Three presumed Seahawks starters who might need new homes in 2023
By Lee Vowell
There are a bunch of unknowns for the Seattle Seahawks heading into the 2022 season but if some starters don’t play as expected then 2023 is going to have just as many unknowns.
It wouldn’t really be fair to say this year’s Seahawks team overall is boom or bust. Even if the season is far from successful, the team is going to be so young that many of the same players will return and be better after having gone through the 2022 season. There could be a boom to this season but not really a bust.
But for some specific players, this is a boom or bust year. One player will be entering his first season as a presumed starter and two others are veterans who might need to find new homes in 2023 for different reasons.
Three expected 2022 starters Seahawks could replace in 2023
Seahawks linebacker Cody Barton
This year is Barton’s chance to prove he belongs in the NFL. He was a third-round pick in 2019, had to sit behind future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner and then got a chance to play very late in the 2021 season due to an injury to Wagner. And Barton was good. But can he be sustainably good?
The expectation isn’t that Barton simply replaces Wagner. Barton isn’t as good as a young Wagner and very few players in NFL history have been. But Wagner was getting older and Barton is faster. Barton appears to be able to do certain things better than Wagner. The main part of that is cover receivers. In limited time, Barton has been very good at that.
But can he tackle like Wagner? Can he be as aggressive and chose his spots when to be so as well as Wagner did? Who knows? But a lot of that kind of thing rolls over to Jordyn Brooks now and not Barton. Barton just needs to play the run well and the pass better to help the defense overall. If not, he could be gone next season.