The results are in, and Seattle Seahawks fans aren’t particularly impressed by Seattle’s activity in this year’s free-agent market.
We’re more than two weeks into the NFL’s free-agency period, and the bulk of the player movement has already taken place. Therefore, this week’s Seattle Sidelines poll asked readers to evaluate Seattle’s performance thus far in free agency, which has seen the Seahawks’ roster undergo something of a makeover.
Here’s how you graded the Seahawks:
POLL: How do you grade the Seahawks so far in free agency? Full context here: https://t.co/n9rhrO6wBw
— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) March 26, 2018
Add the two together and the large majority of the voters handed Seattle a C or lower, with 39 percent giving the Seahawks a C and 37 percent in the D/F range. Just 21 percent thought Seattle deserved a B, while a mere 3 percent gave the Seahawks an A.
To be fair, the Seahawks found themselves in a challenging position heading into the offseason. Seattle was already butting up against the salary cap with players under contract for 2018, meaning there was little wiggle room for either resigning its own high-budget unrestricted free agents or bringing in new names. Instead, we’ve seen the Seahawks part way with some big names (cornerback Richard Sherman, defensive end Michael Bennett, tight end Jimmy Graham, etc.) and replace them with lesser-known names (tight end Ed Dickson, linebacker Barkevious Mingo, receiver Jaron Brown, etc.), while missing out on some of the bigger names they reportedly had interest in (defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, running back Jonathan Stewart, tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, etc.). I suppose that doesn’t make for a very exciting dip into free agency.
It’s not over yet. There’s still a handful of players kicking around, and Seattle may be able to free up a little more cap room, depending on the health situation with defensive end Cliff Avril and whether the team is serious about the possibility of trading safety Earl Thomas. So while these grades reflect coursework done beyond the midterms, they don’t represent a final grade just yet.
But for a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in six years, the movement thus far in free agency doesn’t seem to be inspiring a lot of belief about the Seahawks getting back on track.
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