Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had some interesting things to share in his normal Monday radio appearance on ESPN. For one thing, Carroll said the team has engaged in “preliminary” talks with quarterback Geno Smith on a new contract.
Securing Smith is an important first step for this offseason, but in order to catch up with their NFC West super-rivals they’re going to need some serious upgrades on the other side of the ball. In Saturday’s Wild Card loss to the San Francisco 49ers it became clear that there’s a very wide gap between Seattle and their rivals, who beat them convincingly for the third time this season.
Carroll says the most obvious gap is the defensive front seven, where San Francisco is absolutely loaded.
Pete Carroll on @SeattleSports says the obvious: the gap between the Seahawks and 49ers is most obvious in the defensive front 7s
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) January 16, 2023
While the 49ers have at least three superstars in Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead and Fred Warner plus several strong supporting players, right now the Seahawks only have one really reliable piece up front: outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. In the end he tied Darrell Taylor for the team lead in sacks (9.5) and was their most consistent defender throughout the season.
Filling out the rest of that defensive line and finding a better inside linebacker to quarterback the defense should be on the menu this offseason for the Seahawks. While there’s a lot of work to do, the good news is they have the resources to get it done. In addition to the No. 5 overall pick in the draft, they have four of the top 53 selections overall.
