All five of Seattle’s offensive-line starters from their Super Bowl victory are gone. After focusing on quarterback and defense last year, the 2016 draft could be a chance to replenish the line, on a budget. When the Seahawks beat Denver in Super Bowl XLVIII, they did so with the highest-paid offensive line in the NFL — just under $28 million. As the Seahawks enter the NFL draft they are devoting the least amount of cap space to their offensive line for next season — $8.7 million. So what has changed in the past 27 months? The hot take is that the Seahawks simply stopped making the offensive line a priority. The more nuanced answer is that Seattle since then has been faced with a number of decisions about which of its players were most critical to keep for the long-term good of the franchise — core players, as coach Pete Carroll often says. And simply put, when the Seahawks evaluated the offensive linemen whose futures suddenly required a decision, the team didn’t feel they were worth the price (or more specifically, the salary-cap room) it would take to keep them at the risk of losing a player at another spot it valued more highly. Seahawks general manager John Schneider made exactly that defense of the team’s handling of the offensive line during a recent interview on ESPN 710 Seattle. “When you’re constructing a team, especially the way we are in the salary-cap era, you are going to be focusing on keeping key players,” Schneider said. “It so happens for us the way we have built this defensively, we have been pretty heavy (in spending on the defensive side of the ball). … And then obviously our quarterback is taking off right now.” Indeed, in 2013 the Seahawks spent less than all but two NFL teams at quarterback, at just over $1.5 million. Now Seattle is spending almost $19 million at quarterback thanks to the four-year $87 million contract given last summer to Russell Wilson. - See more at: http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/...e-seahawks-expected-to-stock-up-in-nfl-draft/
