titans.

Conklin might command as much as $15 million a season. If this is so, there is no way the Seahawks should try to sign him. Sure, Seattle, after signing Greg Olsen, has about $55 million in cap space, pending offseason roster cuts and so on. That is a goodly amount of money but it needs to be spent wisely. Signing Conklin to a contract worth $13 or $14 million a year would not be wise.

It isn’t that Conklin isn’t good. He is pretty decent. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the fifth highest-graded right tackle in the NFL in 2019. Ifedi was 64th highest-graded tackle overall. But the difference between the two gets smaller when it comes to pass protection. Conklin graded at 74 on pass snaps while Ifedi was 63.3. Overall Conklin was graded 80.6 and Ifedi was 58.8.

The most important player for the Seahawks is, of course, Russell Wilson. If Wilson had played for the Titans in 2019 Tennessee might have won the Super Bowl. So keeping Wilson healthy and upright is absolutely necessary. In 2019, Conklin whiffed on 16 pass blocks. Ifedi whiffed on 21. But in 2018, Conklin had 10 blown pass protection snaps and Ifedi had 11. Basically, the difference between the two in pass protection is minimal.

The question then becomes, if Seattle isn’t willing to pay Ifedi $10 million a season are they willing to go $3 to 4 million more a season for a player who isn’t that much better keeping the Seahawks’ franchise player clean? Tennessee had Derrick Henry at running back and Seattle has Chris Carson. Both those running backs are going to get their yards no matter how great their offensive line is.

Russell Wilson is the most important player for Seattle. His health is most important and giving him time to create is a must. Instead of Jake Conklin or Germain Ifedi, the Seahawks should probably save some money and just re-sign George Fant and put him as the starter at right tackle. Fant missed on just 3.2 percent of his pass snaps in 2019. He is a better option than Conklin.