The Seattle Seahawks did an interesting thing with the draft this year. Instead of seemingly choosing the best player available for most of their picks, general manager John Schneider appeared to take players to help in the trenches. Seattle took a defensive tackle first, a guard second, and a couple of offensive tackles later.
The odd part came with Seattle taking not one but two cornerbacks on Day 3 of the draft and both of them played at the University of Auburn. Neither appears potentially able to play safety, and Seattle already had a glut of corners on the roster. This meant the addition of rookies D.J. James and Nehemiah Pritchett would probably mean a veteran or two would need to eventually be released.
No cornerbacks have been cut so far. 12s know that Devon Witherspoon is not going anywhere anytime soon. The same can probably be said of Riq Woolen. This should mean that Artie Burns, Mike Jackson, and Tre Brown could all be in trouble, only Brown is a presumed starter and has had a good training camp in the early going.
Seahawks urged to trade cornerback Mike Jackson to the Vikings
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballantine has a different idea, though. He thinks that the cornerback-needy Minnesota Vikings could make a trade with the Seahawks for Mike Jackson. In return, Seattle would get a fifth-round pick. If Minnesota were to make that offer, Seattle should jump at it.
No offense to Jackson, either. He has been solid in coverage over the last couple of seasons. He is also a relatively good tackler as opposed to how much of the rest of Seattle’s defense was in 2023. He doesn’t create turnovers, though. He also is likely slipping down to the depth chart.
Assuming in three cornerback sets that new head coach Mike Macdonald goes with Witherspoon, Woolen, and Brown then Seattle might want to give the rookies the next best chance at reps. Burns is a good special teamer and can provide depth at corner as well. Instead of outright releasing Jackson, getting fifth-round draft capital in return for trading him would be like stealing money.
Jackson would probably be a good player for the Vikings because he has only given up two touchdowns when targeted over his last 123 snaps. While his passer rating allowed climbed to 95.1 last year, it was only 75.1 in 2022. He just might not have a roster spot with Seattle.
