Pete is the architect of this defense. No one held a gun to his head and forced these players and coaches on him. These are the guys he wanted. This is his vision. Not the results he's currently getting of course. But this was his plan. Not JS, Hurtt, Judy, Desai, etc. Pete's plan.
He wanted Hurtt to be his DC. He sold the farm for Adams even though he didn't fit his defense. He traded a 2nd & 3rd for Taylor. He traded for Harris, and signed Nwosu, traded up for Barton, got Woolen and developed him. Signed Diggs to a mega-contract after a gruesome injury, etc. Good, Bad, Indifferent, it's Pete.
The defense is Pete's baby, he builds the entire team around it, to compliment his defense that is. JS defers to him, especially as it pertains to the defense. They used to draft Lineman that Cable wanted. They deferred to him because no one knew more about O-Line than him, or so they thought. And with Pete, they draft, sign, and trade for what Pete wants for his defense. Pete goes and gets the coaches he wants for his defense, too.
I feel it's finally sinking in to people's heads that they have coaching issues on defense, (I can't believe it took this long for so many.) and that argument is through. So now the the goalposts are being moved to talent. (That Pete is also responsible for.)
Time to find out. I'm going to do a comparison of asset expenditure on the top 10 defenses in the NFL, and compare it to the Seahawks. I have no idea where they will stack up, but I'm definitely curious.
My guess is they've spent right there with the top 10, but maybe I'm off on this one.
Criteria:
(1) $5M APY def. players on current rosters.
(2) 1st, 2nd, 3rd rd picks on def. (expected starters). Over the last 5 years.
(3) Any trades of players that still remain on the rosters where 1st, 2nd, 3rd picks are used. That are still not making big money some how. As most of these guys will fall into category (1) anyway.
I will post my findings on .NET soon!
-Total picks (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
-Total draft value points, using a chart.
-Total number of $5M+ APY players.
-Total $$$ spent.