Just In: Fields could be filled with a Seahawks defense after this signing

Seahawks sign LB Jerome Baker, officially pass on Justin Fields, 3/16/2024

Seahawks fans can now officially move on from any fantasies involving a trade for Justin Fields, but instead and more importantly you can imagine what Seattle’s 2024 starting defense will look like. The Seahawks signed linebacker Jerome Baker on Saturday to a one-year contract worth up to $7 million, probably filling the two starting roles in the middle of the defense in addition to the recent signing of Tyrel Dodson. Meanwhile, the NFL world finally moved on from Justin Fields rumors-to-Justin Fields reality when the Steelers traded a conditional day three draft pick to the Chicago Bears for the right to have Pittsburh fans argue about why Russell Wilson should be benched.

First, Baker.

I mentioned Jerome Baker four days ago when I wrote about all the free agents who the Seahawks could sign without it costing them a 2025 compensatory pick. Baker was released by the Miami Dolphins to save $10 million and then his former team turned around and added Jordyn Brooks. Needing a Brooks replacement, Seattle signed Baker for a contract worth a lot less than that. I’m not sold that the Seahawks are getting the lesser linebacker however.

Less than a year older than Brooks, the 27-year-old Baker played at Ohio State along the likes of Dre’Mont Jones and quite a few other NFL players, then got picked in the third round of the 2018 draft. The Dolphins released him with a failed physical designation due to a wrist injury and MCL sprain, but the Seahawks don’t seem that concerned. At the cost of a one-year deal worth “up to” $7 million, Seattle’s risk is minimal and they’ll have options in 2025 whether Baker is bad or good.

If he’s good and he leaves in free agency, the Seahawks could still get another comp pick in return just as they are so far setup to get for Brooks: Seattle could be in line for as many as four 2025 compensatory picks, which would be two more than they’ve had in the last seven years total. That’s far from confirmed and the George Fant contract might take one away, but so far so good.

Stats are just stats, but Jerome Baker’s had a lot more impact, non-solo tackle plays in his career than Brooks: 22.5 sacks, 5 INT, 31 TFL, 6 FF, and 46 QB hits.

Between Baker and Dodson, I’m fine with the Seahawks going from Bobby Wagner and Brooks to these two starting at linebacker in Mike Macdonald’s first season as the new head coach and defensive coordinator. I was listening to The Athletic’s GM podcast with Randy Mueller and Mike Sando on Saturday and they praised Washington’s addition of Wagner because of the veteran leadership he brings and “being able to put people in the right position”…

We all know how great Bobby Wagner is as a player and that he is a first ballot Hall of Famer and we’ve heard for a few years in a row now that teams who sign him are basically getting what Sando and Mueller described. It’s as if there’s an implication that if you have Wagner, you can do no worse than have an average defense. With or without blame, Wagner has been on bad defenses for at least the last five seasons and that includes 2022 with the Rams and 2023 with the Seahawks. In fact, the biggest problem on Seattle’s defense last season was the lack of leadership and poor communication.

I’m just not sure if in today’s NFL it is all that easy to pass leadership down from one generation to the next.

It may not be easy to lose a player like Bobby Wagner and yet I’m excited to see what the next era of the Seahawks defense could look like with Dodson and Baker. The other “new” starter in free agency is safety Rayshawn Jenkins and it would seem as though there are at least eight other players now who we could deem as Seattle’s starters on defense: Julian Love and Jenkins at safety, Baker and Dodson at linebacker, Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Mike Jackson, and Tre Brown at cornerback, Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, and Dre’Mont Jones on the defensive line, and Boye Mafe, Uchenna Nwosu at edge.

Other key players we’ve seen contribute or were drafted include Darrell Taylor, Derick Hall, Coby Bryant, Artie Burns, Jerrick Reed, Mike Morris, and Cameron Young.

If Macdonald is the upgrade at defensive coordinator he is expected to be then I don’t think the Seahawks will be as bad as they were in 2023.

No Fields

I’m happy to report that we don’t have to talk about Justin Fields again…until the Steelers part ways with him. The Bears traded Fields to Pittsburgh for a conditional pick that is a 2025 sixth rounder for now and could be as high as a fourth rounder if certain conditions are met.

I did write that Fields couldn’t get the second round pick that most were projecting and that was only after certain parts of the media had given up their projections that the Bears could get an early first round pick for him. The end result is that Fields was basically traded for less than what it cost Seattle to acquire Sam Howell. I 100% think the Seahawks got the quarterback who they wanted and about 20 quarterbacks had to change teams before a franchise decided they were willing to take on Fields.

Seaside Joe giveaway contest: In case you missed it, enter to win the ‘W’ sunglasses here!

The Steelers probably promised Russell Wilson that he would start, hence why Kenny Pickett demanded a trade after he had been promised a chance to compete. So it would seem that Fields is being traded as a backup, however what Pittsburgh will soon learn is that you’re not allowed to have Justin Fields on your roster without starting him otherwise the media will demand for you to be fired (as they did with Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace) and say that you’re ruining his career. I don’t think Wilson will be allowed to lose a single game and Mike Tomlin’s making a really interesting decision here to put those two together.

At least it won’t be Fields and Geno Smith.

Speaking of whom, the Bears now have Tyson Bagent and Brett Rypien at quarterback and neither of those players are adequate bridge starters if there is any thought to letting Caleb Williams sit as a rookie. Does Chicago now have room for Geno? If the Seahawks have any intentions of drafting a quarterback early or if it falls into their lap, another surprise could still happen, which I wrote about here regarding Geno’s fit with Shane Waldron.