SEAHAWKS SHOPPING? IT'S TIME!

Will Seattle use any of their 10 draft selections to move up in the draft and get a player they really want?

As the 2013 NFL draft approaches, franchise coaches and GM's scramble to snatch up any possible talent at the quarterback position.  This is the driest offseasons in recent memory for quarterbacks available with above-average talent.  The only semi-available QB's with any hope of helping quarterback-less teams are 49ers backup Alex Smith and the Seahawks backup Matt Flynn.  Neither of these quarterbacks were actually free agents, but they're both talented athletes who could start for several teams in the league. The Trade winds have been very quiet since February 12, the day that free agency began.  Just this week, Alex Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and their new coach, Andy Reid formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles.  The Chiefs were extremely disappointed in their starting quarterback, Matt Cassel, and the only other quarterback on the roster is Brady Quinn.  Matt Flynn has shown talent in a few times he's had a chance to showcase what he can do on a football field.  While he was still a backup quarterback in Green Bay, he had a chance to start two regular-season games while starter Aaron Rodgers recuperated from a relatively minor injury.  Flynn definitely took his opportunity and ran with it, and passed with it, mostly.  While Aaron Rodgers bundled up on a freezing cold day at Lambeau Field, his backup proceeded to go out and make his mark on the Packers team record book throwing for 480 yards and six touchdown passes (both Packer records) vs. the Detroit Lions on the final Sunday of the regular-season. The previous week, unfortunately in a losing effort, Flynn through for 251 yards and three touchdown passes, with only one interception.

Make no mistake, Matt Flynn can play quarterback in the NFL and as a starter.  When Flynn came to Seattle as a free agent, head coach Pete Carroll didn't promise him an automatic starting position with the Seahawks.  He was told that he would have every opportunity to compete for the starting job.  That was before the Seahawks chose Russell Wilson out of Wisconsin in the third round of the 2012 draft.  Even after the selection, anyone betting would have selected Flynn to be Seattle's starter going into game one of the 2012-13 season.  However, after the rookie minicamp and veteran minicamp, Pete Carroll saw enough from the 23-year-old rookie to include him in a legitimate competition to start at quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks in the coming season.  It's important to remember that Matt Flynn didn't lose the job, he had very solid outings and looked every bit as good as the Seahawks front office thought he was.  Nobody banked on the possibility of Wilson winning the job and starting the season as QB1, but it happened and ever since, everyone is wondering what to do with Matt Flynn, one of the highest-paid clipboard holders in the NFL.

Like every other NFL franchise, the Seahawks need a reliable backup quarterback.  It's essential that each team prepare for the unthinkable.  Having your franchise quarterback go down with an injury or for some other reason unable to play, you must have a backup QB that is prepared and always ready to go into a game and managed the best of a bad situation.  Flynn has the talent to do much more than that.  Typically, most coaches and offensive coordinators hope that their backup quarterback can replace the starter and win 50% of the games they start.  Those are the hopes, but few teams have an expectation that their backup can come in and thrive.  Matt Flynn has the skills to not only manage the game, but he has the confidence and the ability to pick up the team and continue winning.  It's unfortunate for Flynn that things turned out the way they did, because the illusion is that Flynn wasn't good enough to make Seattle's starting offensive squad.  That couldn't be farther from the truth, it's just that Russell Wilson looked so good that Carroll and OC Daryl Bevell couldn't think of one reason why the Wisconsin standout QB shouldn't represent the Seattle Seahawks as their starter.  Still, Matt Flynn possesses the same skills that he had when he exploded onto the scene in Green Bay as a bright, up-and-coming quarterback that needed to start somewhere in the NFL, it just wasn't going to happen with the Packers.  Aaron Rodgers is such a special quarterback, that you never let an injury take away his starting position.  So, as Rodgers recovered from his injury, a very capable starter in Flynn, went back to the bench and holding a Green Bay Packers clipboard… At least he did for about five months.

