What free agents can learn from Geno Smith's experience
3 non-negotiables the Seahawks must execute against the Falcons: Seaside Joe 2056
Have you ever visited a foreign country, or even another city in the country where you live, and felt nervous during the cab ride because of how the drivers in that city drive compared to those in your hometown? I remember visiting Washington D.C. as a kid and being terrified of getting into an accident because the drivers there seemed much more aggressive (to my kid brain) than those in Bellevue, Washington.
I told myself I could never live in D.C. or anywhere with such aggressive drivers. It just wasn’t the vibe I was accustomed to, and I assumed it probably never would be. However, after living in Los Angeles for the last 15 years, I’ve learned that people tend to adapt to things they’re not used to.
I’ll never enjoy driving in L.A., and it’s definitely been getting worse in recent years, but at least now I know what to expect and how to navigate a city that is nothing like where I grew up.
Could this serve as an analogy for why team sport athletes—specifically NFL players—often struggle when they change teams? Or why some lucky ones find their footing and tap into their potential when a “change of scenery” unlocks the value that their previous teams couldn’t realize?
I’m not talking about scheme changes, teammates, or coaches.
Like traffic patterns and driving around town, I’m referring to the pace of the franchise. I’m talking about the culture, the vibes of the team, and certainly the atmosphere of the city that supports the team.
Anyone who has lived in more than one place knows that people and places differ everywhere you go. While there are universal elements—like having a government, restaurants, and nice people—I believe humans tend to gravitate toward environments where they feel they fit in, rather than choosing based on weather or economic factors. There are thousands of warm-weather cities and countless job opportunities.
These aspects are merely items on a checklist of “things I want in my next living situation.” What we’re truly seeking are the intangibles—those elusive attributes of a city, job, or favorite restaurant that you can’t quite pinpoint. I think many players who joined Seattle during the Pete Carroll era finally felt at home.
Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Geno Smith, and Marshawn Lynch are four examples of free agents who found success. If we extend this to drafted players who excelled in the NFL beyond their college performance, Richard Sherman, Doug Baldwin, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor, Tyler Lockett, and DK Metcalf are just a few examples among many.
Conversely, we know that several players performed worse for the Seahawks than elsewhere, such as Jimmy Graham, Jamal Adams, and Sheldon Richardson.
Of course, being a scheme fit matters. But everyone else talks about scheme. We don’t need to rehash that topic here at Seaside Joe. I want to explore alternative explanations—something that challenges me more than the idea that “Oh, Pete just didn’t know how to use tight ends properly.”
Okay, maybe not. Perhaps Graham simply didn’t vibe as well with the Seahawks franchise as he did with the Saints, which makes sense because, in my view, these are two very different organizations, cities, and living environments.
And just what the hell does this have to do with the 2024 Seattle Seahawks?
Having patience with new Seahawks
These are veterans in their first run with the Seahawks: WR Laviska Shenault, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Connor Williams, TE Pharaoh Brown, QB Sam Howell, DT Johnathan Hankins, DT Roy Robertson-Harris, LB Jerome Baker, LB Tyrel Dodson, EDGE Trevis Gipson, S K’Von Wallace, S Rayshawn Jenkins (IR)
That’s 12 new veterans, which means that as of right now over 20% of Seattle’s roster was playing for a different NFL team last season. Assuming that the Seahawks could start Jason Peters at right tackle this Sunday in place of the injured Stone Forsythe, that’s 13. And Wallace will replace Rayshawn Jenkins as a starting safety after Jenkins was placed on IR.
This isn’t a small deal. NFL teams have to build championship rosters with puzzle pieces from different puzzle boxes and we expect them to look like a perfectly aligned picture (I see a basket full of kittens and puppies in my ideal puzzle) by the end of the season or “fire everybody”.
Which….isn’t actually hard to understand.
The NFL can rarely have patience
Maybe the reason that Geno Smith has had success as the Seahawks starting quarterback is the fact that he had an almost unheard of three years of run-up before he replaced Russell Wilson. He had three entire years to get used to “how people drive” on the Seahawks, but more importantly Geno had almost no opportunities to screw up during those three years. Other than three starts in 2021, nobody could have said a good word—or a bad word!—about Geno’s play because Geno did not play.
