Seahawks will address need at running back with veteran

I felt that the Seattle Seahawks had a fairly significant need at running back, but I completely underestimated their desire to address it with a veteran free agent. In my write up for the Oakland Raiders free agents, here’s what I wrote about Latavius Murray:

Murray is a huge 6’3, 225 lb running back who went in the sixth round in 2013 out of Central Florida, and he ran a 4.38 forty at his Pro Day. In the last two seasons, he’s averaged four yards per carry and scored 18 touchdowns on 461 attempts with 74 receptions. He’s also fumbled it six times. The Raiders could move on and focus on DeAndre Washington next season.

The Seattle Seahawks could be interested in a player like Murray, but not Murray himself. He’s likely going to get a decent sized contract (for a running back) and they are content with the cheap running backs on the roster and adding rookies or low-key free agents.

Murray is set to visit the Seahawks soon.

In my write-up for the Green Bay Packers, here’s what I wrote about running back Eddie Lacy:

While Ty Montgomery took centerstage for the Packers last season at running back, averaging 5.9 yards per carry, Lacy wasn’t doing too bad himself. He averaged 5.1 yards per carry before going on IR with an ankle injury and he could still be a great bargain signing given how much time he missed and the constant weight concerns. But outside of that, Lacy has looked similar to Marshawn Lynch at times (short, short period of times) and scored 20 touchdowns over his first two seasons. I think that the Seahawks would absolutely be interested in Lacy and a conversation between the two parties would not surprise me. Thomas Rawls-Lacy-C.J. Prosiseis a nice complementary trio to consider.

Lacy is set to visit Seattle soon.

In my writeup for the Kansas City Chiefs, here’s what I wrote about Jamaal Charles AFTER he was released:

Update (2/28/2017): The Chiefs have released Charles, the same day that the Vikings released Adrian Peterson. I think Charles could still have some good, perhaps great, games ahead of him. He makes more sense for Seattle than Peterson would, but I don’t think that’s the direction Carroll will go in for the running back position. I could be wrong.

Charles is set to visit the Seahawks soon.

So that’s three confirmed visits by running backs to Seattle. The Seahawks are also set to have visits with guard T.J. Lang and safety J.J. Wilcox. But what’s telling is the three visits by veteran backs, which makes more sense to me now given that the price of running backs is way, way down. Almost no running backs came off the board on the first day of free agency, and the ones who did were “multi-tool” type player like Danny Woodhead, Jacquizz Rodgers, and Kyle Juszczyk. A player like Charles or Lacy should cost $1.5-$3.5 million, I think. It’s not much more than a rookie running back and despite some strong players up top, the overall class is weaker than expected.

Murray may cost a little more because he’s younger than Charles and leaner than Lacy, but it’s still not much relatively.

It’s interesting that the Seahawks may be one of the first teams to sign a traditional running back rather than waiting for some other chips to fall first and wait it out, but they clearly see an advantage at the position. They can set the market and they can set it low because nobody is vying for running backs. Consider that Adrian Peterson is reportedly very disappointed with the lack of interest in him, and he’s still the best one available. You can disagree with me on that based on injuries and age but Peterson is arguably the best running back of all-time and he led the NFL in rushing in 2015.

And Seattle doesn’t have any reported visit set with him even though he was interested in them, apparently. They do have three other veteran visits set.

My gut tells me that Lacy is the move they make, but Charles or Murray wouldn’t be bad options. Especially given that none of these guys should cost anything significant and won’t be relied upon as a number one next season. Here’s what I wrote about the Seahawks visits with these three running backs:

My gut tells me that Lacy is the move they make, but Charles or Murray wouldn’t be bad options. Especially given that none of these guys should cost anything significant and won’t be relied upon as a number one next season.