The offseason the Seattle Seahawks are having is a weird one. One could argue that the team is among the winners of the NFL in what they have done. Seattle got younger and less expensive at quarterback, while also hopefully safely assuming that quarterback Sam Darnold will be as productive as Geno Smith.
Seattle might have lost wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but they brought in Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The team also added to the defense by signing defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence of the Dallas Cowboys. Seattle should be a better team, except for one important thing.
The offensive line is still a mess. The Seahawks lost left guard Laken Tomlinson in free agency, but Seattle has only signed long-time backup Josh Jones. Jones is certainly no replacement for Tomlinson, nor anyone else on what was already a bad O-line.
John Schneider and the Seattle Seahawks whiff again on signing a good offensive lineman
General manager John Schneider might have wanted to sign guard Will Fries but came up two years short on a contract offer. For the same amount of money per season, reportedly, the 26-year-old Fries signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota just clearly tried harder.
Schneider has now also missed on former Chicago Bears left guard Teven Jenkins. After visiting with the Seahawks earlier in the week, Jenkins decided to sign with the Cleveland Browns. Terms of the contract were not readily known, but the amount is unlikely to be higher than what Seattle could pay.
Most of the top-end free-agent interior offensive linemen are now signed elsewhere. This means Schneider is counting on a good draft for Seattle, but while the GM has a good eye for wide receivers and quarterbacks, he hasn't shown the same acumen when it comes to guards and centers. Seattle has not drafted one in quite sometime that proved to be near Pro Bowl quality.
Plus, Schneider, who has done a good job this offseason otherwise, simply has not been aggressive in adding proven interior linemen from other teams. The issue is confusing, as most pundits would agree that what the Seahawks needed to fix this offseason was the O-line. Adding Darnold and Kupp is great, but without adequate blocking, the offense is likely doomed once again.
Maybe new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak can scheme around such a deficiency, but only to a degree. A little bit of help from Schneider signing a good lineman would be nice.
