It’s a 1-year deal for an unknown amount of money.

Depending on how much the contract is worth, this could be the first move I approve of when it comes to this Seahawks offseason.  We needed another guard, because there’s no way in hell Luke Joeckel would be returning, and I want no part of Rees Odhiambo starting games for this team, so it pretty much had to come from free agency or the draft.  And while it looks like they opted for the former, I suppose that doesn’t necessarily prevent them from also picking a guy from the college ranks.  But, I dunno.  That seems like it would be a move designed to have someone compete with Ethan Pocic, when I thought he did okay last year.

As it stands, the O-Line is looking like this:

Duane Brown – Ethan Pocic – Justin Britt – D.J. Fluker – Ifedi/Fant

In other words, it’s pretty well set.  I think 4/5 spots are on lock, barring injury, with Germain Ifedi in a true position battle for that right tackle spot with George Fant, who is returning from ACL injury (and was the presumptive starting left tackle for this team before Britt dove at his legs and set the disaster that was the 2017 season in motion).

As for Fluker himself, he was the 11th overall draft pick in 2013, and the Seahawks are already his third team, so you tell me if he’s a bust or not.  The Chargers selected Fluker out of Alabama to be a tackle for them, but he was never good enough to stick at left tackle, and eventually couldn’t even stick at his more natural right tackle position.  They moved him inside, which is where he remains.  He appears to be exclusively a right-side lineman, which means it’s Right Guard or it’s nothing.  After the Chargers waived him, he signed a deal with the Giants last year for 1 year, $3 million; a toe injury limited him to 9 games.

So, given that history, perhaps my initial take was incorrect.  Someone who flamed out with his original team and was only able to net $3 million with the Giants for 9 games, I can’t imagine he got a RAISE based on that!  Then again, what did Luke Joeckel’s dumb ass ever do to deserve over $7 million?  My point is, I don’t trust this front office to NOT overpay for worthless linemen off the scrap heap.  See also:  $1 million for Bradley Sowell and nearly $3 million for J’Marcus Webb.

What I do like, however, are the reports that say Fluker is 100% healthy.  Of course, that doesn’t preclude him from getting another body part injured – or re-injuring that very same toe – but at least we can hope he’ll show up to Training Camp ready to work.  He’s also heading into his age 27 season, so he should be extra motivated to kick some ass and get a nice, fat contract.  He’s an Alabama kid, so you know he was at least – at one point – one of the top recruits in the country.  And, at over 340 pounds, he’s fucking HUGE.  He might get beat in pass protection every now and then, but I can’t imagine he’ll be bull-rushed into the pocket too many times.  It also sounds like he’s a pretty good run blocker, so pairing him with Ifedi on that side could pose some unique challenges for defenses when we run that way.

We’ll see.  I’m still all in on the Seahawks using their first round pick to take the best running back available, so I hope this means the odds of us drafting a guard at that spot go way down.  Frankly, I like the idea of not having to worry about the shuffling of offensive linemen at this point in the year.  We’ve got four spots nailed down, with two young guys looking to do battle for the fifth.  I like Brown for at least another year, I think Pocic will take a step forward in year 2, I think Britt is fine, I hope Fluker will be okay, and fingers crossed that a little continuity from year to year with Ifedi in the same spot will help him grow.