5 draft picks the Seattle Seahawks gave up on too soon

Center Kevin Mawae (drafted in 1994)

The Seattle Seahawks took too long to decide what position Mawae was the best fit. He began as a right guard for two years and then was flipped to center in his third year. This would be where he would excel during his career but Seattle lost two seasons of his greatness by having him be a right guard.

Mawae signed with the New York Jets in 1998 and made Second-Team All-Pro in his first year in New York. In 1999, he was First-Team All-Pro and he would begin a string of four straight seasons where he made the Pro Bowl. Mawae also did not miss a game between 1995 through 2005. Imagine an already very good Seattle offensive line in the 2000s if Mawae was added to a line that also had Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson.

Left guard Steve Hutchinson (drafted in 2001)

Speaking of Hutchinson, he was right to leave the Seahawks in free agency in 2006 because he was offered a deal by the Minnesota Vikings for seven years and $49 million with a stipulation that his entire deal would be guaranteed if he was not the highest-paid lineman on the team. That seems self-serving and not think that the team might need to add talent along its offensive line to help Hutchinson succeed as well.

No matter, Hutchinson was excellent for the Seahawks before going to the Vikings, but he was only in Seattle from 2001 through 2005. It is likely not coincidental that Seattle began to get worse the year after Hutchinson left. Seattle could not afford him, sure, but maybe they should have found a way. Hutchinson finished his career five-time First-Team All-Pro (three with the Vikings) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.