Seattle seeks a low-risk spark for their pass rush as rumors swirl around a potential bargain trade for the former top-five pick to bolster their defensive front.
The Seattle Seahawks have spent the offseason trying to manage the cap while maintaining a roster the club hopes is good enough to defend its Super Bowl title.
But critics do see a hole in the lineup ... and that's why the idea of the Seattle chasing Giants pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux in trade is an idea that won't go away ...
In media circles, anyway.
DeMarcus Lawrence is an aging veteran, as are Dante Fowler and Uchenna Nwosu; they will all be 30 years old or older after the 2026 season.
It will likely be Fowler (like Lawrence a former Dallas Cowboy) who will step into the defensive end position vacated by Boye Mafe, who had a fine run in Seattle.
Mafe totaled 164 tackles, 20 sacks, and three forced fumbles in his four years with the Seahawks, with talents he now takes to the Bengals.
Would Thibodeaux - a former No. 5 overall pick who is still just 25 years old - be a better replacement?
Part of the challenge here is judging Thibodeaux’s trade value. He's in the last year of his rookie deal and the Giants seemingly have no long-term plan to retain him. But the reason for that is that he hasn't lived up to that premium draft billing.
He is only two years removed from an 11.5-sack season ... but to the Giants, maybe that seems a long time ago - especially as he's totaled just eight sacks over the last two years combined.
If this is to be a one-year rental for Thibodeaux, it would have to come cheap with the hope that Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald could get the best out of the pass rusher.
One speculative media report suggests that because the Seahawks will own a bounty of Day 2 picks in the 2027 draft, they should happily forfeit some of that.
Another written suggestion is that "maybe a fifth-round pick in exchange could be enough,'' but clearly, at this point, we're just guessing.
And as far as considering trading for him and then paying him big money? If that was the plan here, Seattle would've just paid Boye to stay.
In the end, this idea only makes sense if it's low-risk, high-reward for the defending champs. ... which means New York might need to stage a fire sale to even get any traction.
