Seahawks Pete Carroll talks second chances but might need his own

Pete Carroll and John Schneider of the Seahawks talked at a press conference on Wednesday about the Russell Wilson trade and Bobby Wagner release but seemed proactively ready to ask for forgiveness.

Carroll talked about second chances and mentioned a litany of players, such as Colin Kaepernick. It seemed a bit odd way to start an offseason press conference during the free agency period. Free agency is basically a time when teams are building their rosters for the next season so it is inherently a time of hope.

But this offseason, unless something unexpected happens, will be remembered for the losses the Seahawks have suffered. This includes trading the best quarterback in franchise history and releasing one of the best defensive players in Seattle football history. Taking Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner’s places are just question marks at this time.

Seahawks might be looking at a much longer rebuild than John Schneider and Pete Carroll want to think about

But Carroll seemed a bit feisty at the beginning of the press conference whereas what would the need be for that unless he was setting 12s up for a not-great 2022? Carroll could have started by saying, “We’ve made some huge changes this offseason but we don’t expect next year to be worse than we have been.”

Carroll mentioned how the team “started” when he and Schneider came to Seattle in 2010. Those first couple of years had a lot of growing pains. Yes, the Seahawks made the playoffs in Carroll’s first season of 2010 but the team was just 7-9 and the rest of the NFC West was putrid.

The NFC West is now really good. That is, every team but the Seahawks should be expected to have a really good chance of making the postseason in 2022. Seattle doesn’t have the same opportunities in the next two years as it did in 2010 because they were already as good as every other team in the division and now they are the worst team in the division.

Starting over isn’t an option, no matter how many players get second chances and come to Seattle in free agency looking to make their mark. The Rams, 49ers and Cardinals have lots of great players on their roster who will be good next year, not looking for a second chance.

Seattle might have a roster full of hungry guys next year who will play hard. But talent eventually wins out. The NFC West has teams with talent for several years, not just next season. Seattle might win a game or two it isn’t expected to win but just having a team with lots of players looking for second chances won’t play well over a whole year.

2022 might be a season unlike anything since 2009 for the Seahawks when the team was truly looking to rebuild. Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner are gone. Schneider and Carroll have made those decisions and now they need to make decisions that get this team better faster than expected and that means going beyond simply giving second chances.