I woke up on Wednesday and thought to myself, ‘no, you weren’t strong enough yesterday‘. The reaction to Will Fries joining Minnesota was absolutely ridiculous.

Borderline infantile.

I accept why some fans have come to the end of their tether. Armed with cap space and having traded away two players, the expectation was they’d invest in the offensive line. After two days of legal tampering they’ve only signed a cheap depth tackle to replace George Fant.

The O-line problems have gone on for too long and a quick fix was needed. A dopamine hit was required in the form of an Adam Schefter ‘breaking news’ tweet to let everyone know some money was being spent. People just needed to see something. Anything.

It’s understandable. Seattle’s line has been an issue for far too long. It does need fixing, nobody can deny that. It’s a significant blot on John Schneider’s copybook. It’s a problem he hasn’t been able to solve for over a decade.

Let’s take a step back though and actually look at the reality of what’s happened specifically this week.

Firstly, it’s universally accepted that this is a bad year for free agency. Several articles have been written claiming this is the view from inside the NFL. I read reports from Albert Breer and Dianna Russini alluding to this.

The Seahawks, within hours of the tampering window opening, landed Sam Darnold. Frank Schwab at Yahoo Sports and the CBS Sports writers ranked Darnold as the top free agent available. The Athletic ranked Darnold fourth, PFT ranked him second and Gregg Rosenthal at NFL.com ranked him sixth.

Immediately they addressed their biggest need position at a reasonable but high cost. In doing so, they avoided the kind of situation we see the Giants and Steelers in at the moment. They’re both seemingly scrambling around to try and sign Aaron Rodgers. Meanwhile, the Jets gave Justin Fields — a player who can’t throw — a hefty sum to be a place-holder quarterback.

Basically the Seahawks got younger and cheaper at the position, landed a player of similar quality to replace Geno Smith and gained a third round pick in the process. This was an effective start to free agency.

Since then, fans have reacted negatively to the fact they didn’t sign either Drew Dalman or Will Fries. OK, let’s look at the situation.

If we’re being really honest, most people didn’t know who Will Fries was three months ago. NFL diehards would possibly know he was the Colts’ right guard who missed most of the 2024 season with a broken leg. When the season ended, not a single person was clamouring for the Seahawks to sign Fries.

That all changed due to a handful of factors. Klint Kubiak was appointed and declared he was going to run outside zone. This blog and other people like Brian Nemhauser noted the free agents who graded well on PFF for zone blocking. Fries was near the top of the list. People took notice of that.

Perhaps we should’ve done a better job noting that his grade was near the top of the list based on only 67 snaps? We probably should’ve noted that in 2023, when he played 282 zone snaps, his grade was a mediocre 61.6.

It’s not just about PFF grade though. I knew very little about Fries until I watched his tape just over a week ago. I thought he looked really good and jumped out as an obvious scheme fit. I wrote about it, tweeted about it. Brady Henderson noted the Seahawks were interested in Fries. With increasing chatter about Dalman going to Chicago, Fries became the name to track.

This only grew when it was reported multiple teams were trying to sign him. Suddenly it became a game to be won or lost. Can the Seahawks seal the deal? If they didn’t win this tug of war, there would be criticism.

They didn’t win it. Minnesota did. And the reaction has been predictably OTT. They didn’t swing and miss on Trey Smith, who was franchised. This wasn’t a repeat of not landing Joe Thuney in 2021. They missed out on a player hardly anyone knew about, including me, a few weeks ago.

Adding to all of this, Fries is coming off a broken leg. Who knows how the recovery has gone? Are you even able to get the necessary medical information before free agency officially begins, in order to justify a mega-deal?

It’s one thing to like a player and want to sign him. If the Vikings went above and beyond to sign Fries — and you don’t feel comfortable matching their commitment given he’s coming off a serious injury — is that really a bad thing?

As I noted yesterday, Corbin Smith became so irate about the situation he used the wrong word beginning with ‘A’ to describe how serious the situation was if they don’t now sign Teven Jenkins or Mekhi Becton (more on them in a moment). Over 1,600 people liked his tweet and sadly only a few of the replies pushed back or noted that ‘adjunct’ failure doesn’t make any sense.

Yet here’s the thing. Curtis Allen intelligently noted this on Twitter:

So there we go. The Seahawks didn’t stretch to a five year deal and are getting hammered for it. Yet not a single other team has done this, for any player at any position, apart from the Vikings for Will Fries.

Maybe it’s a symbol of the Seahawks not being willing to push the boat out for offensive linemen like many are saying? Or maybe, if we’re being honest, the Seahawks might’ve done the right thing? Just as they did by not paying Aaron Banks over $19m a year by the way. Good luck with that contract, Packers.

I know writing this way won’t satisfy many people who just want to hammer the Seahawks and Schneider because they just want to see something happen. This isn’t a good way to approach team building. You can’t just sign players at great cost to appease fans. You have to keep a cool head, you have to think rationally. The worst thing to do is try to ‘win’ free agency on Twitter.

What about Dalman though, you might ask? It’d be contradictory of me to claim I voiced any concern about him in the build up to free agency. I also think the contract given to him by Chicago is perfectly reasonable and one I would’ve celebrated if he’d joined the Seahawks.

