Why signs point towards Seahawks trading a cornerback

Devon Witherspoon missed the first two days of practice during his microholdout, and the other cornerbacks wasted no time balling out.

Don’t be fooled.

Riq Woolen will presumably keeping the starting job that earned him rookie of the year votes. Both Jackson and Brown are off to early success, yet Witherspoon represents Pete Carroll’s highest drafted player.

All of a sudden, the cornerback room has become quite crowded, while also being about as young as it gets.

Enter Ahkello Witherspoon. Heh, Witherspoon. Funny.

Couple years back, Seattle had a similar situation, albeit less talented than the current setup. Witherspoon actually made the initial 53-man roster before being traded out of the blue to Pittsburgh for a 5th. He was on some kind of success list for a minute before fading into nothingness.

John Schneider will try to do the same this summer.

Why not keep all them corners, especially with the injury risks to three of them?

Possible.

But the wrinkle this particular time around is that all four of these guys are starting level corners, unlike years past. That 2021 season, the other CBs kept were Sidney Jones, rookie Tre Brown, D.J. Reed and Ugo Amadi, for reference.

Additionally, although Coby Bryant is not as good, his second-year contract is so cheap and he’s got the positional versatility that helps. If we’re talking about keeping primarily a backup, he’s the guy.

I’d say the team would prefer to trade Tre Brown, and that Jackson is more likely to unlock a trade partner. Brown is younger with with glimmers of a higher ceiling, two years left on his rookie deal. But he’s missed much of that time, and it’s just less likely an outside team has high level of faith in the half year of really good play he’s show. If they could move him, that’s preferable because Jackson is less injury prone and has a full year of respectable starting experience and familiarity with the system.

But for those same reasons, he’s the player other teams would ask about first.

Seattle currently has 10 corners on the 90-man roster. If a solid offer comes for either guy, the Hawks could break camp with Woolen, Witherspoon, Bryant, Jackson/Brown, and Artie Burns if they need a bench rider.

For the record, I’m in for this. I think it’s what they’re exploring anyway, with the constant praise of all the corners. Seattle’s got one extra 3rd next year, if John can swing another 5th, let’s keep the draft success churning.