3 significant questions for Seattle Seahawks at running back

Will the Seahawks regret letting Rashaad Penny leave?

Some fans of the Seahawks will start laughing the moment they read the question posed above and it makes sense. After all, Penny was a former first-round draft pick who never did live up to the hype over the last few years—whether he was a player mentally overwhelmed in his first year or one who was physically overcome by injuries as his career continued on. No matter how you break it down, there's no way to look at Penny's stint with Seattle as a successful one.

That said, however, we've already noted that the Seahawks backfield was a thin one, and while Penny failed to deliver anything close to first-round expectations, it was crystal clear even in '22 that Penny's agility, quickness, top speed, and strength form the sort of deadly combination that made him a threat to score at any given time. And in the NFL, teams will do whatever they can to acquire any sort of mismatch to help put them over the top.

Last year, Penny averaged 6.1 yards/carry through the first five games of the year for the Seahawks including a 151-yard effort in a close win over the Detroit Lions. While injuries eventually took their toll and removed Penny from the field after one-third of a season, Penny was still clearly capable of scoring at will many times.

That's why the Philadelphia front office, a group known for its acumen in recent years, found a way to entice Penny to join their backfield on a mere one-year deal worth only $600K guaranteed. While incentives could run that total to $2.1M, the truth is that the Eagles added a bonus playmaker for pennies on the dollar.

Given the state of unproven playmakers in Seattle's backfield, keeping Penny around might not have been a bad idea.