How to get better in the NFL

I will admit to being somewhat primitive when it comes to the best methods for improving a professional football team.

I am of the opinion that you should avoid ditching your best players unless you have someone who is or will become an upgrade. I think this is especially true when we’re talking about a premium position such as quarterback and/or wide receiver.

Now, not everyone is as simple as I am about these matters. Some have more nuanced views that involve the salary cap, draft value and perhaps even global warming.

I mean no disrespect whatsoever to the people who possess this depth of expertise, this level of insight. I am just more of a caveman when it comes to debating the Seahawk futures of guys like D.K. Metcalf and Geno Smith.

We’ll get there in a second, I promise, but first we’ve got some ground to cover:

I didn’t write a column for The News Tribune this week so much as I put together a user’s manual for The Pete Carroll 73YO Super Deluxe Coaching Program. This should come in handy for any Raider fans as well as folks who’d just like to reflect upon what it was like to have that guy as a head coach.

The fact that the Seattle Mariners home field mutes run production is not a new idea. The fact that TMobile Park suppresses offense more than Coors Field enhances it, however, is something I’ll admit to being surprised by. That’s just one of the takeaways from what is among the most exhaustive analyses I’ve seen of not just what TMobile Park does to opposing hitters but why.

For those who don’t want to read all that, here’s a cheat sheeet:

• It’s not because of the roof being open;

• It’s not just the temperature or being at sea level;

• The batter’s eye is at an odd angle, but so is Baltimore’s and that doesn’t seem to have the same impact;

• The biggest effect is likely due to the angle of the sun in the early evening at certain times of year.

The Seahawks could trade D.K. Metcalf this offseason.

I do not think they should. The reason I feel that way is based primarily on three things:

1. My aforementioned belief that the best way to improve is to hold onto your best players unless/until you have someone you believe will be as good or better;

2. What happened in the two games Metcalf missed this season;

   Those were the home losses to Buffalo and to the Los Angeles Rams. The Seahawks managed just 10 points against the Bills in what was the worst offensive performance of the season followed by that absolutely brutal overtime loss to the Rams.

3. The importance of wide receivers to quarterback development.

There has been a trend over the past five years of teams trading draft choices to acquire talented wide receivers to pair with a talented young quarterback.

I would mark Buffalo’s trade for Stefon Diggs in 2020 as a significant landmark in this development. Philadelphia made a similar move in 2022 when it acquired A.J. Brown from Tennessee. I suppose you could go all the way back to Seattle’s trade for Percy Harvin in 2013 and say that’s what the Seahawks were doing for Russell Wilson.

These deals have been cited as examples of what Seattle could get if it were to trade Metcalf. I would cite them as evidence of what the Seahawks would be giving up: There is nothing that helps a quarterback more than having a wide receiver like Metcalf.

I believe that’s true for a quarterback like Geno Smith. I believe it would be even more true if the Seahawks were to find a young quarterback who could eventually replace Smith.

I understand that there are flaws in Metcalf’s game. Despite his size, he is not great at making contested catches. He remains insistent about picking up dead-ball penalties because he’s either angry at opponents or seeking to demonstrate his toughness.

The incentive for Seattle would be to shed a significant salary. Metcalf is entering the final year of his contract, and under his current deal, would count around $32 million against the salary cap.

The Seahawks could reduce this by signing Metcalf to a contract extension. That would commit even more money to Metcalf down the road, however, which is why there’ve been suggestions that perhaps Seattle would be better off moving Metcalf. After all, as good as some believe he has been, he hasn’t been enough to make the Seahawks great.

The same sort of thinking gets applied to Geno Smith as well. He’s also entering the final of a contract, and that deal has him counting more than $44 million against the cap. That would be more than one-quarter of the anticipated salary cap to two players on what was a fairly inconsistent offense.

But they were your two best players on offense last season and I don’t believe you get better by letting your best players go. At least not unless you have someone you believe is or will be better than them.