Getty The Seahawks continue to be linked to Antonio Brown.
With the November 3rd NFL trade deadline less than a week away, the Seattle Seahawks are officially on the clock to finalize their roster for the rest of the season, particularly on defense. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll described the team’s outlook as “constantly shopping” to improve their team. Carroll was asked if the team would look to make additions on both offense and defense.
“Yeah, we are [shopping on both sides of the ball],” Carroll noted in his weekly press conference. “We’re constantly shopping. It’s basically how it is.”
Less than 48 hours after Carroll’s comments, the Seahawks made a move to acquire pass rusher Carlos Dunlap from the Bengals. It will be worth watching to see if the Seahawks will continue to be active in the trade market given they only had to give up backup offensive lineman B.J. Finney and a seventh-round pick for Dunlap. CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora expects the Seahawks to continue to be aggressive despite already landing one pass rusher.
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The Seahawks Passed on Trading for Everson Griffen
There was some speculation that the Seahawks would make a run at Everson Griffen who the team expressed an interest in signing over the offseason. The Seahawks have been one of the worst teams in the NFL at getting pressure on the quarterback.
The Cowboys traded Griffen to the Lions for just a sixth-round pick. Prior to the Griffen deal, Carroll was asked if the team would explore trading for Griffen or other players who the team had been previously linked.
“I would tell you like I always tell you guys, and this is just the facts, we are in on everything we can know of, and so, if there legitimately has been conversation from them, from a particular team, John [Schneider] knows it and he’s on it,” Carroll noted during his press conference. “That means that we’re listening to whatever the options are and we’ll try to figure things out. See what’s best and all that. There’s a lot of factors in all of this, not to mention [the] cap, all kinds of deals. The point being, are we interested in guys we were interested before? Yeah, we have a lot of information, because we’ve done a lot of homework and stuff like that so we are focused in on stuff like that.”
The Seahawks clearly preferred to land Dunlap who the team seems to view as having more upside. Unlike Griffen, Dunlap has an additional year remaining on his current contract.
The NFL Is Expecting a ‘Mini-Pass-Rush Run of Trades’
The Seahawks could have more opportunities to improve their pass rushers with several defensive ends on the market. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that we could see a “mini-pass-rush run” of trades with players like the Falcons’ Takk McKinley potentially being moved before the deadline.
“Everson Griffen deal could start mini-pass-rush run of trades,” Fowler noted on Twitter. “Carlos Dunlap‘s time in Cincinnati appears over and Takk McKinley is a name to watch — former first-round pick could use fresh start and Atlanta in position to be sellers at deadline.”
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Bengals asked Dunlap not to come to practice as the team found him a new suitor which ended up being the Seahawks.
“Sources: The Bengals have told DE Carlos Dunlap to stay home rather than come to work today as the team sorts out his future,” Rapoport tweeted. “They have had trade talks centered around their disgruntled pass-rusher, and those are continuing.”
Dunlap’s contract runs through 2021 and the defensive end has a $7.8 million salary which the Seahawks will be responsible for the remaining portion. The Falcons declined to exercise McKinley’s fifth-year option making him a free agent after this season.
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