In each of the last two seasons, the Seattle Seahawks have been relatively competitive. They have finished with a 9-8 record both times and made the playoffs in 2022, something their fans would’ve been pleased to know would happen when the team traded franchise quarterback Russell Wilson two offseasons ago.
The Seahawks’ roster isn’t exactly bad. Quarterback Geno Smith shook off the label of a “career backup” to post a combined 7,906 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns over the last two seasons while being named to the Pro Bowl twice during that span. Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf are a decent tag-team duo at wide receiver, and Kenneth Walker III is a promising young running back.
But the NFC has become more talented, which means Seattle’s chances of making the playoffs again have likely diminished. In fact, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report wrote that the franchise should consider tanking this coming season in order to be able to draft a potential star next April.
“The Seahawks are a team that has to ask themselves what their goals are,” wrote Ballentine.
“… They didn’t have an opportunity to draft a quarterback picking 16th in this year’s draft. The same could be said for picking 20th in the 2023 draft. They wound up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2023 and Byron Murphy II in 2024. Both could end up being high-impact starters at key positions.
“But neither will mean as much if they can’t find a way to get elevated play at the quarterback position.
“If going 9-8 and flirting with the playoffs was a good bar for Seattle, they likely wouldn’t have made the choice to move on from Pete Carroll as head coach. However, making the move to sign Mike Macdonald opens the door for the Seahawks to lean into tanking toward a high draft pick in 2025.
“The Niners have a strong grip on the NFC West right now. But the Seahawks could ostensibly make a run at a wildcard spot and hope that Sam Howell can be the quarterback of the future.
“Instead, trading an aging player like Tyler Lockett in the middle of the season might a tanking move worth considering to increase their draft investment and potentially get a new quarterback prospect in 2025.”
The Seahawks are in limbo heading into 2024
As Ballentine pointed out, the Seahawks are a franchise that seems to be in flux right now. They could max out at getting the NFC’s final Wild Card playoff spot, but fighting for mere respectability shouldn’t be good enough for a franchise that won the Super Bowl championship during the 2013 season and came very close to claiming another one the following year.
Sam Howell, the young quarterback who was acquired in a March trade with the Washington Commanders, was a mixed bag in his first season as a full-time starter in 2023. While he threw for a decent 3,946 yards, he also led the NFL with 21 interceptions and was sacked more often than any other signal-caller.
It’s hard to imagine him becoming a true franchise QB, at least at this time.
If the Seahawks do tank successfully and have some luck on their side, perhaps they would have a shot at drafting a quarterback such as Carson Beck in 2025. Beck, who is going into his fourth season with the University of Georgia, is already the winner of two national championships, and he threw for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns last year.
He is considered one of the frontrunners, if not the favorite, to win this coming season’s Heisman Trophy.
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