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Seattle Seahawks Can Regain Identity With Percy Harvin Trade

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A blessing in disguise.

That probably isn’t the first thing that went through people’s minds when news broke that Percy Harvin had been traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the New York Jets in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2015 anywhere from the second to fourth round. The wide receiver was traded to Seattle last year from the Minnesota Vikings, who received first, third and seventh-round picks in return.

It’s never a good things when a team trades a remarkable talent like Harvin away, especially when they invested heavily in him.

But if you take a closer look at the factors involved in the trade, you’ll see there is reason to believe this was the right move for the Seahawks as an organization; to cut their losses and move on. Seattle brought in Harvin to add a dynamic piece to an offense that lacked explosion, and while his departure may be surprising to the public, it was also reported that the Seahawks had been looking to trade their speedster for a few weeks.

Now comes the question: why? My theory is that the Seahawks realized that having Harvin actually held their offense back. Seattle has been one of the most run-heavy teams over the past few years under head coach Pete Carroll, and it revolved around the physical running style Marshawn Lynch. The Seahawks thought that having a speedy weapon on the outside would open things up for Lynch and the rushing attack.

What they didn’t account for is that Harvin wanted his touches. That meant the play-calling had to change. That meant less touches for Beast Mode. That meant the team got away from what it’s good at.

It meant an identity crisis.

On the surface, Seattle is trading away a perennial superstar. But if you delve deeper, they are actually getting rid of a problem in their scheme. Seattle’s offense is meant to be simple. It’s meant to pound the running game and work the passing game off of it. Lynch needs his touches, and having Harvin forced them away from him.

Not only that, but it now gives second-round pick Paul Richardson and fourth-round pick Kevin Norwood their opportunities to get involved in the offense. More importantly, it allows the Seahawks to get back to running the football and everything that comes with it: controlling time of possession, creating easy conversions and dictating the tempo of the game.

This goes beyond the playing field too. Harvin is known to not be the best locker room presence. That’s part of the reason why the Vikings traded him to Seattle in the first place. While no one really knows what goes on behind the closed doors of Seattle’s locker room, it’s likely that some of the players didn’t get along with Harvin very well.

So this news may send shockwaves through the sports world for a while, but people need to realize that trading Harvin away isn’t the mistake in this picture. Acquiring Harvin was the mistake. Unfortunately, it’s a mistake that the organization didn’t realize until this year, and they were forced to cut their losses.

For a team that is used to making the right moves when it comes to transactions, the Seahawks completely missed with Harvin — he only played in six regular season games for the Seahawks. But, at least their identity may be restored because of it. Seattle’s offense needs to get back to the basics, and now it can.

Connor Frederickson is a Seattle Seahawks Writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @cfredrun or add him to your network on Google.

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