Then, the Seattle Seahawks came knocking on the Packers front door with interest in Matt Flynn to come to Seattle and hopefully beat out former starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson in training camp.  The Seahawks had an agenda to select a quarterback in the upcoming draft in 2012, but I'm sure there mentality was that a young quarterback from the draft could come in and watch the game from the sidelines for a year or two and while Matt Flynn mentored him, he would replace Flynn when the right time arrived.  Now, Matt Flynn is facing another season as Wilson's understudy, even though the five-year veteran is making nearly 5 times the salary that Seattle's QB1 is making because of the rookie pay scale decided on at the collective bargaining agreement between the owners and the NFLPA.  Flynn is set to make nearly $5.5 million this year, with $2 million guaranteed.  It's somewhat of a hefty contract to hang on to if he's going to be your backup, but for a starter he would be considered a huge bargain for some team, even Seattle if Wilson were to be injured for some reason.  The Seahawks have a somewhat comfortable cushion in their salary cap room to sign additional free agents and to pay any rookie draft selections that happen to make the final 53 man roster and nine man practice squad.  Currently, the Seahawks have $24 million in cap space, but they need to be prudent to utilize some of that Money next year to retain the services of Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.  Many teams walk the tightrope of their salary room, then the following year they end up needing to franchise a player and even release veterans making too much money for the team to afford.  Pete Carroll and John Schneider have been very good at keeping their own talent.  Just last year the Seahawks extended contracts with Chris Clemons, Red Bryant and Marshawn Lynch in order to shore up the nucleus of the team and build around them.  Certainly, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman are worth keeping for some time.  The Seahawks have one of the youngest football teams in the NFL and they haven't even counted any new draft players that may make the final roster.  Carroll and Schneider have been magicians in the draft, particularly in the middle and late rounds.  But the question is now, what is the best thing for the Seattle Seahawks and what is the best thing for Matt Flynn?  I can promise you that Carroll and Schneider are more concerned about Seattle's fate if they keep or trade Flynn.  However, I believe they also would like Flynn to get a chance to start somewhere if the Seahawks can also benefit from some trade scenario.  It's even been mentioned that the Seahawks might be better off releasing Flynn simply to create more money to work with, but they still must find a reliable backup.  Matt Moore, David Garrard, Brady Quinn, Colt McCoy and a few other names have been tossed around, but Seattle must find a replacement before they let go of their very capable backup.

Several NFL teams are considering whether or not the 2013 draft has any quarterback who can potentially be a franchise type leader.  Several mock drafts including Mel Kiper Jr's suggest that the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguar's could pick a quarterback in the first round.  Matt Barkley, USC and Geno Smith, West Virginia, or the two quarterbacks most spoken of in terms of a possible first-round value.  However, I think this is a classic case of reaching for a position that you want despite the level of talent at the position.  There doesn't seem to be any Russell Wilson's or calling Kaepernick's in the draft that provide a supreme level of quarterback talent.  So, does this make Matt Flynn and other veteran NFL quarterbacks more valuable because of the shortage and high demand?  You would think so, but aside from the Kansas City Chiefs, there haven't been many callers hoping for someone else's castoffs or backup players.  Part of it has to do with money and the other part is just foolish tunnel vision.  There are GM's and coaches who so badly want a player like Wilson or Kaepernick that they will do whatever it takes to find one.  The problem is this; there simply are no Wilson's or Kaepernick's in this draft and in fact there haven't been players like this for several decades and their definitely aren't any (Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III) type quarterbacks in this draft.  This is what makes the 2012 QB draft class so special, so unusual, so rare… It is the rarity of finding such supreme quarterback talent without the huge fanfare and hyperbole that usually comes from players projected higher in the draft.

Now, Seattle must wait to see if there are any callers for their backup quarterback.  The frustration that Flynn must feel is becoming palpable among his teammates knowing that he didn't come to Seattle to sit on the bench and he's got to be feeling some remorse for not taking a more sure position in Miami or Jacksonville.  Both of those teams were more likely to give Flynn a starting nod over Chad Henne, Blaine Gabbert and Jacksonville and Matt Moore and Ryan Tannehill in Miami.  The most likely trade scenarios to Seattle for Matt Flynn come from the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars, though the window of opportunity is getting very small.  March 12 is the end of the free agency period and while that doesn't preclude trading Flynn, it will most certainly limit the Seahawks opportunities to find a backup replacement.  The Seahawks have 10 selections in the upcoming draft, but for a backup quarterback I think they would prefer to pick up a cheap solution like Matt Moore, David Garrard, Ryan Mallett or even Matt Cassel, a quarterback that the New England Patriots are considering if Ryan Mallett were to sign with another team. 

