Seahawks Had Something Special with Hasselbeck—Won't Realize It 'Til He's Gone

Sometimes you never know what you have until it's gone. As is the case with the Seattle Seahawks and now-former quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Hasselbeck has never been flashy, big-mouthed or overrated at the quarterback position. What he has been is consistent and consistently overachieving. He won't wow you or get any consideration for the Hall of Fame, but he has been a rock for the Seahawks over the last decade after emerging from behind Brett Favre's shadow in Green Bay.

Instead of bringing Hasselbeck back to the team to finish out his career and mentor an heir, the Seahawks decided to go in a new direction. A direction that is seemingly backwards.

While Hasselbeck signed a multi-year contract with the Tennessee Titans, the Seahawks went about their business collecting backup and borderline NFL quarterbacks such as Tarvaris Jackson (formerly of the Vikings) and Matt Leinart (formerly of the Arizona Cardinals & Houston Texans).

The Seahawks couldn't reach an agreement with a consistent veteran and leader in favor of signing a pair of backups? The logic in that decision seems to be missing.

Even though Seattle is playing in one of the most historically weak divisions in league history, they will have trouble competing. Such levels of incompetence from the front office and coaching staff makes you wonder what he true motives of the Seahawks are.

Are they really putting forth stringent effort in an attempt to make their team better? Or are they trying make it less obvious that they are willing to tank the 2011 season for a shot at QB Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL Draft? It's hard to prove either way, but it's puzzling how a team can go into training camp with Charlie Whitehurst, Tarvaris Jackson, and Matt Leinart at quarterback and claim that they are doing all they can to win right now.

The Titans on the other hand want the ball, and they are gonna score. Tennessee becomes better now and in the future with Hasselbeck under center. Matt will be able to take a lot of pressure off Jake Locker, while grooming and mentoring him to become the heir apparent at quarterback in Tennessee.

All the while, Hasselbeck will be playing smart and consistent football that will keep the Titans in contention for the playoffs. It's really a win-win situation for the Titans, who have come away with one of the best signings in free agency thus far.

It's true what they say. One teams trash is another teams treasure. And that is exactly what the Seahawks and Titans will be getting respectively out of this deal. The Seahawks—trash. The Titans—treasure.