Tre’von Moehrig's departure feels like a situation that was once regarded as courageous from Pete Carroll, occurring when the head coach was in charge of rebuilding the Seahawks.
During that time, Carroll was putting together new pieces to reinvent his defense, a defense that would eventually become the Legion of Boom.
Many expected Carroll and the Seahawks to draft safety Taylor Mays, citing Carroll and Mays' history dating back to USC. Carroll instead used the 14th overall pick to select safety Earl Thomas III out of Texas, while Mays was selected in the second round by the 49ers.
It was the right decision as Thomas became a Super Bowl champion and franchise legend while Mays was traded after his rookie season.
In the same way, a recent ranking of safeties from Pro Football Focus' Zoltán Buday, Moehrig's four years with the franchise, was put under evaluation.
Moehrig signed with the Carolina Panthers this offseason and was ranked as the 28th best safety in football.
"Moehrig was consistent during his four seasons in Las Vegas, earning PFF overall grades between 67.0 and 71.0 in three of his four campaigns," wrote Buday. "Most recently, he stood out with his play against the run, posting an 87.5 PFF run-defense grade in 2024, which ranked sixth among 93 qualifying safeties."
It's clear Carroll is resetting the standards for the franchise, choosing improvement over stability, and considering Carroll may be the best defensive back developers in history, there's a reason why the Raiders let Moehrig go and his recent rankings show why that was the correct decision.
Raiders' defensive coordinator Patrick Graham recently spoke about Carroll's history with defensive backs.
"I'm being a sponge anytime he's talking to those guys. That's my personal experience with it. And you can see the energy he has and the ability to teach the position and coach the whole team. This has been really a great situation for myself, for the players, the coaches. We're watching a master teacher working at his craft and seeing it live and in person. This is really beneficial for us."
With all that being said, it may be time to start buying stock in Jeremy Chinn. Chinn broke out in his early career with the Panthers but failed to evolve. Perhaps he just needed to be with a coach like Carroll.
