Seahawks sign running back Carlos Hyde and Twitterverse reacts

The Seahawks made a nice move on Friday by signing running back Carlos Hyde. This is how 12s in the Twitterverse reacted.

Sports are great, of course, but sports are nothing without fans. The Seahawks have great fans. And 12s are some of the best fans in sports. 12s sell out CenturyLink and have strong, well-thought-out opinions. So when Seattle signed running back Carlos Hyde on Friday, Seahawks Twitterverse responded mightily.

Let me start with the immediate reactions that signing Hyde meant less money for the Seahawks to try to sign Jadeveon Clowney.

This is a good one to start with because the reaction is absolutely correct. Signing Carlos Hyde doesn’t mean no Jadeveon Clowney. The Seahawks simply added another good player and one at a position of need. Seattle needed depth behind Chris Carson and Hyde fits that perfectly. Plus, Clowney is still an option because cap space is flexible and a team can bend it to some degree to sign players.

This is a good take as well. Mr. Slater isn’t saying Seattle isn’t signing Clowney because they signed Hyde. He is suggesting that maybe Seattle dropped out of the Clowney running well before Hyde was an option. Potentially very true.

Comparing Hyde to Eddie Lacy? What?

I saw a few responses about people assuming Hyde is going to be the next Eddie Lacy for the Seahawks. I am not sure I understand this one. Hyde plays at 230 pounds and a bit north of that. Lacy tried playing at 250 pounds and above.

I am sure this tweet is meant with sarcasm, right?

Mr. Schweitzer later tweeted that Seattle wasted $4 million by signing Lacy and hopes the same isn’t for Hyde. Seattle did waste money by signing Lacy, but Lacy had a bunch of incentives that he met with weight goals in training camp. Hyde can potentially be paid $4 million as well, but his contract seems to be laden with production goals. If he plays well enough then he will have earned his $4 million and Seattle will have been a better football team for it.

Plus, Hyde is coming off a career-best 1,070 rushing yards in 2019. The two seasons prior to Lacy joining Seattle he had 758 yards in 2015 followed by 360 yards in 2016. So comparing Hyde to Lacy is unfair.

Overall, though, most 12s liked the Hyde signing and they should. Seattle needed quality depth at running back and got it with Hyde. Plus, Hyde is a starter-quality running back. If Carson were to be injured again, Hyde could step in and play Seahawks-style football.