Should Seattle Seahawks Consider Tanking Strategy?
The Seattle Seahawks are hoping to escape the mediocre tier in the NFL for the upcoming season.
The past two years have led to 9-8 records, which have seen the Seahawks teetering on the line of playoff team and just outside the postseason. That's a dangerous place to be in the NFL as Seattle has failed to experience playoff success while also being unable to start over.
That's why Bleacher Report writer Alex Ballentine suggests that the Seahawks should consider tanking in the upcoming season.
"If going 9-8 and flirting with the playoffs was a good bar for Seattle, they likely wouldn't have made the choice to move on from Pete Carroll as head coach," Ballentine writes. "However, making the move to sign Mike Macdonald opens the door for the Seahawks to lean into tanking toward a high draft pick in 2025. The Niners have a strong grip on the NFC West right now. But the Seahawks could ostensibly make a run at a wildcard spot and hope that Sam Howell can be the quarterback of the future. Instead, trading an aging player like Tyler Lockett in the middle of the season might a tanking move worth considering to increase their draft investment and potentially get a new quarterback prospect in 2025."
The Seahawks are far from the San Francisco 49ers, but they are also far from the Arizona Cardinals in their current setup. Seattle has a chance to be a very good team in the upcoming season, but likely not a Super Bowl contender. That's why they can choose to make a move or two that will allow them to select players (and potentially a long-term solution at quarterback) that can get them closer to putting themselves in that conversation.
Sometimes, the way to move forwards is to move backwards, and it certainly makes some sense for Seattle to do that. However, the Seahawks believe they have a playoff team already in the building, so they would be silly to hit the reset button right now. They should give coach Macdonald a chance to establish himself before putting him in a position to fail.
JEREMY BRENER
Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.