I guess I am not all that surprised this day has come. It was coming. It’s a surprise it’s this year, but if not this year, then probably in a year or two (and with much less return). What is really surprising is that Pete and John are still here to oversee it. I find it hard to believe that they would be kept if the Seahawks only win 5 games next year, and I don’t see a good path for them to be more likely to win 10 games than 5. Even if they have an airtight agreement with Jody to stick around through a planned rebuild for a season or two no matter how bad, how much longer does Pete want to keep doing this? Gonna still be able to do this at 75 for run at another ring? There’s been a ton of suspect drafting since 2013, so I can’t see why sticking with them is the better plan than bringing in fresh blood.
I guess it just feels like we’re going back to the Behring years.
OK. I’m not sure I agree, but credit for the consistency. Russ has never been all that good on 3rd down, his run game is definitely in decline, and it seems like his deep ball is in noticeable decline, too. I’m not sure he’s going to be a top 10 QB next year, and I don’t think he’s necessarily top 10 going forward at this point. In no particular order, seems like
Rodgers
Mahomes
Herbert
Dak
Allen
Burrow
Kyler
are, given a combination of age and current production, QBs you’d rather have on your team right now than Russ. The goal being something like maximizing Super Bowl equity over the next 10 years. Then it’s close with
Stafford
Mac
Lamar
Working in your favor, though, is the fact that once you get lower then them, it starts looking really bleak.
I feel like if you give Russ like even an average offensive line he is basically as good as any QB in the league and will be at that level for at least a few more years.
I’ll be a bit surprised if you’re not regretting this as he tears it up in Den next year.
He’s still going to be pretty good next year, and the Seahawks are probably going to be terrible next year after letting him go. But do you prefer that to being a fringe playoff team next year, and then a breakup with less compensation the next year? You again get to be terrible, but then with less ammo to rebuild. This isn’t the NFCW of 2004-2010 when you could waltz into the playoffs as a decent team, or even win the division at 7-9.
That said, what I’m really pessimistic about is the new ownership blowing things up as she has also done with the Blazers. It just feels like button mashing, or blowing things up for its own sake, rather than a coherent plan. I think trading Russ now could be part of a coherent plan, but I don’t think Jody has one.
Blowing things up is always button mashing no matter who does it. The draft is a giant crapshoot. I think that if my goal is winning the Superbowl, I’m better off building around Russ then hoping to get lucky in the draft. Obviously the chance of success is low either way, but I think it is higher with RW.
This doesn’t really surprise though. He’s a great player but is such a case for low positional value of coverage LBs. The defence has been mostly atrocious for years despite his producing at a high level. 18m/year seems like insanity for a purely coverage linebacker (as opposed to some Micah Parsons mega hybrid)
I guess, but their best remaining assets on the team are the receivers and those guys will want out if they are stuck playing with guys who can’t get them the ball.