Apologize while I pump my fists into the air for a second.
A year ago if you had told me we would be replacing Matt Hasselbeck with Tarvaris Jackson, I probably would have laughed at you.
Now the Seattle Seahawks reportedly hold the edge in the race for my favorite quarterback in the league to replace one of it’s worst starting quarterbacks (I will at least admit he played better then I expected). From National Football Post, to CBS, to Mike Mayock, all are indicating the Seahawks are either the early front-runners or are believed to have serious interest in Peyton Manning.
Who could blame them? Out the teams that need a quarterback who appear as the usual suspects (Miami, Washington, Arizona), Seattle is the team that is the youngest and most talented on both sides of the ball.
Apologies to coach of the year Jim Harbaugh but I have not yet seen him bring in a slew of young/emerging superstars like Chris Clemons, Sidney Rice, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, and basically the rest of our entire elite pro bowl secondary. Switching Red Bryant to defensive end has created one of the most unique defenses I have perhaps ever seen.
Whoever signs Peyton Manning needs to have the ability to contend right away given Mannings age and the injury concerns that are going to cause his release in the first place.
With the leagues 5th most cap space, the young talented Seahawks could in essence load up more so then most others could in the free agent market. If they did indeed sign Peyton, that would also at least allow them to use their 11th/12th draft selection on a position other then quarterback or trading up for one. Why not on my fellow Pac-12 offensive guard David DeCastro?
This makes so much sense to me it’s almost stupid if it doesn’t happen just writing this out. Not to mention that DeCastro currently sits 14th on ESPN’s big board and the best offensive guard prospects around usually get drafted in that 12-20 range.
If they could nab Manning and the best offensive guard prospect in the draft, that negates the need to invest in the quarterback of the future (for now) while (hopefully) fixing what has been their achilles heal since Steve Hutchinson left.
With free agency being almost embarrassingly littered with insane receiving options, it would also allow the Seahawks to bring in an also aging Reggie Wayne in a combo with Manning to lend familiarity to the offense.
Heck, they could even complete the trifecta and bring in Colts defensive end Robert Mathis to give the Seahawks the pass rush they need opposite of Chris Clemons.
It’s not such an insane scenario, most league insiders consider not only Manning out, but they consider Manning/Wayne to be a package deal out of Indianapolis. With the Colts switching to a new 3-4 defense under Chuck Pagano, Robert Mathis’ tenure with the Colts might be coming to a screeching hault.
Going into year three of a five year contract, I can’t imagine anybody else Pete Carroll would rather have under the helm for those next three seasons then a healthy Peyton Manning. Uncle Pete has done an excellent job at hitting the reset button on the Seahawks roster, but he has left the quarterback position exposed as a weak point. Signing Manning allows him to invest his resources into other positions like offensive guard and defensive end and gives him at least another year to postpone finding his franchise quarterback.
Instead of trading up and going all in on Robert Griffin, why not sign Manning, and then wait, trade up, and go all in on a Matt Barkley or Landry Jones next season? At least in that scenario you have Manning as a massive security blanket and don’t appear as desperate as you may when you have Tarvaris Jackson as your starter.
Hopefully by the time the draft in April rolls around I will be wearing a new Seahawks Peyton Manning jersey waiting for them to select a top offensive lineman. To me, that is the scenario that just makes sense. Why not have your cake, and eat it to?
February 20th, 2012 
Andrew Auger 
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