RENTON, Wash. -- Since he arrived in 2010, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider has talked over and over again about his desire to remain a "consistent championship-caliber football team." It's his way of saying he doesn't want the Seahawks to come and go as contenders, which, for the front office, means not mortgaging the future for the present.
Acquiring defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson before the season and agreeing to a trade for veteran left tackle Duane Brown on Monday doesn't necessarily signal a departure from that philosophy, but those moves do seem to indicate a sense of urgency on Seattle's part to win now.
If so, you could understand why.
The defense that has been the Seahawks' strength during their run of five straight playoff appearances isn't getting any younger. It's the fifth-oldest in the NFL in terms of starters this season, according to ESPN's Mike Sando. And at times -- like Sunday against the Houston Texans -- it hasn't looked like its previous self.
The Seahawks are coming off a season in which quarterback Russell Wilson dealt with injuries to his ankle, knee and pectoral. That made life hard on their offense and also served as a reminder of the risk that Seattle is taking with an offensive line that perennially struggles to provide adequate protection.
Brown is an upgrade to a unit that badly needed one.
The Seahawks have shown improvement in pass protection, but they've still allowed pressure on 33.3 percent of Wilson's dropbacks, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL. And run blocking has been a season-long issue. The Seahawks are 21st in rushing after managing just 33 yards on the ground Sunday, with 30 coming on Wilson scrambles.
Left tackle has been of particular concern not just this season but in 2016 as well. Seattle hoped Garry Gilliam could take over when Russell Okung left in free agency, but that plan didn't work nor did Seattle's fallback option, Bradley Sowell. George Fant looked like he may have been ready to take a big step forward in 2017 but he went down in the preseason with a torn ACL and his replacement, Rees Odhiambo, has struggled.
That position may go from a weakness to a strength for Seattle. Since the start of 2016, Seahawks left tackles have allowed pressure on 11.1 percent of dropbacks compared to 6.7 percent during that same span for Brown, according to Pro Football Focus. His résumé includes three Pro Bowls, most recently in 2014, and a first-team All-Pro selection. He's been durable, playing in 132 of a possible 144 games over his first nine seasons, and his bio on the Texans' website notes that he was called for holding only seven times in that span.
Some may contend the trades for Richardson and Brown are signs of desperation, but there are different ways to view them.
On one hand, Seattle did well to make those deals work by giving up non-essential players, sending Jermaine Kearse to the New York Jets in the Richardson trade and Jeremy Lane to Houston as part of the package for Brown. Kearse is a good receiver, but wasn't giving Seattle anything they couldn't get from Tyler Lockett or Paul Richardson. Lane had recently been relegated to the backup at right cornerback behind rookie Shaquill Griffin.
And the Seahawks didn't have to part with their first-round pick in either trade.
At the same time, Seattle still gave up a good deal of draft capital, giving the Jets their 2018 second-round pick and sending Houston their 2018 fifth- and their 2019 second-round picks. Richardson is in the final year of his deal and may be tough to re-sign, which means the Seahawks acquired him knowing there was a chance this may be his only season in Seattle. And Brown is 32, so he may only have a few more good seasons left. The Seahawks had to take on a lot of salary by adding Brown (about $5 million), only a portion of which is offset by trading away Lane (about $2 million).
The Seahawks haven't necessarily mortgaged their future with their trades for Richardson and Brown, but those moves seemed to show that winning now is increasingly becoming a priority.