It’s been a long time between drinks for the Seattle Seahawks. They have been a relatively dominant force in the NFC West division, but you have to go back to 2014 to find their last NFC Conference victory and a year prior to that for their sole Super Bowl triumph.
That said, progress was definitely made in 2020-21. Seattle went .750 in a tough division to book their spot in the postseason battle before they come unstuck against the LA Rams at Lumen Field.
The thing with progress is that it often stalls when no forward movement is made. The decision of the Seahawks to release Aldon Smith – more on that shortly – and their continued struggle to tie down Jamal Adams to a new deal is undermining their plans for the new campaign.
Contract negotiations can seem complex on the surface, but the case here is pretty straightforward – Adams wants more money than the back office is willing to pay him.
According to reports, they are about $4 million apart in their respective valuations, and this “won’t back down” stand-off is seriously hampering the Seahawks’ preparations ahead of what should be a positive campaign. Many NFL predictions have Seattle down as a major player in the NFC, but Adams would be a pivotal figure in those projections being realized.
The final offer made to the 25-year-old would make him the highest-paid safety in the NFL, and that alone should surely be enough to settle his mind on what is fair and right. Adams was renowned for being a tricky customer in his final months at the New York Jets, where he – allegedly – would use the media to do his bidding for him and reveal his exasperation at those in charge of the franchise.
So this situation is perhaps no surprise, although Adams himself has claimed he will not play for the Seahawks until the matter is resolved – clearly an attempt to unsettle Jody Allen and his advisors. The machinations have led to Seattle drifting to a position of lively outsiders in the NFL odds, and the possible loss of a man who made 83 tackles on his way to the Pro Bowl the last term would be a hammer blow to their NFC aspirations.
Short But Not Sweet for Smith
Just four months after signing a one-year deal with the Seahawks, Aldon Smith has been shown the exit door. The 31-year-old has had a tough time of things in recent years with injuries and off-field misdemeanors undermining a former Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection.
In the 2020 season, he played for the Dallas Cowboys – his first NFL action in five years, and highlights included the sacking of Russell Wilson on three separate occasions and a highlight reel hit on Jared Goff.
The Cowboys opted not to renew his deal for the upcoming campaign, and the Seahawks jumped at the chance to pick up a defensive end that boasts the useful combination of being an excellent physical specimen and ultra-aggressive.
There are legal issues for an incident in Louisiana that Smith must face up to soon, and perhaps that is the underlying reason for why he has been given the boot – a lack of involvement in pre-season activities would not enable him to be in ideal shape for the start of the new campaign in September.
This period should be a time of excitement and expectation for a football fan. But the loss of Smith – and the ongoing contract wrangles with Adams – will have left Seahawks supporters scratching their heads.
