Going into last offseason, the Seahawks were suddenly uncommonly thin at cornerback — and that, in a nutshell, explains why they wasted $7 million on Cary Williams and ended up losing Tony McDaniel.
After the Super Bowl, Richard Sherman, Jeremy Lane and Tharold Simon were all facing recovery from injuries of varying severity. On top of that, Byron Maxwell was getting ready to sign a blockbuster contract with another team, which turned out to be the Eagles.
That left young Marcus Burley as the only healthy cornerback and DeShawn Shead as a largely untested emergency option who had more experience at safety. So, the Seahawks covered themselves by signing two veteran corners — Williams and Will Blackmon. And then they drafted Tye Smith in the fifth round.
Blackmon once again did not make the roster, and Williams struggled so badly that he was benched three weeks ago, made inactive the past two games and released Monday.
Pete Carroll and John Schneider have never been afraid to admit mistakes and move on from them — e.g., Percy Harvin last year — and that’s basically what they did here.
But they did it because they have plenty of talent at the position, and the future is bright.
Continue reading Hawks are no longer desperate at cornerback
Three weeks ago, after Seattle lost a shootout against Arizona, the big question was not whether the Seahawks would win the NFC West but whether they would even rally to make the playoffs.
When Minnesota GM Rick Spielman sees John Schneider this weekend in Minneapolis, he will probably give him a big hug and kiss.
Seattle’s record-setting win over Pittsburgh is the latest evidence that this season is shaping up a lot like 2012.
A lot is being made of the fact that Seattle is the only place Ben Roethlisberger has not played in his 12-year career, but the fact is he and the Steelers were supposed to come in 2011. And then the NFL changed the scheduling rules.