Ask Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch about this weekend’s Buffalo reunion, and you’re not going to get much.
“I’m good, boss,” Lynch replied to questions about his time with the Bills, via Eric Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune.
Others are delighted to talk about it, however, as coach Pete Carroll was happy to give up a pair of mid-round picks (a 2011 fourth and a 2012 fifth) to acquire a guy who has rushed for more than 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns in 40 games for the Seahawks.
“I don’t know if anything is more symbolic than what we’ve done with Marshawn and him playing the way he’s played, and him being the guys he is,” Carroll said. “I think he really is the key element to putting this thing together.”
His powerful running is the perfect complement to an aggressive defense, and the perfect safety net for a rookie quarterback.
The Bills were willing to make the deal after drafting C.J. Spiller in the first round, to go with Fred Jackson. Subtracting a guy with off-field issues wasn’t as big a risk, in their minds.
With the picks, the Bills took tackle Chris Hairston (who is on injured reserve now) and Tank Carder, who was released this preseason and signed with the Browns.
Hairston’s 15 starts aren’t much of a return on the investment, though Spiller and Jackson made them comfortable doing it.
“I guess we liked those other two guys better at that point,” Bills coach Chan Gailey said, via Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “You have to make decisions that are good for the football team based on the talent you have and the talent you have accumulated.
“We were loaded up there and we took advantage of the opportunity to get value.”
Value is what the Seahawks got out of the deal, along with the kind of presence that’s pushing them toward the playoffs.