The Seattle Seahawks refuse to learn their lesson that starting right guard Anthony Bradford is not good. Almost as bad, he is inconsistent. He might be fine, though never great, one game and awful the next. But the team keeps rolling him out each week in hopes he will be better than meh.
Bradford is big and strong, and if he can get his hands on a defender, he has the advantage. If the defender has any athletic ability at all, however, he can find a way around Bradford, who is basically a statue. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system requires offensive linemen to have to move, and Bradford can't.
Still, while Bradford does need to be replaced, that shouldn't come until the 2026 NFL draft. The replacement should not be former Seahawks left guard Laken Tomlinson. Tomlinson spent all of 2024 with Seattle, but was better than Bradford overall, although not exactly efficient.
Seattle Seahawks should not entertain signing Laken Tomlinson
Tomlinson signed with the Houston Texans in free agency this past offseason, and he was an experiment that failed. He played in seven games and allowed 11 quarterback pressures and three sacks, but was worse at run blocking. That is the same issue he has had for several seasons, and the Seahawks need linemen who can open holes for Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet.
The Seahawks do now have a chance to bring Tomlinson back, as he was released by the Texans after Week 13. The guard had been benched and was most recently a healthy scratch. He might have played his last down in the league, though some team will probably pick him up.
That shouldn't be Seattle. The good part is that general manager John Schneider might not take the chance because where the Seahawks truly need help is at right guard, and Tomlinson has played all but 65 snaps of his 11-year career at left guard.
Adding Tomlinson and thinking he can flip to right guard would be a mistake, mostly because the veteran has been trending down for a while now. When he played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2017 to 2021, he was good in all aspects, but that feels like decades ago.
The 49ers might even entertain signing Laken Tomlinson, but the Seattle Seahawks shouldn't. It would simply be putting a Band-Aid on a large wound, and one that constantly peels off. Anthony Bradford needs to be replaced, but that won't happen this season.