The trade deadline came and went yesterday, and the Seahawks were decidedly not involved.

Now, you can obviously say the Seahawks got it out of their system with the Quandre Diggs deal with the Lions last week, but rumors – as they do – were flying.

First up, Rashaad Penny was allegedly inserted into the active roster against the Falcons as a showcase of his talents, to see if we could recoup – presumably – some draft capital for someone who is increasingly looking like a reach at best and a bust at worst.

As I’ve said before, I can’t see his value being all that high, considering all the nothing he’s done as a pro. So, turning a first round pick into a future conditional seventh round pick isn’t really something I’m interested in. Buy low/sell high, not the other way around.

There was word the Seahawks might be in the market for a tight end, and naturally O.J. Howard’s name came up. He’s absolutely drowning in Tampa, as their offense hardly uses him whatsoever! But, we have Ed Dickson coming back, and it just feels like the price would be too high, particularly for a team like ours that still doesn’t throw it around as much as most teams.

The obvious need right now is on the offensive line, where we’re banged up across the board. Ethan Pocic hit the IR, and now so has Justin Britt. That leaves us with Joey Hunt and … to play center. Well, I for one believe in Hunt, and I feel like it wouldn’t be too difficult to pick up a center off the scrap heap, or teach one of our younger guys how to do it in a pinch.

Even with the trade for Diggs, you have to believe that safety is another area of need. Can Bradley McDougald get healthy and stay healthy? Will Marquise Blair take the job and run with it? And exactly how injured is Diggs in the first place? Is he EVER going to play? If not safety, then certainly nickel cornerback might be a place to look. Akeem King sure stunk the joint up last week; I don’t know if he’d be missed.

If anything, I probably would’ve been more inclined for the Seahawks to shed some of the dead weight they’ve got on the roster, to bring back even more picks (for moving up in the draft, if need be).

One thing I’m sure the Seahawks were looking to do was move David Moore. He’s been featured relatively heavily since his return from injury, but he’s done absolutely jack shit. We’ve been rostering 7 wide receivers this year, with at least two of them healthy scratches every week, which is pretty insane. Of course, we went out and drafted three guys this year, so it makes sense to want to keep them. And, Moore was only a 7th round pick, so if you got back anything higher than that it’s all gravy at this point. Metcalf is going to be a featured receiver on this team for a long time, and Tyler Lockett is a true #1, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for someone like Moore. Probably better to get some value out of him now, but I guess there wasn’t anyone willing to bite.

Finally, I wonder if the Seahawks would’ve listened to offers for Kendricks or Wright. Wright might be too old at this point, but you have to figure there’s good value for someone like Kendricks, who can do a little bit of everything. I have to believe the team wants to get Cody Barton some more playing time, regardless of position. If it meant cutting and running from one of our veteran guys to get Barton in on base defense (which would also allow this team to play more nickel like they should be doing, since nothing is getting accomplished with all this base) that probably would’ve been okay.

But, ultimately this team is going where Russell Wilson can take them, and there wasn’t anyone available who was going to take the Seahawks from the fringe playoff team that they are into a dominant Super Bowl contender they want to be. Not without completely mortgaging the future, and at this point it’s more important for the Seahawks to continue to stockpile picks and use them to draft their future superstars (particularly on defense).

Thank Christ we do have Russell, because he does legitimately make the Seahawks a contender all by himself. He’ll have to play his best down the stretch, and we’ll need luck on our side, but I’ve seen crazier things than a team as iffy as the Seahawks making the Super Bowl.