By the time Pete told Geno he was the starter over Drew Lock (the guy who had no idea what to expect when he was traded to Seattle only months before a competition to start the most important position on the team), Geno already knew the names of all the people who work for the Seahawks that you and I have never even heard of before. If he was at the VMAC and he needed to go to the bathroom, he knew which restroom has the most privacy. If he wanted something from John Schneider, he knew how to ask and when to call him, as well as when not to call him.
That’s a fantastic fucking advantage. And if it were me and I was in a competition with somebody else for a job, I know that I’d have a ridiculous amount of confidence just based on the fact that I’m comfortable and this is already my home. My competition is literally still figuring out which way to go to drive to the facility…and might have already had three fits of road rage before he throws his first practice attempt of the day.
I took the shortcut. Oh, you don’t know the shortcut? You’ll figure it out someday. Maybe. If you’re lucky enough to still be here.
How would Jadeveon Clowney have done with 162 games per season and a minor leagues system?
Although I was never as big of a fan of Clowney as most, I wonder how his career would look if the NFL had as many opportunities for players as the MLB does: No athletes in the world fail nearly as many times in their careers as the professional baseball player.
Taking an example to the extreme, Nolan Ryan struck out more batters than any other pitcher in history. He also walked the most. He also lost the third-most games in history and the person with the most career losses, they named the award for “the best pitcher of the year” after him.
Can you imagine what would happen to Nolan Ryan’s career if instead of getting 807 career games, he only got 100? What if the first 20 games of his career were not good? What if his team played 17 games and he was terrible for the first two years? I mean, most baseball players ARE terrible for several years after being drafted which is why they keep them in the minor leagues until they’re deemed ready. Then many of them find out they’re not ready. And then they get even more time in the minors to work on their problems.
By comparison, if an NFL player would get 162 games to prove himself, we might find that his first 30 games are bad, but his next 60 games are great, and then we would live on that journey of ebbs and flows together.
Perhaps in a world where the Seahawks could have worked with Clowney for 100 games, we’d find that yes, he proved he was as good as advertised.
But because NFL teams get 17 games, patience is thin. If a free agent doesn’t vibe with his city and team right away, he might never get enough time to get comfortable and accustomed to the pace. He could get run out of town before he gets off the parkway. Coaches know that their time is often just as limited (coaches get less patience than first round quarterbacks) and they can’t necessarily risk starting a player who has had five bad games in a row. Baseball players are allowed to have 50 bad games in a row—worst case scenario, you’re sent back to the minors—but this isn’t baseball.
I can’t imagine that Mike Macdonald is in any danger of losing his job based on what happens this season, other than far out scenarios that I don’t find worth exploring right now. But he’s also new. He’s also figuring out what it means to be the Seahawks head coach, what the personalities are like of his new co-workers, and most definitely which routes to take to the office. Perhaps his old advantage as the head coach is a private bathroom.
Maybe after starting 3-0, Macdonald felt like he had earned a little slack and could have extra patience for the players who weren’t performing up to expectations. Maybe after losing three in a row, that patience isn’t what it used to be. In three games. Baseball teams often play more games than that in one series!
So to the new players who have fumbled. Or allowed too many QB pressures. Or took a bad angle on defense, missed a tackle, got their ankles broken by a running back, and guess wrong too many times…(Is this everybody on defense?)…all I can say is that I’m sorry.
I’m sorry this isn’t baseball. You won’t get to fail 1,000 times. One fumble might be the same as a hitter striking out 100 times. One interception could be the same as a pitcher giving up 10 runs. One missed tackle could be the same as 5 unforced errors.
In the NFL, your career might not be defined by a single season. Some situations are forever judged in your memory…by a single drive.
Seaside Joe has a series for every day of the week but my schedule was a little thrown off by playing on Thursday night and also needing to focus more attention on certain aspects of the team after losing to the 49ers. So today I had to choose between Seaside Streams, Debunk Police, Seahawks Stock Watch, and Non-Negotiables. I’ve decided to post the usual Non-Negotiables today and will try to get back to a normal schedule next week. I’m not sure all these formats will stick around forever, but article ideas deserve a little patience as well.