So the rush is on, and in the next month there will be a frenzy of activity of teams picking over the remaining free agents that could possibly be that one player to get you over the hump and into the playoffs or beyond. The Seahawks are hoping for draft selections to help in the few areas that the team needs to challenge the 49ers to win back the NFC West title.  However, rookies are an unknown factor until they produced in the NFL, so bringing in some veteran leadership and experience will also be important.  It seems that consensus opinion is at the defensive end position for a legitimate run stopping, pass rushing veteran to fit in with an already steady crew.  With Chris Clemons ACL injury, it's uncertain whether he will be able to come back and play at a high level that he has for the Seahawks since coming from the Philadelphia Eagles.  That uncertainty will likely prompt Carroll and Schneider to evaluate players at that position.  One of the other areas of weakness for the Seahawks was at wide receiver, in particular a wide receiver who can line up outside the numbers and take off the top of the defensive secondary.  Seattle's WRs came on strong in the second half of the 2012 season, but Sidney Rice doesn't have the physicality or top speed to dominate pro corners, nor does Golden Tate.  Rice and Tate are more suited to line up in the slot, running dig routes, out routes and crossing patterns.  Doug Baldwin had a down year after his catch leading season with Seattle as a rookie, but he's also a slot receiver and doesn't possess the kind of speed to create separation deeper down field.  Also, none of these receivers have the vertical game and speed to get deep before the line blocking breaks down and Wilson has to scramble or take an unnecessary sack.  Ricardo Lockett was in the Seahawks training camp last year, but dropping too many balls made him a roster casualty.  He had the track speed that Carroll likes for his quarterback, but his inconsistencies and dropped balls were too much to keep him on the roster.  Russell Wilson has a big-time NFL arm and can make all the throws necessary for a franchise quarterback.  He likes to throw deep balls, but Seattle just doesn't have a Z receiver on the roster, so he has been forced to settle for throwing highly accurate intermediate passes into and between zone seams… which he was incredibly good at doing and without turning over the football.  That has been an incredible thing to watch as Wilson matures and adapts to the kind of team he's playing with and I believe that once Seattle signs a speedy outside deep threat, he will start ripping up the top end of defenses throughout the NFL--he's just that good.  A deep threat wide receiver accomplishes many things for an offense; it becomes a decoy to keep safeties, corners and linebackers from cheating in and not respecting the vertical passing game.  This Way, Wilson can execute the play action and play action fake to move the ball on the ground and through the air.  It also opens up intermediate routes for the slot receiver's as well as tightends in the middle of the field.  Zach Miller is him more than adequate pass catching tight end and would benefit greatly from a deep threat wide receiver that would clear opened the shorter routes.  Lastly, and most obviously, the deep threat receiver could bring back the big play game calling from Daryl Bevell which would make the Seahawks incredibly hard to predict.

I can see Seattle involved in pursuing; DE Dwight Freeney, DE Chris Canty, DE Anthony Spencer as defensive lineman and; Mike Wallace, Percy Harvin or Dwayne Bowe for deep threat receivers.  Linebacker and offensive line will likely be solutions through this year’s draft.

Players that Seattle would likely trade to move up in the draft for?  WR Keenan Allen, WR Cordarrelle Patterson, DE Ezekiel Ansah , DE Magnus Hunt, or DE/OLB Dion Jordan (predicated on his shoulder health). These are all players with unique skill sets and the versatility that Carroll and Schneider love.

Players that I think Seattle would take at the 25 pick: OLB Cornelius Washington, OLB Khaseem Green, DE Barkevious Mingo, WR Justin Hunter, CB Xavier Rhodes and maybe WR Tavon Austin just because he ripped off a 4.31 40 yard dash.

Free-agent players getting interest from several teams;

• Dwight Freeney, DE, Indianapolis Colts
• Cliff Avril, DE, Detroit Lions
• Wes Welker, WR, New England Patriots
• Brian Urlacher, MLB, Chicago Bears
• Bart Scott, OLB, New York Jets
• Osi Umenyiora, DE, New York Giants
• Mike Wallace, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Dwayne Bowe, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
• Anthony Spencer, DE, Dallas Cowboys
• Charles Woodson, CB/S, Green Bay Packers
• Greg Jennings, WR, Green Bay Packers
• Chris Canty, DE, New York Giants
• Dunta Robertson, CB, Atlanta Falcons
• John Abraham, DE, Atlanta Falcons
• Stephen Jackson, RB, St. Louis Rams
• Ed Reed, S, Baltimore Ravens
• Paul Kruger, LB/DE, Baltimore Ravens