I think it's true that Seattle does have quite a bit of flexibility going forward, and that's definitely a good spot to be in. At the same time, we have lost a lot of good players since 2013. Are we as deep as we were then? Probably not, but I agree that's the formula for continued success, and it's definitely the way I would've done it. We've identified the stars; now it's a matter of replenishing the depth.
Seattle has all its 1A talent locked up. Assuming they stay healthy, this team can continue to contend. The only difference I see now that all these guys got their second contracts is that proven depth has been stripped down. If any two of our top five players got injured, could we still contend? Back when we had Maxwell, Browner, Thurmond, Jeron, Miller, Tate, Clemons, Red, McDonald, McDaniel, Unger, Breno, Carpenter, M. Smith, etc., you could probably still afford to lose anyone but your QB for a stretch. Even without Russell, we probably could have snuck in the 2013 playoffs with T-Jack. That squad was stacked. We killed everyone in the preseason because we were cutting guys who became starters on other teams. It was insane.
So, yeah, at the top end, I agree this team is as good as it ever was and should continue to be that way. And if the stars stay healthy, the team is always going to have a chance. That being said, the depth has changed, and we need guys from the 2013-2015 draft classes to really start hitting if this team wants to be as deep and impervious to injury as it was two years ago. In 2013, if you lost your LT or CB1, you'd still have some solid players to compensate. In 2015, what does our OL or CB situation look like without Okung or Sherman? I think that's the big difference.
