The Seahawks have made two of the more surprising signings so far, adding Luke Joeckel and Eddie Lacy, but both look more like wild flyers than calculated gambles. Seattle very possibly won’t get much from either of these guys.
Joeckel is a former No. 2 overall pick, but the Jaguars could never get him going. He struggled all along – perhaps the worst left tackle in the league when they put him on the field. Only because everyone thought he was an elite prospect coming out of Texas A&M is Joeckel making more than the NFL minimum right now. The Seahawks are hoping Tom Cable can whip him into shape, but Joeckel could be out of the league within about a year.
As for Lacy, he was hopelessly out of shape in 2015, when Mike McCarthy benched him, had him splitting time with James Starks and read him the Riot Act after the season. Lacy blimped up that year to the point where he looked like an offensive guard. He supposedly was going to be in much better shape in 2016, but he didn’t look that much thinner. He was at least more effective, averaging 5.1 yards per attempt before getting sidelined for the season with an ankle injury after five games.
Bob McGinn, the long-time Packers beat writer, says Lacy weighs 267 pounds now.
Pete Carroll says the Seahawks are aware Lacy has had some issues with weight but that they want him big – around 240. We’ll see. He’s had huge conditioning problems the last two years, so it doesn’t look particularly likely he’ll turn into a workout warrior now.
The tendency is to give Carroll and John Schneider the benefit of the doubt. They’ve been to the playoffs five years in a row, including two Super Bowl berths. The reality, however, is that they haven’t been great in free agency. They made the huge trades for Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham, and neither really worked out all that well.
The Seattle Times ran a recap of what the Seahawks have done in free agency under Carroll and Schneider last week. There are far more misses than hits. In the last six years, the team has signed 11 players to contracts averaging at least $3 million per year. They hit it big with two of those guys – Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. Alan Branch (in 2011) was fine, but he left after two years (going on to win two Super Bowls with the Patriots).
Mostly, there have been misses. Sidney Rice and Zach Miller didn’t come close to playing up to their contracts. Carroll/Schneider obtained Charlie Whitehurst (trade), Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Flynn before finally solving the QB position with Russell Wilson in the third round. They’ve missed badly on cornerbacks Antoine Winfield and Cary Williams.
Most notably, Seattle completely whiffed on Robert Gallery in 2011, who was gone after one year. Gallery looks eerily like Joeckel – a No. 2 overall pick who simply was never any good with the team that drafted. Cable couldn’t turn Gallery around in 2011, and it’s unlikely he’ll have much more success with Joeckel.
| SEAHAWKS SIGNINGS OVER $3 MILLION | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | contract |
| 2011 | WR Sidney Rice | 5 yrs, $41 million |
| 2011 | TE Zach Miller | 5 yrs, $34 million |
| 2011 | DT Alan Branch | 2 yrs, $8 million |
| 2011 | OL Robert Gallery | 3 yrs, $15 million |
| 2011 | QB Tarvaris Jackson | 2 yrs, $8 million |
| 2012 | QB Matt Flynn | 3 yrs, $20.5 million |
| 2012 | DT Jason Jones | 1 yr, $4.5 million |
| 2013 | DE Cliff Avril | 2 yrs, $12 million |
| 2013 | DE Michael Bennett | 1 yr, $5 million |
| 2013 | CB Antoine Winfield | 1 yr, $3 million |
| 2015 | CB Cary Williams | 2 yrs, $18 million |
| 2017 | OT Luke Joeckel | 1 yr, $8 million |
| 2017 | RB Eddie Lacy | 1 yr, $5.5 million |
—Ian Allan