How the Seattle Seahawks won the trade deadline
After inquiring about several defensive linemen, the Seattle Seahawks acquired Leonard Williams from the New York Giants. A Pro Bowl defensive lineman who is going to help take this Seattle line to another level. The loss of Uchenna Nwosu was filled with veteran Frank Clark. A former Seahawk familiar with how they run things.
While Leonard has no familiarilty with Seattle's system, he does have some friendly faces on defense. Safety tandom Julian Love and Jamal Adams were both teammates with Leonard in his New York tenure on both the Jets and Giants. More importantly, it's a good cultural fit for Williams.
Although it's hard to dispute that Leonard is a good player, the majority were upset with the draft capital given up for him. Did the Seahawks overpay? No. Essentially, the Giants paid a premium for the second-round pick. Of the $10 million still owed to Big Cat, New York took on the majority of it. Seattle will owe him about $647,000. While that may not sound like a big deal, it could help wonders in the future if the Seahawks need to make another roster move due to injury.
Secondly, having two third-rounders in the 2024 NFL Draft allowed the Seahawks to give up a second-rounder. With that said, giving up a second-rounder for a one-year rental, or in this case, a four-month rental, is unlikely. Leonard Williams is 29 years old and has received multiple big-money contracts in comparison to Chase Young.
As a result of that, he will be more likely to take less in the off-season. Maybe it's a 1-year deal or multi-year deal, nonetheless, Seattle will be better positioned to retain Willams than San Francisco will be to retain Young. The Seahawks have an enormous amount of young talent on this team, meaning there are a lot of guys still on rookie contracts.
At quarterback, Seattle has a potential out from Geno's contract in the off-season. If they were to do that, they'd free up more space assuming they were to draft a quarterback. If they decide to retain Geno, they still have the flexibility to work with the cap and bring back Williams. I truly like the deals made by each team. I think it's a testament to where they believe they currently rank in the NFC. But, I think long-term, the Seahawks ultimately walk out as winners over the 49ers.