No part of the Seahawks roster is as synonymous with their success as their secondary.
And even though they drafted an entirely new one, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said they weren’t trying to move past the Legion of Boom era.
The Seahawks drafted four defensive backs, headlined by cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Delano Hill in the third round.
Coupled with the fact they listened to trade offers for cornerback Richard Sherman this offseason and have safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor coming off surgeries, it makes it natural to wonder about the future. But during an interview with 710 ESPN, Carroll said they simply wanted to delve into a deep secondary class in this year’s draft.
“This was a very strong draft in the defensive back section so it just kind of happened that we had opportunities to get guys,’’ Carroll said. “We may put together one of the great backup groups you’ve ever seen and that may be what this is for the future. That would be a great thing that happens. We love the guys that we play with. But meanwhile we are going to allow these guys to compete to start and that pushes Earl and pushes Kam and pushes Sherman and that’s how it goes.
“They know that this whole program is built on competition.’’
They also know the clock is ticking.
Thomas turns 28 this weekend and Sherman and Chancellor are 29, putting them closer to the end than the beginning. Thomas is recovering from a broken leg and Chancellor had surgery on both ankles. And considering the open discussion of trading Sherman, it would be irresponsible of them to not have a backup plan in place for all three.
For the moment, that appears to be just what they have, and the competition this year will likely dictate how long Seattle’s headline group stays together.