Seahawks-Chargers trade proposal lands 'much-needed stability' for offensive line

While the Seattle Seahawks have enjoyed a long run of staying competitive, they also haven't been a true contender for almost a decade now. Firing former head coach Pete Carroll proved that ownership won't be content with that state of affairs indefinitely.

For now general manager John Schneider's job seems relatively safe. However, if he is going to get fired in the next couple of years it will likely be because he couldn't manage to put togther an offensive line good enough to keep Sam Darnold going at the level we saw him at last season with the Minnesota Vikings.

Darnold won a Most Improved Player award from the PFWA for his efforts and earned a three-year, $100.5 million deal from Seattle. That deal won't look anything like those official terms if Darnold doesn't have time to unload the deep passing game that he excelled at in 2024, though.

The Seahawks struck out landing an impact player in free agency for this unit and only used one of their five top-100 picks on an offensive lineman. That means the only way they're really going to improve this unit between now and Week 1 is pulling off a trade. According to Last Word on Sports, Seattle should be one of the teams interested in Los Angeles Chargers guard Zion Johnson.

"Seattle has one of the league’s worst offensive line, and a trade for someone like Zion Johnson could provide some much-needed stability that could give Darnold the time to connect with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp."

So far, Johnson (6-foot-3, 316 pounds) has not lived up to what you'd normally expect from a first-round draft pick, and Jim Harbaugh isn't the most patient head coach in the business - which is why he might end up on the trade block.

A change of scenery may be just what Johnson needs to turn his career around. If he does wind up in Seattle, Johnson would project as the team's new starting left guard - which would free up first-round draft pick Grey Zabel to slide over either to center or right guard to fill one of those other critical interior holes.