Not too long after signing Kelly Jennings to a 1-year, $1.8 million contract, the Seahawks have traded the former 1st round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals, as announced by the Seahawks. Kelly Jennings has always got a lot of fan ire and this pre-season has been a good reminder why, as he simply looked out of his league going up against #1 or #2 wide receivers. He has a role to fill in the NFL as a quick slot corner, which I would assume the Bengals want him for, but we have a ton of options in the secondary. I personally expected Jennings to stick because we don't quite have anyone with his shifty makeup to cover the quick slot receivers of the world, but looks like I was wrong. The FO might have someone in mind for that role, or put Pinkard on it as he is taking over for Babineaux who often played slot coverage for us. Jacson was speculating on Jennings getting cut before this trade happened, so we're not losing a ton of value here.
In return, we get a 2009 7th rounder in Clinton McDonald. McDonald has played all of 8 games of season football in his career, getting only four total tackles. He racked up a handful of tackles against the Lions and a half-sack against the Jets this pre-season. He's 24 years old and Pete Carroll and John Schneider might see something they like.
Looking at the Cincy Jungle post on the pick, it seems McDonald scouts as a pure pass-rusher, undersized and bad against the run. He's got great work ethic and is a tremendous athlete, turning heads at his pro-day, though he did not get a combine invite. but at 6'2 and 283 pounds is definitely undersized for an interior linemen (pro day weight, he's listed as 297 on Bengals.com). He could see time as rotational depth on different spots on the line, including end and 3-tech. I don't know if he's more as a camp body which is certainly the first impression you'd get, but considering our depth at the 3-tech he might just stick. Pro Football Focus notes that from their game charting McDonald had two QB hits on 20 pass-rushes, which is good, but he didn't look as good on 39 snaps defending the run.