It’s not a secret that the Seattle Seahawks’ primary weakness is their offensive line. They have issues at right tackle where rookie Justin Britt and veteran Eric Winston are battling for the starting job. Their left tackle, Russell Okung, is coming off a couple injury-plagued seasons. In addition to that, both of Seattle’s guard spots are potential question marks heading into the year.
Former Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito was cleared by the NFL to return to normal football activities on Monday and will likely catch on with a team in the not-so-distant future. He’s a Pro Bowl-caliber player and has been a mauler in the league for some time now.
Do you want to connect the dots further?
How about the fact that signing Incognito would fill a huge hole on Seattle’s offensive line? He could very well earn the starting right guard job over J.R. Sweezy out of the gate. In addition to what has been an impressive version of James Carpenter on the left side of the line, this would create a ridiculously physical guard tandem for the Seahawks. It would also represent a tremendous upgrade over Sweezy in the run game. Imagine those two guards opening up holes for Marshawn Lynch, Christine Michael and Robert Turbin this season.
Then you have the elephant in the room. We know just how much the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers love trolling one another from a personnel standpoint. This has been proven over and over again with the likes of Perrish Cox, Ricardo Lockette, Chris Harper and B.J. Daniels, among other equally average names.
The dynamic of Seattle bringing Incognito in mere months after San Francisco traded for Jonathan Martin is something that’s made for day-time television. In reality, it has Jerry Springer written all over it. It’s also something we know very well Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider have kicked the tires on in the past.
Signing Incognito would be a low-risk, high-reward proposition. If he doesn’t pan out, the Seahawks could very well move on relatively quickly. After all, we aren’t at the point in the year in which veterans receive much guaranteed money, if any.
More so than any other team in the NFL, Seattle could also handle the media circus that comes with bringing Incognito in. He wouldn’t be a distraction in what is a close-knit locker room. And Carroll wouldn’t allow for the players to focus on the external issues that would come with signing the enigmatic veteran.
This may very well be conjecture on my part, but Incognito seems like a perfect fit in Seattle.
Unfortunately, the football gods likely won’t let it happen.
Photo: USA Today