Seahawks have decision to make on K.J. Wright due to injury

The Seahawks took linebacker Jordyn Brooks in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The reason why is more clear now with news of K.J. Wright’s injury.

When the Seahawks take on their part of any NFL draft, they usually leave 12s and national pundits with a lot of head-scratching choices. 2020 was no different. In the first round, Seattle took linebacker Jordyn Brooks from Texas Tech. A linebacker? First? That was weird. But now with the news of K.J. Wright requiring offseason surgery maybe the pick of Brooks isn’t so odd.

On Thursday, Seahawks general manager John Schneider told Seattle’s Sports Radio KJR that Wright needed offseason shoulder surgery. While the injury was not major, according to Schneider, he also did not have a timeline for Wright’s return.

Wright might be coming off his best season in 2019 after an injury-plagued 2018. Last year Wright recorded a career-high 132 tackles, 3 interceptions and 11 passes defended. But he will be 31 years old in the 2020 season and is slated to make nearly $8 million and has a cap hit of $10 million. The Seahawks would save $7.5 million if they released Wright.

This is where Brooks comes in. And second-year pro Cody Barton for that matter. While I would hope that the Seahawks are not ready to move on from future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner, they might need to be with Wright. Maybe Wright’s injury isn’t serious, but it is serious enough that Schneider doesn’t know when Wright will be able to return.

The Seahawks defenses of 2012 through 2015 were built on speed. Brooks has plenty of that and Wright has less than Brooks currently. There is no way of knowing if Brooks will be a good linebacker in the NFL but he can fly and likes to hit people. Sounds like a Seahawk on the 2013 defense.

Cody Barton showed last year that he can be pretty good in coverage but needs to work on his run defense. Wright used to be the guy that covered tight ends for Seattle and Barton is capable of that. In fact, I think in three years the starting linebacker duo (assuming Seattle goes back to more of a 4-2-5 base from the 4-3-4 of 2019) is Brooks and Barton. The new LOB could be the Legion of Barton and Brooks.

The issue with letting Wright go now, though, is Seattle is still capable of very good things and having talent and experience is needed for Super Bowl-potential teams. Wright was good in 2019 and he is a very good person and a good fit in the Seahawks locker room.

But if Seattle sees Brooks doing great things in training camp (again, assuming Seattle has one and the threat of COVID-19 has subsided a bit) and Wright isn’t ready to play, then Wright might be released to save money. Jadeveon Clowney might still not have signed by late July. Releasing Wright means more money to try to lock up Clowney. And an edge rusher is more valuable than a linebacker to Seattle right now.