Seattle Seahawks really don’t need another Jimmy G train wreck
Not so long ago, the Seahawks mortgaged the future for a quick fix with Jimmy Graham. We don’t need a repeat with another Jimmy G, thanks. Once was quite enough.
A lot has been made of the fact that Jimmy G went to the Super Bowl. As if the reason the Niners made it to the title game was because of Garappolo. That’s hilarious! Yeah, and Robert Horry has seven rings. Does anyone on the planet think the Rockets, Lakers, and Spurs won because of him? Man, that’s a lot of teams. Okay, I’m not saying Horry was just along for the ride. But Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan did just a little more to get those rings than Big Shot Bob.
Alright, back to the $137 million dollar man. No, he’s not a terrible quarterback, even though he looks like one whenever he plays the Seahawks. He’s just not a franchise QB, even though the Niners stupidly paid him like one. He’s a cut above Scott Mitchell, another QB who cashed in on a few big games as a sub, I’ll give him that.
Seahawks don’t need Jimmy G disappointment 2.0
Garoppolo is also a step above a quarterback who lives forever in Seahawks lore. You all remember back in 2011, when Matt Flynn stepped in for an injured Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and looked like the Next Big Thing, right? Seattle snapped him up after the season with the full expectation that they’d found their QB for the next decade. Well, they did, except it was a guy they drafted in the third round. Short dude, great football mind, and a gun for an arm. Russ somebody…
Luckily, the Hawks didn’t hand Flynn the keys to the bank. He got three years, $19.5 million with $10 million guaranteed. Happily, once they saw Russell Wilson was the answer, they traded Flynn to the *greatness that is the Raiders* for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a conditional pick in 2015. Nothing really came of either pick, but at least Seattle got the opportunity to make something of the deal. As Keith Myers wrote lo these many years ago, the main reason for the deal was to dump his salary. Mission accomplished.
The Hawks did manage to screw up another trade, though, when they moved center Max Unger to the Saints for tight end Jimmy Graham. I’ve written about this before, but to summarize, it was insane for the Hawks to give up the core of their great offensive line for a tight end that needed 140 targets to put up his numbers. There was no way Graham was going to match his Saints production with the Seahawks. He was good, but that trade was the beginning of the end of Seattle’s solid offensive line play.
And now we have the prospect of bringing in another Jimmy G. Granted, he’s more marketable, but last I checked, the Seahawks were in the football business, not advertising. What can Garappolo bring to the field that Geno Smith or Drew Lock can’t? Unlike Lock, who slogged under a series of uninspired offensive coordinators in Denver, Jimmy G has been in a – okay I hate to admit it, but – a pretty good offensive system in San Francisco. We’ve seen the best of Garappolo already.
Frankly, his best just isn’t that good. One article stated that he could win a couple of games for the Seahawks. So that does what, move a 7-10 team to 9-8? What’s the point of that? The Hawks would face the same problem they’d have if they bring in Baker Mayfield or any veteran QB on a new deal. The new guy has a great season, Seattle goes 12-5, and now has to hand the new QB a huge contract.
Next. Three Hawks to cut, sadly. dark
Russell Wilson is reportedly looking for $50 million per year on his new deal. That’s the reason the Seahawks didn’t fight to keep him. If Garoppolo (or Mayfield or Grandma Moses) comes in and has a great year, they’ll expect at least Jared Goff / Carson Wentz money. So how exactly will the Seahawks sign their new QB to that contract and still keep DK Metcalf? They couldn’t. So for the sake of a two-game improvement – and that’s very questionable – Seattle would tread water, and still wouldn’t know if Drew Lock can do the job. That makes zero sense. I’d much rather keep Metcalf, a generational player, than rent a decent quarterback for a year.