Because what will hurt him worse than losing Tyler is not having a stout defense on the field. Ever seen a young QB not ever get in rhythm because his defense keeps him off the field for 20 minutes at a time? Or how will he gain confidence if he is never in a position to win because the defense can’t make stops? Stop thinking so naively and also with that mentality of ‘this place will never function without me’ except substitute ‘me’ for lockett in that sentence. It’s like baseballs WAR. I don’t think WR is as critical as D line and LB in terms of WAR affecting team record. Doug Baldwin was undrafted. Hunter renfroe was a fifth rounder. We can put people around a QB easier than we can fill the defense right now.
A "stout" defense. Stop, just stop. lol We won't and don't have the LOB, and a defense is only as good as the coaches that develop it and call the plays for it. Plenty of QBs haven't had a stout defense, and the ones who have, stout to well above average benefitted quite a bit. All Seattle needs is average.
Show me QB's who will succeed without anything for receivers. Stafford, or even Geoff sure as hell wouldn't have looked like they did without Kupp. No different than if you took Lockett away from Wilson. Brady without Gronk, Edelman, Godwin Evans, Murray/Cards without Hopkins, Fitz.
Stop being naive in thinking that solely the defense will win it
consistently for you. Without any balance you have squat. Seattle had the LOB and on offense Russ, Lynch Tate and Baldwin. Rams have/dad Floyd, Donald, Gaines, Miller, Ramsey and on offense, Stafford, Kupp, Henderson, Woods, Higbee and Michel.
Hell, the Bears Defense was statically on par with the Rams defense. But thanks to a lack of weapons outside of Mooney, offense sucked.
You need balance, getting rid of locket ruins that balance.
Also, Seattle ONLY got Baldwin thanks to Sherman helping his boy out and upselling him to Pete and Jon. Guys like Baldwin and Renfroe, diamonds. If you want to gamble on diamonds all the time instead of keeping a sure thing, you'll miss more than hit.