Seahawks could trade Duane Brown before week one says one site

Seahawks left tackle wants an extension of his contract after this year. But Bleacher Report says Seattle could trade Brown before week one of the season. Brown is included on BR’s list of players “most likely” to be traded before the start of the year. Does this really make sense, though?

Trading Brown, Seattle’s best offensive lineman, seems dumb if the team doesn’t have a true backup to the most important position on the line. They don’t. Maybe rookie Stone Forsythe can be a good tackle in the NFL one day, but now? No. Nor does any of the other players backing up Brown show enough promise for Seattle to say, “OK, let’s let Brown go.”

And while Brown is still really good, he is also getting older. He will be 36 years old this season. No NFL team is going to offer the Seahawks a first-round or probably second-round pick for Brown. If Brown were five years younger, probably.

Seahawks shouldn’t trade Duane Brown

But let’s remember that in 2017 when the Seahawks traded the Texans for Brown that Seattle gave up a fifth-round choice in 2018 and a second-round pick in 2019. This was four years ago. Seattle isn’t going to get better value back for Brown now.

Plus, Brown is simply more valuable to the Seahawks now than whatever picks they would get back for him. One, the dropoff between Brown and whoever takes his place is chasmic. Two, Brown won’t bring a lot back via trade. And three, and most importantly, what would this say to Russell Wilson?

The Seahawks are in a position to win a lot of games in 2021 and Brown is an important part of that. Seattle is a lesser team without him. And whatever Seattle gets back in a trade isn’t going to be a worthy enough high draft pick to take Brown’s long-term substitute. To be honest, trading Duane Brown before week one just seems dumb.