Why the Seahawks need to sign Morgan Moses

The Seahawks need to take a long, hard look at signing Morgan Moses to the team for 2021 and beyond.  As a Brandon Shell replacement, Moses would have the talent to make the Seahawks offensive line a top-10 unit, something Russell Wilson hasn’t played behind since the ‘Hawks won their Super Bowl.  If John Schneider can find a way to bring Moses in, I’m all for it.

Morgan Moses has been a very sturdy right tackle for the Football Team over the past 7 seasons.  He’s not injury prone, as he’s started all 16 games in 6 consecutive seasons.  He has great size (6’6″, 335 pounds) and I think he would be an excellent addition to the offensive line.

I was intrigued when the Washington Football Team gave Morgan Moses permission to seek a trade earlier in the week.  I thought that I would be comfortable sending a 2022 draft pick in the middle rounds, or Brandon Shell, or both, to Washington in exchange for a difference-maker at right tackle.

Why the Seahawks need to bring Morgan Moses in

But now that the Football Team has cut Moses, and the Seahawks won’t have to give up draft capital or a good player to acquire him, I really think they need to make the move.  Here’s how they can make it happen.

Step 1:  Restructure Russell Wilson

If you’re the Seahawks and you don’t want to be married to Russell Wilson forever, you don’t have to make a large restructuring of Wilson’s deal.  Just push $3-4 million of his cap hit for 2021 into 2022 and beyond.

That extra cap should, in my opinion, be spread out over the next two seasons so the impact isn’t as large on the 2022 season.  If the team feels like Russ is there to stay, they could make an even bigger restructure of Wilson’s deal, depending on whether they want to carry out Step 2.

Step 2:  Cut Brandon Shell after June 1

Thanks to my cap casualty series, we know that by cutting players this summer we can save money against the cap this season.  Cutting Shell after June 1 saves the Seahawks $3.375 million, which is probably close to half of the money needed to bring Moses in.  He’s also in the last year of his deal, leaving no dead money down the road for Seattle.

This is why I said the restructure of Russ’s deal could be small.  If the team likes Shell and wants to keep him on as a backup should they acquire Moses, they’ll have to restructure Russ’s contract for a larger amount.

Step 3:  Make a push for Morgan Moses

If Russ is worried about getting hit, he would certainly be very pleased if the team adds Moses.  He would make the offensive line better than it has been over the past 5 years for the Seahawks, and it may be what makes Russ happy enough to restructure his deal by even more, allowing the team to bring in more veteran talent for 2021 while this team pushes for a title.

All in all, I think this team has to at the very least call Moses’s agent and see what he wants.  If he’s in their range, the Seahawks need to move on from Brandon Shell and make a small restructure of Wilson’s contract so that the 2021 offensive line is stout and Russell Wilson has what he needs to take this team to glory.