The Seahawks’ highest draft pick in 12 years, Charles Cross is now under contract. The Seahawks and the No. 9 overall pick agreed to terms on the customary four-year rookie contract Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Cross was the last unsigned top-10 pick from this year’s class. Only five first-rounders remain unsigned. The Mississippi State-produced tackle can be kept on his rookie deal through 2026, via the fifth-year option. The slot deal is worth $21.4MM; that amount is fully guaranteed. This transaction is rather unusual, with Rapoport adding Cross is the highest-drafted player to enter the league without an agent.
The Seahawks are hoping for a long-term partnership with Cross, their first top-10 draftee since Russell Okung in 2010. Okung, who became his own agent as his career progressed, stayed with the Seahawks for six seasons. In 2017, the Seahawks traded for Duane Brown, who stayed on as their left tackle through last season. Brown remains a free agent, while the Seahawks reinvested in this prime position.
The two-year Mississippi State starter was the third tackle off the board this year, following Ikem Ekwonu (No. 6, Panthers) and Evan Neal (No. 7, Giants). Despite being closely linked to the Giants throughout the pre-draft process, Cross fell to the Seahawks, who used first- and third-round picks on tackles this year. They selected Abraham Lucas in Round 3.
A 6-foot-4 blocker, Cross will make an interesting transition in going from Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense to one of the NFL’s most run-oriented attacks. Post-Russell Wilson, Seattle’s offense — which added a second-round running back (Kenneth Walker) to the equation in April — could shift further in this direction. Discounting three games played during his redshirt year in 2019, Cross only played for the Rebels under Leach, who moved from Washington State to the SEC program in 2020. The former five-star recruit declared for the draft after his redshirt sophomore season, when he earned first-team All-SEC acclaim.
They address the OL after Wilson is gone. You can’t make this stuff up
Makes me ill. I hope Russ is MVP and the Broncos win the next 6 Superbowls.
They invested every year on OL while Russ was QB. Not able to go after top FA when your money is wrapped up in your QB but they traded multiple 1st round picks for Brown and many FA signings as well as their own picks. Its also harder to block for 10 seconds while Russ runs around.
They didn’t even trade one 1st round pick for Brown. Their “many” FA signings have all been guys who were long past their prime (Iupati, Fluker) or never desirable starters in the first place (Shell, Joeckel). The last four drafts before this one, they spent a total of one 3rd rounder, one 4th rounder, one 5th rounder, and one 6th rounder on offensive linemen. Wilson’s contract didn’t make them ignore the line with their top draft picks and generally draft poorly.
The issue isn’t that they didn’t draft O linemen(2 first round picks in Ifedi and Carpenter), Pocic and Lewis were each 2nd round picks, but they haven’t been able to draft an elite LT because they were drafting so low in the first or didn’t have one due to either trading down or trading for a player.
Wilson is going to want $50 million per, he was never going to get that kind of money from Seattle, and he really shouldn’t from any team. He is a top 10 QB, but I wouldn’t say top 5. Hawks were right in trading him when his value was the highest. They will likely have (4) top 50 pick next year to help in the rebuild.
All of the above! Personally I think Seattle just didn’t have a choice with Russell because of the NFL’s wage cap. The NFL salary cap and current roster construction limitations are 100% to blame. It’s extremely difficult in the current system to build a Championship team while paying the wages of an elite QB.
That’s a copout. Carpenter was more than a decade ago. Ifedi was a notorious reach according to consensus, just like many of their picks have been in recent years. They’ve drafted poorly even given the draft capital they had, and their reluctance to take shots on developmental tackles has left them looking to guys like Shell as improvements in free agency.
And you can’t say Wilson was always behind bad lines because of an entirely hypothetical contract he hasn’t gotten yet.
I agree they haven’t drafted well but at the same time they haven’t drafted in the upper 3rd in more than a decade until year. Seattle has put as much draft capital into the offensive line as any team in the NFL. Like I said Wilson is a very good QB but Seattle needed to rebuild and should of traded him the year prior and probably would of gotten a third 1st round pick if they had. Their core was getting old and they were trying to win now, it was a ill conceived plan but they didn’t exasperate it by holding on to a QB who has diminishing in skills and didn’t want to be part of the team anymore.
They absolutely have not put as much draft capital into the offensive line as any other team. That’s just not remotely close to true. You can trade up from the last third of the first round. You can take shots on developmental tackles. And those draft picks they traded, they traded–and not for O-line help, other than Brown. They had a years long problem and didn’t prioritize fixing it. That’s on them.
I agree with much of what you are saying but you have to remember the time when forget his name old memory but they were taking DL and convert them to OL because he wanted mean lineman. Most of those years were before Wilson but that and the bad picks hurt long term. Trading our all pro C for a can’t block TE in a run first scheme and not using correctly hurt too.
Pete is about done he meddles in everything it is time for him to go put his feet up in an office or retire. Maybe when they sell the new owner will want a regime change.
The Tom Cable years.
With all the coverage on the top offensive linemen in this years drat it will be interesting to see who pans out and who doesn’t. I enjoy watching the trenches.