| I don’t know about you, but when I look
back on this past season, I suddenly realize that the most nondescript team in the NFL
might have been the Seattle Seahawks. This is a team that has a lot of decent players
— CB Shawn Springs, RBs Ricky Watters and Shaun Alexander and OLT Walter Jones, to
name a few — but nobody from Seattle made the Pro Bowl last season.
For good reason: The team couldn’t have been more flat-out ordinary.
Which is why it was good to see the Seahawks set the early pace in this year’s
free-agency period.
For starters, the Seahawks made a trade with Green Bay for Matt Hasselbeck, Brett
Favre’s backup the last two seasons, and instantly named him the team’s new
starting quarterback. While this was not a free-agent move, it had a huge effect on the
free-agent QB market, significantly reducing the leverage of Elvis Grbac, the most
high-profile signalcaller available after deciding to cut the cord with Kansas City.
Seattle, it had been strongly rumored, was one of the best bets to be Grbac’s new
home.
Sorry, Elvis.
"Signing Matt sets the table for me just a little bit," said Seahawks head
coach Mike Holmgren, who exchanged first-round draft choices with the Packers for
Hasselbeck and also sent them Seattle’s third-round pick. "Now things have kind
of laid out in front of me."
A few days later, the Hawks lit the first real match in this year’s free-agent
fire, signing six-time Pro Bowl DL John Randle of Minnesota to a five-year, $25 million
deal, with a $5 million signing bonus.
"I’ve competed against Mike Holmgren, and he’s had some great
teams," said Randle, whose 113 sacks since 1991 are the most in the league.
"He’s been a Super Bowl champion, and that’s a goal I’m looking
forward to getting. I know if I want a chance to get that, this is the place."
The Seahawks were equally complimentary to Randle, a guy they hope will help them
quickly turn around the lowest-ranked defense in the league last season.
But did they pay too high a price for a player who many experts feel is definitely on
the downside of a great career? You have to wonder.
Same goes for making a commitment to the unproven Hasselbeck, who is considered to have
terrific potential but has thrown only 29 regular-season passes.
Risky business indeed.
But hey, at least Holmgren and the Seahawks, fortified by the ultra-deep pockets of
billionaire owner Paul Allen, are making their presence felt again. And the feeling here
is they’re far from done.
Even after trading the 10th overall pick in the draft to Green Bay, Seattle
still has two first-round picks at its disposal — the seventh pick, which it acquired
from Dallas in the Joey Galloway deal last year, and the 17th pick, which it
received from the Packers. At present, no other team has multiple first-round picks, which
makes Seattle arguably the most intriguing team in a draft that suddenly looks deeper than
a lot of people thought.
Yeah, Holmgren and the Seahawks have got my attention again. I’m not sure
they’ll be any better than last year’s lackluster 6-10 squad.
But already they’re a helluva lot more interesting. |
