Seahawks Lose Key Starter to AFC Contender: Report

Pete Carroll

Getty Head coach Pete Carroll's Seahawks have their hands full in the NFC West.

The Seattle Seahawks are losing another starter as center Ethan Pocic is signing with the Cleveland Browns, per The Boardroom’s Jordan Schultz. Pocic will be competing to snap the football to new Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.

“Breaking: FA C Ethan Pocic has agreed to terms with the #Browns, per source,” Schultz tweeted on March 29, 2022. “Pocic is just 26 and has 40 career starts with the #Seahawks as a former 2nd-round draft choice.”

Pocic spent his first five NFL seasons in Seattle and served as the team’s starting center for the last two seasons. The good news for the Seahawks is that the team signed former Chiefs center Austin Blythe this offseason who is now likely to slide into the starting role.

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Austin Blythe Was Coached by Seahawks OC Shane Waldron With the Rams

Blythe worked with Seahawks assistant coaches Shane Waldron and Andy Dickerson during their stint together with the Rams. Seahawks general manager John Schneider noted that the coaches are “real excited to bring him in.”

“Austin Blythe [was] coached [by] Shane Waldron and Andy Dickerson down with the Rams,” Schneider explained during a Mach 16 press conference. “Those guys have coached him, and so they’re real excited to bring him in.”

As for Pocic, there was some hope the Seahawks would re-sign the offensive lineman to add depth at the position. The former Seahawk is now projected to be the Browns starting center given J.C. Tretter was released earlier this offseason.

“Pocic should have a crack at replacing J.C. Tretter if he’s indeed heading to Cleveland,” Sports Illustrated’s Corbin Smith tweeted on March 29. “Austin Blythe signing played him out of Seahawks plans.”


Carroll: Seahawks Are ‘Wide Open’ to Moves at All Positions, Including QB

The big question for the Seahawks is what quarterback will be behind Blythe or whoever ends up winning the starting center position. Despite the team continuing to praise new addition Drew Lock, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll admitted the team will continue to explore other quarterback moves.

“I really appreciate you bringing it up. Of course we’re up for that kind of stuff,” Carroll told Seattle 93.3 KJR’s Dave “Softy” Mahler during a March 23 interview. “We’re up for everything. Like we said, it puts [Seahawks general manager John Schneider] back in the wheelhouse. He’s got some ammunition now. He’s got some stuff he can work with.

“We’ll be up for everything. I mean, we’re looking at every position. It’s not just the quarterback spot. That’s one of them, but there’s some other stuff that could happen, too. We will be wide open. Those phones will be ringing, and we’ll be cooking on game day.”

The Seahawks hold the No. 9 pick in the 2022 NFL draft and could explore taking a quarterback. Seattle has also been linked to disgruntled Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield who Cleveland is attempting to trade after acquiring Watson. Seahawks fans should have a better idea of the team’s future quarterback after April’s draft.