Seattle Seahawks Offseason Review

Seattle made a statement this offseason, this is the year for them. All the work building the team up is done now. The goal is to make a deep run in the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. How else can you explain not only trading their first round pick, 7th round pick, and a mid round pick in 2014 to trade for Percy Harvin AND signing a player with his injury history to a 6 year $67 million dollar contract?

The Seahawks moves were for the short term and to win this season. To hell with the long term, the Seahawks are focused only on now.

Time will tell if this pays off or nips them in the bud down the road.

Trades

Based just on his talent, no one can argue against this move. Percy was the Tavon Austin of the NFL before there was a Tavon Austin. He was a borderline MVP candidate before an ankle injury sidelined him for the second half of 2012.

The risk of this trade comes from Percy Harvin's injury history. Percy Harvin suffers from chronic migrane headaches which have hospitalized him in the past. These have taken him out of games in the past. He seems to manage them better lately, but migraines are easily controlled. They can come back at any time. It's sadly going to be an issue he will have to deal with not only for the rest of his career, but his life.

Also, Percy is coming off a ligament tear in his ankle that forced him to be placed on IR last season.

Harvin will be a huge weapon to the Seahawks, and easily their best offensive player, if he can stay off the injury report.

The Seahawks also traded Matt Flynn to the Oakland Raiders for a 5th round pick and a conditional pick in 2014. What's more important than what they received in the trade is what they also sent to Oakland with Matt Flynn; his salary.

Free Agency

The Seahawks were lucky. They did not lose much in free agency. Alan Branch signed with the Buffalo Bills and Jason Jones signed with the Detroit Lions, though he never was a key contributor like Branch was, as he finished the year on injured reserve.

Seattle released Leon Washington after he became expendable with the acquisition of Percy Harvin.

The Seahawks added a couple of pass rushers in Michael Bennett fro Tampa Bay and Cliff Avril from Detroit. They already have Bruce Irvin and Chris Clemons on the roster. Now with four solid outside rushers, and a great insider rusher in Brandon Mebane, the Seahawks will be able to keep their pass rush fresh for the entire game. They are going to be relentless.

Combine that with their awesome secondary, how are teams going to pass against the Seahawks? How? They are going to be incredibly tough.

Oh, and they also signed 35 year old NFL veteran Antoine Winfield, who just happened to be the top rated CB last season by Pro Football Focus.

It's not fair.

NFL Draft

2nd round, pick 62	Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M
3rd round, pick 87	Jordan Hill, DT, Penn St
4th round, pick 123	Chris Harper, WR, Kansas St
5th round, pick 137	Jesse Williams, NT, Alabama
5th round, pick 148	Tharold Simon, CB, LSU
5th round, pick 158	Luke Wilson, TE, Rice
6th round, pick 194	Spencer Ware, RB, LSU
7th round, pick 220	Ryan Seymour, G, Vandy
7th round, pick 231	Ty Powell, OLB, Harding
7th round, pick 241	Jared Smith, G, New Hampshire
7th round, pick 242	Michael Bowie, OT, Northeast Oklahoma State

I was not impressed with the Seahawks' draft haul. They didn't have many needs, so they were able to theoretically take the best player available with each pick. My problem is that they never seemed to do that, except for maybe with the Ty Powell and Jesse Williams selections.

The Seahawks board may have greatly differed from my opinions on many players. It is possible this was a best player available draft for Seattle. Nevertheless, this seamed to be more of a best potential available draft. Many of these picks seem to be project players; guys who will need some seasoning before they are ready. With how complete Seattle's roster was pre-draft, this may not be the worst strategy.

I really like Christine Michael. His pure physical skills were tops in the class, but he wasn't even the starting RB for the Aggies in college.

I want to stand and applaude the Jordan Hill pick. I watched his college career closely, as I attend a Big Ten school in Illinois. I put him in the "grown-ass-man" category of defensive linemen. He is tough and strong. He was both a good run stopper, and a force as a pass rusher. The main problem is his inconsistent motor. If Seattle can get his playing more consistently, they have a future starting defensive tackle.

Chris Harper over Quinton Patton was questionable to me. I have no idea why they choose Spencer Ware. They drafted Christine Michael in the 2nd when RB was not a need, and then they take a pretty average runner in Ware? I just don't get it. Jesse Williams was a awesome value pick. He may end up being one of the draft's top steals.

Overall Thoughts

Even though I'm not that high on what Seattle did in the draft, they had one of the best offseasons in the NFL.

The Percy Harvin trade comes with high risk, but the cost wasn't incredibly high. The main risk comes from giving a guy with his injury troubles a huge contract. The opportunity cost of that money is going to come into play if he is hurt.

Seattle just made their defense stupid good. They had the best secondary in the NFL, and they just added one of the best CBs in the NFL in Antoine Winfield. He is 35, but still has plenty of football left in him.

The Seahawks needed a big offseason to challenge the 49ers (and the Rams mind you) for NFC West supremacy. They did. The hype around this team is legitimate.

If everyone, especially Russel Wilson, can stay on par or improve their play in 2013, this team is going to be division title favorites.

But, there is a reason they play the games. Hype and $5 will get you a latte at Starbucks. Seattle looks to be one of the NFL's best, but let's not crown them NFC West Champions yet.

Bonus: A reminder that 3k's photoshop skills are not to be trifled with.

Pete has a 6 pack.

Pete takes a selfie.

Pete is fat and wear tight shirts.

Pete playing air guitar, with an automatic rifle, wearing only a long jacket.

Yep.