Why are the Seahawks Immune from Criticism?

When it was reported on Friday that the Seattle Seahawks had traded Percy Harvin to the New York Jets, my first reaction was simply “what?”

Now, 24 hours removed from a trade that shocked the football world, reports are coming out that Harvin didn’t necessarily get along with his former teammates. A fight with Golden Tate during Super Bowl week and issues with quarterback Russell Wilson are two situations that have been reported a great deal since the trade went down.

As the NFL world found out about the specifics of the deal and what forced Seattle to move on from Harvin, experts chimed in by praising Seattle for the “bold move.”

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These are rather interesting opinions considering where the mainstream media was on Harvin a little less than two weeks ago.

Oh, and a player Harvin apparently had a spat with displayed his impression of his former teammate.

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Listen. If any other team had dealt Harvin for a mid-to-late round pick, that team would have been chastised by the media to no end.

Harvin was paid $18 million to play six regular season games for the Seahawks. They dealt a first, third and seventh rounder to the Minnesota Vikings prior to last season for the former first-round pick. That’s not neccesarily optimum value as it relates to a trade. Especially considering the division-rival San Francisco 49ers nabbed Anquan Boldin from the Baltimore Ravens for a sixth-round pick that very same day.

With Harvin now gone, this is pretty much the end result of Seattle’s 2013 draft class.

Even the best organization don’t hit on every draft, so this shouldn’t be a major concern for the Seahawks. Remember, there is only one player (Joe Looney) remaining on the 49ers squad from the 2012 NFL draft. These are both examples of great front offices struggling on draft day at times.

With no one from Seattle’s 2014 draft class playing much of a role thus far this season, there should be some overall concern about the long-term health and depth of the roster. That’s the larger issue at hand here.

Now without the likes of Red Bryant, Chris Clemons, Walter Thurmond, Brandon Browner, Percy Harvin, Golden Tate and Breno Giacomini from a season ago, that depth is going to get tested.

And in reality, it already has.

Cornerback Marcus Burley, who was acquired from the Indianapolis Colts immediately prior to final cuts back in September, has had to step into a rather big role with Seattle’s depth concern at that position. He’s responded by yielding a 107.3 quarterback rating through five games. Byron Maxwell, who many had pegged as a star on the rise, has also struggled a great deal opposite Richard Sherman this year.

Without the likes of Bryant and Clemons up front, Seattle has struggled getting to the quarterback as well. Seattle ranks 26th in the NFL in sacks with seven. For comparison’s sake, the Detroit Lions racked up eight against the Minnesota Vikings last week. This has caused some issues in Seattle’s vaunted “Legon of Boom” secondary.

But you won’t see anyone from the mainstream media cover this dirty little secret. You won’t read stories focusing on the issues that the third-place Seahaws are currently having following a dominating Super Bowl-winning campaign.

And this recent media reaction to the Harvin trade is a prime example of that.

If you put paper in a box and indicated that an unnamed team had dealt an unnamed player for a mid-round pick after yielding a two valuable picks for the player just over a year earlier, you would most definitely see the media criticize that team. Now add into account the fact that this unnamed team paid an unnamed player $3 million per regular season game during his tenure there, and the criticism would be widespread.

But in the eye of the media, Seattle deserves a pass here because it won the Super Bowl last season. And because of Harvin’s perceived personality issues.

Let’s throw some water on to that fire for a second here.

Harvin may have returned a kick for a touchdown against the Broncos in the Super Bowl, but he played absolutely no role in getting the team to the big game. In a vacuum, Harvin was a major bust for the team.

And the goal of a franchise isn’t to compete for a Super Bowl or win a title for just one season. Instead, franchises are looking to contend over the long haul. By virtue of the Harvin trade, the Seahawks put themselves behind the proverbial eight ball here. They are taking a huge dead money hit in 2015, have nothing to show for yielding three draft picks and are going to have to extend some bright young players, Russell Wilson included.

While all the focus around the football world has been on reported discord in the 49ers locker room, major issues were taking place in the Pacific Northwest. It even got to the point on Friday night where Marshawn Lynch nearly refused to get on the team bus because he was unhappy with the Harvin trade.

Rumors of fights, issues between players and a split locker room have gone unnoticed by a media that seems hellbent on supporting anything John Schneider and Pete Carroll do. And that pretty much shows us just where we are at as sports journalists in the new social media world. It’s also a sad fact, especially considering fans can no longer count on us to cover stories without us being subjective by nature.

While there is no reason to believe that Seattle won’t be title contenders moving forward, there is also no reason to give this team credit for dealing Harvin away. And in reality, one Super Bowl win doesn’t make any team immune from criticism.

That’s my unfiltered take.

Photo: Fox Sports