During the 2014 season, there were a whole bunch of reports suggesting the Seahawks had grown tired of Marshawn Lynch. The expectation was they were ready to move on.

Then, after a challenging 4-3 start to the season, they played the Raiders and Giants in back-to-back weeks.

Neither game was pretty. The Seahawks needed someone to get them out of a hole in both contests.

Lynch was the answer. They handed the ball to him. He was unstoppable. He won them both games.

Here’s what I wrote after the win against the Giants:

Replacing Lynch, a heavily touted move that suddenly appears annoyingly inevitable, will be the greatest threat to Seattle’s longevity as a contender. You’re losing a great player and you’re also losing a piece of your identity. It might force an early pick on a running back. It’ll probably lead to a drop in talent at the position. It could mean having to add multiple pieces — new running back, receiver, tight end — to compensate for the talent shortfall after losing one single player.

This is a debate we’ll need to have in greater detail down the line. But this kind of major surgery is deeply unattractive. And yet unless several high profile and storied reports are wrong — it’s going to happen.

A few days later I doubled down on the take:

Replacing Lynch will be the toughest thing this franchise has to do in the post-Super Bowl era. You could argue running backs are easy to plug into an offense. How else can you describe 29-year-old Justin Forsett posting 5.4 yards-per-carry in Baltimore as the fourth most productive runner in the NFL? I think for most teams it’s a valid point. But not for Seattle. Not with Lynch.

He is so integral to this teams identity. He is a phenom, a truly unique runner that deserves to be remembered as fondly as any other running back since the turn of the century. His physical style, ability to break tackles, his attitude on the field. These are not easily replaced by just plugging in another player. The moment Seattle loses ‘Beast Mode’ the team will also lose a part of its identity. There’s no getting away from that.

Why am I bringing this all up, you might ask? It’s because I’m getting serious deja vu thinking about what life will be like for the Seahawks when they don’t, one day, have Leonard Williams.

It’s not a perfect comparison. Lynch was basically the beating heart of the team, along with Kam Chancellor on defense. Williams is unquestionably of that ilk — but I’d argue the current-day Seahawks have about 10-15 players who similarly carry that emotional value. Look at the ‘leadership council’ on Hard Knocks for example. There were 11-or-so players in the room with Mike Macdonald.

Also, Williams doesn’t have the ‘can’t live with him, can’t live without him’ conundrum that Lynch provided. As much as we all love Marshawn, he was clearly a massive pain in the arse to coach.

Williams, like so many of his team-mates, is a consummate pro. There are no headaches here.

The reason I make the comparison is purely down to the physical and talent combination that Williams provides. He’s a rare player and person. He’s listed at 310lbs but carries it perfectly. He’s a genuine elite-level athlete for his size. Yet he also complements that by being tremendously physical and doing the hard parts of the game well too.

He’s someone who can wreck games and stymy opponents in equal measure. He’s quick, dynamic, explosive, violent and sturdy. There just aren’t many players like this in the NFL.

That’s why he was recently rated the #1 defensive tackle in ESPN’s poll of scouts, execs and coaches.

As with Lynch, there’ll be almost no way to replace Williams when he moves on. Not unless you’re picking in the top-10 and get really lucky with the players available.

He’s the kind of player Seahawks fans spent years pining for — while having to watch Aaron Donald, the DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead combo or Calais Campbell. He’s the type of unbelievable interior rusher who can do it all. He’s someone the other team has nightmares about. Someone who can sack a quarterback, stuff a run, lead by example and turn up every week and play with elite consistency.

A true game-wrecking interior defender is one of the most valuable assets to possess. It’s also one of the most fun things to watch on a football field — provided the player in question is on your team. Otherwise, it’s a miserable experience.

I know a few of us wondered if he might choose to go out on a high after winning the Super Bowl this year. To know he’s not only continuing this year — but also signing a three-year extension — should be music to fans’ ears.

Enjoy every minute of Leonard Williams while you can. When he’s gone, you’ll notice.

Credit to the Seahawks too that he wants to continue playing for a few more years. It’s pretty clear the environment that has been cultivated makes players want to play for this team.

If they can keep that atmosphere going, I wouldn’t be surprised if Williams plays on beyond even this contract. He’s the kind of natural athlete who, frankly, could play as long as he wants to.

Watching Williams play is a privilege. He is one of the great Seahawks already — and he has an opportunity now to become an all-time legend.

Give John Schneider and his staff their flowers too. What a last few months since the Super Bowl — Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Devon Witherspoon, Derick Hall and now Leonard Williams all with new contracts. That’s a titanic sized effort.

I’ll be discussing today’s news in a live stream today at 1pm PT: