You’ll notice in the video above, Mike Garafolo references the Seahawks will be ‘tweaking’ their roster before the season begins. ‘Just stay tuned’ Garofolo adds, providing a layer of intrigue.

So what could this be?

The Seahawks today agreed terms with cornerback Tramaine Brock on a one-year contact. Garofolo’s ‘tweaks’ aren’t referencing Brock, however. He already touched on that potential addition in his segment.

So what is he talking about?

The one big loss so far in pre-season is Malik McDowell. The Seahawks were banking on him contributing as an inside/out rusher, providing a new pass rush element that has been lacking for a couple of years. With McDowell possibly sidelined for the whole season — it’s an area the Seahawks would presumably like to address.

The Jets’ Sheldon Richardson revealed recently that the Seahawks were interested in trading for him but wanted him to take a pay cut. His cap hit this year is $8m. Seattle only has $9m in remaining cap space according to Spotrac and they can ill-afford to enter the season with only $1m spare. They’d have to make some savings.

Is it possible Seattle retains interest, especially in light of McDowell’s injury?

ESPN reporter Rich Cimini believes the Jets are still interested in trading Richardson and are eager to upgrade at cornerback:

“I think they’re still open to trading Richardson. From what I hear, they’d like to bolster the cornerback position and he’s obviously their best bargaining chip — maybe their only chip.”

Adding Tramaine Brock allows the Seahawks to feel comfortable trading one of their existing cornerbacks.

Jeremy Lane’s cap hit is $5.25m this year. If Seattle moved him to New York for Richardson, they might be able to make it work financially. Brock adds an experienced replacement to the roster who can play outside and nickel.

They’d likely have to spend a draft pick too.

The Jets are in a major rebuild this year and have been trying to move Richardson for a while — a player they’re unlikely to re-sign when he becomes a free agent in the off-season. When he leaves, the best they can hope for is a third or fourth round comp pick. A similar offer today — such as a fourth rounder — might be tempting. They get the pick in 2018 instead of 2019 for starters. And if they want to spend big in free agency on a different player they won’t lose the comp pick.

They’d also get a corner in Lane who is still young enough to work with (he turned 27 in July) and if they wanted, they can cut him quite easily in 2018.

The Seahawks would get a one-year rental in Richardson — a player capable of providing the interior rush they desire. He replaces McDowell in the line-up and probably even offers an upgrade. Richardson isn’t a rookie and has the motivation of being in a contract year.

You could argue it’s a lot for a one-year rental. Consider this though — McDowell will hopefully return in 2018, the Seahawks are unlikely to be big spenders in free agency and if Richardson moves somewhere else for good money they’ll recoup their outlay via a 2019 comp pick.

And who knows what else could happen? The Seahawks brought in Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril as rentals. They’re still here, integral parts of the defense. They might find a way to keep Richardson too.

This could all be rosterbation of course. Big trades are rare at this time of year, although the recent deals involving Buffalo, Philadelphia and Los Angeles show they aren’t improbable. A Sheldon Richardson trade makes sense for both parties — and Garofolo hinting at further tweaks to the roster suggests something is in the pipeline.

If it isn’t Richardson, we could well see a different trade for a pass rusher.

Some brief thoughts on the O-line vs the Chargers

I quickly re-watched Sunday’s game yesterday, focusing on the left side of the O-line. I’ll watch the right side later today.

I thought Rees Odhiambo had a terrific game. He played 90% of the snaps on offense, 30% more than anyone else. He spent some time at left tackle and left guard. It’s at guard though where I thought he showed a ton of promise.

Luke Joeckel is the presumed starter but if Odhiambo continues to play the way he did against the Chargers, he has to be in with a shout to take the job. It really was a fine performance. Odhiambo was in control, flashed power in the run game and had no trouble in pass pro. Taking Kasen Williams’ four catches out of the equation, I’d argue Odhiambo was the biggest positive from the game.

George Fant also had a very good display. There are still times where his footwork isn’t quite right and he’ll give up some pressure — especially against the likes of Melvin Ingram. He’s not going to be the finished product in week one of his first proper pre-season. However, there was one occasion where he just engulfed two defenders with size and power. His fundamentals are light years ahead of where he was a year ago. I noticed on more than one play Germain Ifedi didn’t use his frame and length to keep the EDGE outside, allowing him to dip back inside and create pressure. At the very least Fant didn’t have any moments like this. If you have this kind of size/arm length and you’re playing tackle, just keep everything outside.

Joeckel had a decent game without the wow-factor of Odhiambo or Fant. His upside is fairly limited in comparison. He’s steady. He’s going to be pushed by Odhiambo on this evidence though. This seems like a battle now — instead of the presumed coronation of a left side of Fant-Joeckel. The upside of Fant-Odhiambo could end up being too tempting.