By Mike Rifkin
This past offseason the Detroit Lions decided it was time to move on from franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford and traded him to the Rams for Jared Goff and two first round picks. While the Lions remain winless this season the trade of Stafford was a sign that the team was ready for a rebuild. After watching these two teams who played against Super Bowl contenders on Sunday I think they should take a similar approach to what the Lions did this offseason. They would be the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks.
Let’s start with the Falcons who got shut out on Thursday night 25-0 following a performance in which they got decimated by the Dallas Cowboys 43-3. The Falcons sit with a record of 4-6 and are considered in the hunt for an NFC Wild Card. Even though Matt Ryan can still play at a high level so far this season Ryan has completed 67.7 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns, 8 interceptions with a rating of 93.1. In his career Ryan has a 65.5 completion percentage 58,041 yards, 362 touchdowns and a 94.4 rating. The Falcons have not been the same team since they blew the 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl. The Falcons bypassed an opportunity to take Matt Ryan’s successor in the Draft this past April instead taking Tight End Kyle Pits out of Florida. This would be a hard decision for first year General Manager Terry Fontenot. But I think it would be a smart one because of how tough the NFC is. Also with Matt Ryan playing at a high level like Stafford in Detroit Ryan can net the Falcons draft capital and that doesn’t mean they’re punting on the future. They can sign or trade for a guy who can help in 2022 while searching for the next franchise guy. Hypothetically these teams could have interest in Ryan are the Steelers and the Washington Football Team.
Now the Seattle Seahawks who welcomed Russell Wilson back after his finger injury to be shut out for the first time since Wilson became quarterback. The Seahawks lost 17-0 to the Green Bay Packers giving them a record of 3-6. We heard the offseason rumors that Wilson wanted out of Seattle and the Seahawks didn’t budge on it. Now they have to pull the trigger this offseason because as I said on the Falcons you have to evaluate the entire NFC but in this case let’s talk NFC West which is arguably the best division in the NFL. The 49ers and Cardinals both have young quarterbacks who they believe are their future with Trey Lance and Kyler Murray respectively. The Rams have gone all in on 2021 and 22 with Matthew Stafford. When Seattle went to the two Super Bowls people talked about the Legion of Boom secondary with Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, and Brandon Browner. But two important parts of that defense were Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett. Through 10 weeks the Seahawks are 29th in the NFL with 15 sacks. The reason Seattle should move on is to get back the draft picks they lost when they acquired safety Jamal Adams from the Jets. Reportedly Russ would have gone to one of four teams during the offseason: the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders and Bears. The Cowboys paid Dak Prescott this past offseason, Bears drafted Justin Fields and he looks like the real deal. The Raiders have Derek Carr which could be a match. The Saints had been playing Jameis Winston before he tore his ACL a couple weeks ago. For the Saints to make it work they have to make it work financially. A couple other teams that make sense here would be the New York Giants ( 2 first round picks in 2022), Carolina Panthers a lot of their front office is from Seattle, and a team that may not wind up with Deshaun Watson or Aaron Rodgers. For Seattle they do have pieces with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Chris Carson when healthy on offense. But you can’t get them the ball with how bad their offensive line has played. They have given up 29 sacks in 10 games. Like Atlanta this doesn’t mean you punt on next year if you trade Wilson you can get a young quarterback to evaluate on your own or sign a quarterback while looking for your next franchise guy.
For Terry Fontenot and John Schneider this is all about evaluating for the future. Ryan and Wilson can still play at a high level so if there is a team that feels they are a quarterback from being a Super Bowl Contender then they should pull the trigger on a deal for one of these two. The Falcons and Seahawks have more pieces than the Lions but these two teams can actually learn from what the Lions did last offseason.
The Sports Insanity Network 