21. SEATTLE (10-7)
LAST SEASON: Seattle surprised most as its roster revamp worked ahead of schedule. With offense dedicated to running ball, improved performance by offensive line and Russell Wilson manning controls, Seattle reached playoffs as wild-card team after missing postseason in 2017. What was supposed to be team ready to return to contention in 2019 was one year ahead of plans.
FREE AGENCY: Seahawks once again let first wave of major free agent moves come and go before jumping in. They used franchise tag on defensive end Frank Clark to keep him around another season, but most important moves were bringing back guard D.J. Fluker, adding offensive lineman Mike Iupati and re-signing linebacker K.J. Wright. Wilson got his contract extension done, but there is still uncertainty around Clark and linebacker Bobby Wagner and whether long-term extensions with either will get done soon.
THEY NEED: Edge rusher, DT, S, CB, WR, OL.
THEY DON’T NEED: QB, LB, TE, RB.
POSSIBLE FIRST PICK: Notre Dame DL Jerry Tillery; Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence; Washington CB Byron Murphy.
OUTLOOK: Seattle goes into draft with only four selections, result of trades made in previous seasons. That makes it highly unlikely Seahawks will remain at No. 21. It’s not in nature of general manager John Schneider to have so few picks, so expect Seahawks to be extremely active moving around to acquire more selections. If Seattle could move out of first round to pick up picks on Day 2 and make weekend a little more active that would probably be best-case scenario for Schneider and Seahawks.
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