Seahawks must make Duane Brown a priority to appease Russell Wilson

Duane Brown wants a new contract from the Seattle Seahawks and, if the team wants to keep Russell Wilson happy, they may want to lock the tackle up. 

One of the narratives surrounding the Seattle Seahawks coming into the 2021 NFL season is the franchise’s negotiations with safety Jamal Adams. After the team gave up multiple first-round picks in a trade to acquire him, they want to lock up one of the best at his position to a long-term contract. However, that’s not the only contract situation developing the Pacific Northwest.

Joining Adams in not practicing at training camp with Seattle is veteran offensive tackle Duane Brown, who is entering the final year of his current contract. Brown reportedly wants an extension and “isn’t happy” that he doesn’t have a new deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. And quarterback Russell Wilson appears to be in the veteran tackle’s corner.

Speaking to the media for the first time since training camp kicked off, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson, Wilson seemingly urged the Seahawks to “figure out” the situation with Brown before effusively praising his left tackle and noting how important he was for the success of the offense.

Despite being 36 years old, there hasn’t been a drop-off for Brown in performance. He graded out as the fifth-best offensive tackle in the NFL last season according to PFF (subscription required) and hasn’t been outside of the top 25 in grading since 2010. Retaining that type of high-quality veteran player would behoove Seattle on the field, especially given their offensive line woes.

However, it seems like even more of a pressing issue given Wilson’s comments and the narrative around the quarterback earlier this offseason.

The Seahawks could probably survive without Duane Brown but not without Russell Wilson.

Because so much has happened since then, it’s hard not to recall the pre-draft NFL world in which there was rampant Russell Wilson trade speculation. The crux of that was that the Seahawks quarterback wanted more help in front of him so he wasn’t still on pace to be one of the most sacked players in league history.

Given that situation and the fact that he clearly wants Duane Brown around, reading between the lines would lead you to believe that the Seahawks need to appease their quarterback and get Brown signed to a new deal and back on the field.

The simple fact of the matter is that we’re living in a player-empowerment era in professional sports. Subsequently, if Russell Wilson were to become irreparably unhappy with the way Seattle continues building the roster, it’s not hard to imagine him asking for a ticket out of the organization via trade or otherwise.

It’s odd to think that Brown would be the linchpin in that type of relationship between quarterback and organization but, more or less, it could be an instance of the final straw on the camel’s back. And though Wilson isn’t perfect, he has kept the Seahawks at a playoff-caliber level near single-handedly at times because he’s that good. Without him, so many of the shortcomings of the franchise would immediately come to light.

Wilson certainly wasn’t issuing an ultimatum regarding Brown and there is a lot at play, especially with Adams also looking for a new contract. However, as we look at the entire situation with the Seahawks, it’s hard to escape the notion that the franchise should be looking to make their quarterback happy and retaining his left tackle seems like a way to accomplish that.