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Seattle Seahawks Facing The Biggest Test of Salary Cap Football

By Erik Lambert

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Dec 14, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor (31) during the first half against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated San Francisco 17-7. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Simply drafting well and building a great roster is no longer the formula to create a consistently winning team over the course of a decade.  Those good old days when players had nowhere else to go are long gone.  Thanks to free agency and the salary cap era, it has become harder and harder for franchises to sustain a winner rather than just build it.

This is the test the Seattle Seahawks are running head first into.  GM John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll have built one of the most formidable rosters in the NFL, already reaching two Super Bowls and winning one over the past two seasons.  Based on their age and experience, it should be a team that will compete for years to come.

The problem is money has begun to get in the way, as it inevitably does in this era of football.  Already faced with the headache of Russell Wilson playing hardball, refusing a recent offer of $21 million per year, now All-Pro safety Kam Chancellor has added to their problems.

Oh, and let us not forget that defensive end Michael Bennett sent strong hints he desires a new deal as well.  All of this on top of the fact that other key players including Russell Okung, Bobby Wagner and Bruce Irvin among others are free agents in 2016.  No matter how crafty the Seahawks are, there is only so much money they can throw around.

At some point one or even two of pieces that make them a contender will have to go, and that’s when the true mettle of Schneider and Carroll will be tested.  Can they reload the roster with another wave of talented bodies without the team losing steam in their Super Bowl chase?

New England, Green Bay, Baltimore and Pittsburgh are prime examples of that success.  Yet for every one of them, there is also a San Francisco, New York and Atlanta.  Teams that flash for a few seasons, maybe reach the big game and then vanish once their talent pool starts to dry.

For the Seahawks, that moment approaches.

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