Trent Brown visiting Seahawks but comes with some big risk

The Seattle Seahawks are trying to rebuild their offensive line it seems and that includes hosting offensive tackle Trent Brown on a visit on Thursday.

Brown was a seventh-round draft pick in 2015 for the San Francisco 49ers but has mostly, at least on the field, has far exceeded his draft position. In fact, Brown made the Pro Bowl in 2019 when he was with the Raiders. But Brown has also struggled to stay on the field.

Brown has only played a full season in the NFL twice, in 2016 and also in 2018. In the last two years, Brown has played in a combined 14 games. In 2017 and 2019, Brown missed a combined 11 games.

Seahawks bringing talented tackle Trent Brown in for a visit

Bringing Brown is to play either right or left tackle – Brown can play both spots equally well and the Seahawks currently need a player at each position – would be a fantastic move but only if Brown can stay healthy. Per Pro Football Focus, Brown received an overall grade of 78.7 in 2021 which would have been 21st overall among tackles. Brown had a pass-blocking grade of 81.2 which would have been 13th.

Brown is a massive human as well. He is 6’8″ and 380 pounds. While Russell Wilson found a way to throw in lanes, it would likely still be helpful to the team to have a taller quarterback if they have acquire taller offensive linemen.

One key question, of course, is where the Seahawks might be thinking of playing Brown should they sign him. Duane Brown is still good enough for a season or two to hold down the left tackle spot while Bradon Shell likely won’t be back to play right tackle.

But Shell wasn’t really bad at right tackle in his two seasons he was in Seattle. The issue with Shell was he couldn’t stay healthy and Brown has the same problem. Signing Brown could be an upgrade for the Seahawks offensive line but we shouldn’t get too excited about it until well into the 2022 season when Brown has shown he can be good and able to stay on the field.