Seahawks news for Saturday: Futures and the top 100

The Seahawks’ season might be over but the fun never really stops. Here is some Seattle football news you may have missed from this week. Of course, I’m half-joking, 12s. You know all there is to know about the Seahawks and I am only here to embellish the news.

First of all, we know that Seattle doesn’t have any more games this year, but if I might offer an opinion on that it would be that it is OK. Seattle far exceeded expectations in 2022 and made the playoffs when most thought they would go something like 5-12. In other words, what Russell Wilson’s new team recorded this season.

Secondly, we know that Geno Smith was just a mediocre placeholder for either Drew Lock or for who the future long-term QB would be. But was he? And did we know it? I am not so sure based on the news of this week.

Seahawks news 1: Look deep into the future, my 12

Seattle signed 10 players to futures contracts this week. This is a weird thing the NFL does. Basically, in the end, what it means is a player is bound to a team and a team is bound to a player for now and those players become a part of the roster again once the new league year begins. That would be March 15.

In other words, Seattle has hopes that 10 players develop into something that becomes important to the fabric of Seattle society…I mean, football. The list includes receivers Cade Johnson, Connor Wedington, and Easop Winston Jr., guard Greg Eiland, linebacker Chris Garrett, defensive tackle Jarrod Hewitt, center Joey Hunt, offensive tackle Jalen McKenzie, defensive back Chris Steele and running back Darwin Thompson. Hunt alone feels like he has been on the team since the 1700s already.

Seahawks news 2: “Seattle will be bad!” and yet, no

ESPN produced its opinion of who the top 100 players were for the 2022 season this week. Three Seahawks were among the group. It is interesting to see which Seattle players would have been expected to make the list but maybe only one could have been guessed. (Say “guessed” in an Irish accent. Try it. It’s fun.)

But the three Seattle players that ended up on the year-end list were receiver Tyler Lockett (number 33), quarterback Geno Smith (number 34, and I bet Geno didn’t write ESPN back about his pick status), and number 51 rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen. Woolen was a fifth-round pick this year so the original idea is maybe he would finish in the top 1,000 NFL players.

Yet, no. Like Locket and Smith, Woolen refused to accept what was expected of him and far exceeded that. Woolen ended up being a Pro Bowler as a rookie and already looks like the next coming of Richard Sherman. Now Seattle just needs to add a few prized rookies from the 2023 NFL draft and we might be talking about a Super Bowl contender soon.