John Morgan of Field Gulls has a great rundown of the Seahawks’ offseason moves so far.
Here are some of the parts that stuck out.
On trading Seneca Wallace to Cleveland for an undisclosed pick in 2011:
As a semi-accomplished backup quarterback, Wallace would have retained value up to and through the preseason. Seattle had no pressing reason to ship him off, and seemingly moved him when his value was its absolute lowest. Had Seattle waited for an inevitable injury, it could likely have gotten more in trade. If the ceiling for Seneca was a conditional sixth or seventh round pick in 2011, Seattle would have wrung more value from Wallace by keeping him as a wildcat quarterback. However you want to look at it, Seattle traded an asset for as little as possible.
On trading Darryl Tapp for Chris Clemons and a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft:
…Clemons is probably worse than a freely available situational pass rusher… …In an average draft, the pick Seattle received for Tapp, a fourth round selection, is likely to produce a single-year starter of undetermined but presumably poor quality…
…The greatest damage done is losing Tapp. Tapp is a young player with good potential, but beyond that, was already one of the very best players on the Seahawks defense.
Tapp will turn 26 this September. He had 18 sacks through four seasons with the Seahawks. Philadelphia signed him to a two-year extension, which locks him up through 2013 (two years plus the additional year still on his contract).
Morgan saves his best for Seattle’s trade for Charlie Whitehurst, where there are issues from start to finish.
Seattle became the first team I can remember that signed a tendered player and agreed to trade more than the original tender in exchange.
Morgan also notes that because quarterbacks Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn had already found new teams, there was little competition for Whitehurst. Meaning there was no reason for the Seahawks to overpay for him.
Hasselbeck needed about one and a half seasons to become respectable, but he was younger, groomed by a quarterback guru, and hand picked to play in Mike Holmgren’s offense…
…Seattle signed Whitehurst to a two-year contract. When it has expired, will Seattle be able to accurately judge his ability? Probably not. If he doesn’t beat out Hasselbeck, should Seattle count on him in 2011 and beyond? No, and so Seattle would be back at square one.
The big picture is that the Seahawks haven’t inspired confidence with their offseason moves so far, but things change quickly with wins.
