Seahawks draft plans change? Suddenly there aren't so many QB-needy teams behind Seattle
Aaron Rodgers' announcement on Wednesday makes it clear: There's a little less "desperation" at the position going into the draft, 3/15/2023
As carefully as I can finish this article without a definitive answer before hitting “Publish” on Wednesday, Aaron Rodgers is a member of the Green Bay Packers. Soon, Rodgers will be on the New York Jets.
This is not speculation anymore. It’s guaranteed.
Rodgers went onto The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and confirmed that he wants to play for the New York Jets next season. The Packers have no leverage and they have to do it. The cost of stubbornness if they don’t? $60 million.
Aaron Rodgers is a member of the Jets, officially or not. As of now, after a team has traded up from nine to one, the Raiders signed no less than an insurance policy at the position, the Seahawks secured Geno Smith on a team-friendly contract, and the Rodgers confirmation we can at least say this with absolute certainty:
There isn’t as much desperation to draft a quarterback among the top-15 teams as there seemed to be a week ago.
Days ago, it seemed that the team that held the number one pick wasn’t going to draft a quarterback and that every team in the draft order from four to nine would be or could be in the market to pick one.
As of right now, we know that the number one pick will be a quarterback after the Panthers traded up with the Bears. And though none of these teams has firmly set the position for the next 10 years by any means, contracts for Geno and Jimmy Garoppolo gave more clarity for the absolute “need” in 2023, and now the team at pick nine is Chicago, not Carolina.
It’s been said many times that mock drafts before free agency are even more worthless than the mock drafts that come after. The talk of quarterbacks in the draft has taken a shift in the last week and now when I look at the board—as well as the changing conversations on Will Levis (that we predicted)—for me it becomes a necessary time to wonder if a franchise does feel pressure to “move over the Colts” or “move over the Seahawks” or “move over the Lions” for a quarterback.
My gut keeps pushing the Seahawks down the draft order. There’s a player who I am starting to become more focused on each day. He’s not a quarterback. He’s not even a defensive player.
It’s time to re-look at the teams behind the Seattle Seahawks, the starting quarterbacks for those teams, and why I could see the best strategy to move down at five and pick a player who fits almost every box for Pete Carroll. Sign up for the Regular Joes at $55/year to get about 100 bonus articles in the next 12 months and to support a small Seahawks business.