Strange shifts and adjustments have happened at the top of the draft in recent weeks. And things could get even stranger in the coming days.
How about this one? There’s chatter in league circles that the Seahawks could take Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with the fifth overall pick in the draft.
It would be a surprise, to say the least. But some believe the Seahawks will take Richardson at No. 5, if he’s there.
The three-year, $105 million contract signed by quarterback Geno Smith gives the Seahawks significant flexibility. Given its structure, they could escape the deal after one year and $28 million. And so a player like Richardson could sit on the bench for a year (or two) and learn the game before playing.
It seems odd on the surface that the Seahawks would do it. Only last year, they escaped a situation in which the quarterback had become too much of a focal point for the team. Why create a situation in which excessive attention will be devoted to the quarterback position, once the fifth overall pick is devoted to a quarterback?
Still, the talk is out there. And the Seahawks have made no qualms about the possibility of take a quarterback with that selection.
Could it all be a smokescreen aimed at getting someone else to trade up for the pick? Absolutely. Regardless, at a time when there’s plenty of talk, one talking point is that Richardson is a very real possibility for the Seahawks at No. 5.
Remember this: Richardson has superstar potential. And if he indeed becomes a superstar, that could make it easier for coach Pete Carroll and G.M. John Schneider to hold their jobs after the team is sold next May, when the requirement to surrender 10-percent of the purchase price to the state of Washington disappears.
