Seahawks make an agressive move to land a QB

Seattle Seahawks new Head Coach Pete Carroll got his new QB today. It also seems that the team played a very high price for him. On Tuesday the Seattle Seahawks traded their 2010 2nd round pick and a 2011 third round pick to the San Diego Chargers and their 2010 2nd round pick. They then signed, the QB to a two year 10 million dollar contract extension. Many are calling this a crazy move, but is it all that more crazy than guaranteeing a NFL rookie QB 70 million dollars over the next five years?

Sure Whitehurst is unproven, a 2006 third round draft pick, that has yet to throw a pass in a regular season NFL game. I ask this, what did the Seahawks really give up for him? They move back 20 picks in the second round, but they still have two first round pick which just happen to be within the first 14 picks. That is an acceptable risk. The only really thing Carroll and the Seahawks front office has done is tied their short term success to how Whitehurst plays on the field.

While this seems to be an acceptable risk, with a lot of upside by the way, it raises a lot of questions about how this team will be rebuilt. Will they use Whitehurst as a stopgap till they are in a better position to draft a young QB? Will they go ahead and draft a QB this year (which may be hard since Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen are likely to have been selected by the time the ‘Hawks pick at 6)? What about Matt Hasselbeck?

In the end I kind of like this move and I think the plan for the draft will be to add a RB and a OT with their two selections in the first round. This will give Whitehurst some protection, and a running game to lean on should he be the starter. That seems like an ok plan, but the fans may turn on Carroll and new Seahawks General Manager John Schneider if this move blows up in their face.

Related Links:

•Seattle Seahawks news and notes
•2010 Seattle Seahawks Schedule
•2010 NFL Mock Drafts
•2010 NFL Free Agents
•MTR Football.com