I understand that the Seattle Seahawks are in limbo right now, much like their fans. But John Schneder's failure to make any moves at the NFL trade deadline is absolutely baffling.
It's especially baffling when you consider his history and the Seahawks critical need at this position. Schneider has always been one of the most active traders in the league. He's never been shy about adding a key piece of the puzzle to help put the Hawks over the top. That's been especially true as the NFL trade deadline approached.
Last year, the Seahawks made a bold move to add defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the roster. I agree that he isn't quite the Seahawks MVP so far this year, but he's certainly their most valuable defensive player. Some would give the nod to safety Julian Love, and I'm okay with a co-MVP if you insist. In 2020 Schneider swung a deal to pry edge Carlos Dunlap from the Bengals. Dunlap was fine until the Hawks forgot to use him.
And in 2019 Quandre Diggs came to town and reinvigorated Seattle's pass defense for several years. All of these deals were made within days of the deadline, sometimes hours.
In case you slept through the last month, I'll bring you up to speed on the Seahawks. After a 3-0 start, our guys have dropped four of their last five games. Most of us thought they'd turned the corner with their impressive road win in Atlanta. Ah, how young and foolish we were. Geno Smith's awful game blew up what should have been a fairly routine win over the Rams.
Asked about potential changes after the loss, head coach Mike Macdonald said, "Everything's on the table." Gregg Bell reported when asked if this meant potential changes in personnel, plays, practices, or a trade, Macdonald replied, "all of the above." While that was an intriguing and hopeful answer for the 12s, we know that the last possibility didn't happen.
It's beyond frustrating that the Seahawks didn't make a trade at the deadline. The right side of the offensive line has been unbelievably bad. With Abe Lucas likely to return after the bye, I understand why the Seahawks didn't make a move to find a tackle who can play in the NFL. Although with his injury history, it might have been smart to look for help anyway.
But as for the right guard, there is no knight in shining armor - or College Navy and Wolf Gray - coming to the aid of the Seahawks. Anthony Bradford is ranked 72nd in the league by Pro Football Focus (paywall site), and that's probably too high. Rookie Christian Haynes is graded even lower, and was a healthy scratch last week.
So why didn't John Schneider go shopping for a guard? It's not like there isn't talent available out there. The Raiders have two of the NFL's top 10 guards according to PFF's grades. Jordan Meredith and Dylan Parham rate well in both pass protection and run-blocking. Parham is on a rookie contract that runs through 2025, and his cap hit next year is only $1.6 million. Meredith is on a one-year deal and is making chump change, $915K this year.
No, it isn't easy to swing deals, but the 2-7 Raiders aren't going anywhere and already traded Davante Adams. The Jets are 3-6 and have 12th-ranked John Simpson on the roster. He'd be more expensive than either of the Raiders with a cap hit of $3.2 million this year, true. That goes up to $6.7 next year, but would drop to $2.1 million in 2026. He's just 27, so he could help anchor the line for years.
Yes, I'm aware that at 3-6, New York is only one game worse than Seattle. They're also looking up at Buffalo, four games ahead of them at 7-2. As improbable as it is, the Hawks are a game out of first in the NFC West. Yes, it might take a lot of draft capital to pry a good guard from another team. That's probably because, unlike John Schneider, most teams value guards. It's hard to believe that the Seahawks think they'll be okay with the guard play they're getting right now.
