Would the Seahawks be interested in signing guard David DeCastro after he was released by the Steelers?
Longtime Seahawks followers know one of the mottos of the Pete Carroll/John Schneider era is to always be in on every possible personnel move that could help the team. Its a natural thought for a few reasons, notably that DeCastro is from Bellevue and on the day he was picked 24th overall in the 2012 NFL draft by the Steelers he noted hed been a lifelong Seahawks fan who wasnt the biggest Steelers fan growing up after Pittsburghs win over Seattle in the Super Bowl following the 2005 season. And DeCastro has an impressive pedigree, having been named to the Pro Bowl each of the past six years and twice named a first-team All Pro. He also has been durable, having missed just seven games since the 2013 season. But players are never released without a reason. And though DeCastros release was initially regarded as a surprise, it made more sense as the dust cleared. One NFL Network report stated that DeCastro may be considering retirement as he continues to deal with an ankle injury. Advertising  DeCastro had surgery on the ankle before last season, an injury that continued to bother him throughout the 2020 campaign when he played in 13 games, the fewest since his rookie year. He also dealt with knee and abdominal injuries last season as he turned in a grade of 64.1 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 51st among all guards. That was lower than both of Seattles starting guards (Damien Lewis was 22nd and Mike Iupati 32nd) and former Seahawk Germain Ifedi (45th with the Bears), and one spot ahead of Gabe Jackson, who Seattle acquired during the offseason. Pro Football Talk noted that DeCastro was waived with the non-football injury designation, which it theorized means the team believes DeCastro suffered some sort of new or additional injury to the ankle somewhere other than at work.  DeCastro did not take part in minicamp, which raised some questions about his future with the team, though coach Mike Tomlin was vague when asked about DeCastro. While DeCastros release saved the Steelers $8.75 million against the salary cap in 2021  he had just one year left on his contract  DeCastro has made $57 million in his career, according to Spotrac.com, and could decide hes had enough of football. He likely wouldnt be released if both sides felt he was ready to play a season at the top of his game. DeCastro in his prime obviously would help any team, but it can be legitimately questioned if Seattle would be better with him at his current age and what they already have at guard this season  second-year player Lewis on the left side and Jackson on the right, which is the side DeCastro played throughout his career. The Seahawks are high on Lewis, a third-round draft pick out of LSU in 2020, and wouldnt make any move to block his playing time. But he did play one game at center last year (against Arizona), and the Seahawks could consider moving him there at some point, though for now they have their top two centers from last year back in Ethan Pocic and Kyle Fuller. Carroll portrayed the Pocic/Fuller battle at center as an open competition during the offseason program. Advertising  Seattle also wouldnt make a move at this point to block Jackson, who was acquired for a fifth-round pick from the Raiders and signed to a three-year contract that includes $10.075 million in guaranteed money. That is also the dead-salary-cap number for 2021, a lot for a player to suddenly consign to a reserve role. Carroll also indicated last month that the Seahawks may be done making major additions until they get into training camp and see what they have. Until we get on the field and can see how things are starting to come together there wont be major changes in whats going on, because were pretty committed at this point, Carroll said in May when asked if the team would consider re-signing linebacker K.J. Wright. That doesnt mean that were not tuned into all of the options and the opportunities that are out there, because we are.  So the combination of DeCastros age, injury history and Seattle seeming pretty set at guard could mean this isnt a union that is likely to happen. And if DeCastros playing days are indeed over, it would mark the end of one of the better NFL careers by a Washington-born player. DeCastro was a Seattle Times Blue Chip pick in 2008 before signing with Stanford. At Stanford he was a key part of the Jim Harbaugh-coached teams that  which included future Seahawks Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman  that brought the Cardinal back to football prominence, including an Orange Bowl win following the 2010 season.