It also needs to be acknowledged that he isn’t duty bound to go to Seattle. It’s been something of a worst kept secret that he’s been destined for the Bears. Only Creed Humphrey is paid more at his position. It’s not the end of the world that he’s not coming to the Seahawks. It’s a disappointment not to get him, as it was with Fries. It’s not a death knell to the franchise though and not worthy of claims Schneider’s job hangs in the balance as a consequence.

So what should happen next? The key to building a good offensive line is not just to sign players for the sake of it. People like Corbin (and many others) are latching on to Jenkins and Becton. Firstly, the Bears just got rid of Jenkins and re-made their entire interior O-line because he’s not good enough. He hasn’t completed a full season in his NFL career. Does anyone really think he’s the answer?

Becton meanwhile completely flopped with the Jets with major questions about his application and commitment. It took going to the Eagles to play with the best linemen in the league, and for the most respected O-line coach, to whip him into shape. Philadelphia haven’t exactly busted a gut to retain him since the end of the season. Can you really trust him? I wouldn’t be so sure.

These are not players to covet, in my opinion. It’s sheer desperation to think they can be the answer. The objective, however hard it may be, should be to try and build a top-10 offensive line. I cannot imagine Jenkins or Becton being the catalyst for creating a top-10 line in Seattle.

This is a really good interior O-line draft. I know you don’t want to rely totally on a youth movement up front but maybe that just has to be the way it is? There are legitimately players who can be ‘great’ at the next level in this class.

Not just good. ‘Great‘.

Grey Zabel and Tate Ratledge have elite-level physical tools. Their testing profiles and workouts at the combine jumped off the screen. Sometimes you can just tell when a player has that extra bit of quality and it makes it easy to project their NFL pathway. I firmly believe these two players could form the base for an exceptional interior O-line. They look like the kind of players the Eagles draft.

I’ll also repeat what I said about Tyler Booker on Monday. Everyone’s given up on him as a zone blocker because he tested badly. Watch his on-field session in Indianapolis below. I refuse to accept this is a player who can’t be considered for a zone blocking system:

 
No way am I ruling him out for the Seahawks. He moves well enough on tape and in that video above. To me he’s the best pure guard to enter the league since Quenton Nelson. He’s a plug-in-and-play talent who will enhance your culture, competitiveness, leadership and quality from day one.

Donovan Jackson is another early round option, while the likes of Logan Brown and Jack Nelson could provide swing potential or could be developed to be full-time guards (just as Will Fries was after playing tackle at Penn State).

The center class is paper thin. However, here’s what an anonymous AFC National Scout says about Texas’ Jake Majors:

“That building is crazy about him because of his leadership and just how sharp he is. He can make protection adjustments on the fly like an NFL veteran.”

That sounds to me like the kind of player the Seahawks need. His tape is very good too. Then there’s Georgia’s Jared Wilson who possesses a physical profile similar to Dalman’s.

The Seahawks have five picks in the top-100. The best player available at the positions where they’re due to pick could, more often than not, include an offensive line option. In a perfect world they would’ve signed two proven, legit veterans and they could’ve called it a job well done. Now they have to pivot. The draft provides an opportunity to set up a cost-effective O-line for the long haul.

If you believe in Christian Haynes, you’re really talking about drafting one quality guard — one of Zabel or Routledge perhaps — to feel comfortable. If they ended up drafting Zabel, Ratledge and Majors — you won’t find any complaints from me. I don’t think it’s likely but you could do a lot worse.

The broader point here is to offer needed perspective when Seahawks Twitter, and some of the people who cover the team, seem to be losing their cool. It’s unnecessary. The first wave of free agency rarely ever provides the answers you’re looking for. Look how well the Dre’Mont Jones signing was received for a good example of that. He was a disastrous signing, yet one most fans approved of.

As someone who’s criticised the Seahawks plenty of times over the years for various poor decisions, I don’t think it’s necessary at this time.

Players I’d consider signing on shorter-term deals (but won’t be rushing to complain if they don’t sign):

Elijah Moore (WR) — seems to have had his career sabotaged by being forced to play with the Jets and Browns. Only 24 and worth giving an opportunity to.

Azeez Ojulari (EDGE) — a player who has failed to take the next step but is still a reasonable rotational rusher. He’s 25 and might be the kind of player Mike Macdonald can unlock.

Julian Blackmon (S) — he can cover and roam and play in the box and tackle. He might not be the most electric playmaker but he’s 27 and can do a job for a team needing a bit more at the position.

Marquez Valdez-Scantling (WR) — after a strong spell under Klint Kubiak in New Orleans, why not bring him to Seattle as a draft hedge?

And a final thought…

In October 2023, the Seahawks gave the Giants a second round pick to rent 10 games of Leonard Williams. They ended up re-signing him in free agency on a big contract ahead of his 30th birthday. Williams has been sensational for Seattle and a true impact player.

Would this spur them on to try and do something similar for Trey Hendrickson? He’s 30, he’s also a big-time EDGE rusher (35 sacks in the last two seasons). He’d require a big contract but the Seahawks have money to spend. He could tilt Seattle’s pass-rush into elite status.

The Bengals are notoriously difficult to trade with but they face the prospect of having to try and feed too many mouths. Trading Hendrickson could be the platform to extend Ja’Marr Chase. Would one of Seattle’s second round picks get it done?