The Seattle Seahawks are thin at running back depth. That desperation at the position even recently led Seattle to look into veteran Joe Mixon.
However, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday that Mixon will remain a free agent as the Seahawks ultimately decided not to sign him to their practice squad.
Their search for running back depth continues, and the decision to pass on Mixon should even have the Seahawks looking to a divisional rival in the Arizona Cardinals to help address the position.
Seahawks should call Cardinals for running back help
The Cardinals had incredible depth at the position after bringing in Tyler Allgeier and Jeremiyah Love this offseason. However, they only decided to keep three running backs on their initial 53-man roster: Allgeier, Love, and Bam Knight.
That has proven to be an effective trio early on in the season, particularly with Allgeier preserving Love, who recently said he wants to manage his workload as "this is probably gonna be the longest year of [his] life."
The Cardinals do still have that running back depth entering the season; they've just yet to make an impact.
Trey Benson was previously waived by the Cardinals but cleared waivers and joined their injured reserve list.
Even more intriguingly, veteran James Conner has now sat out the four games required after landing on IR. The 31-year-old veteran is technically eligible to return to practice this week. However, as Darren Urban of azcardinals.com points out, it remains to be seen if the Cardinals will actually open his 21-day window at this point.
Urban highlights the impact Conner has still had on this franchise and running back room in particular while he's been injured, embracing that veteran role for their No. 3 overall draft investment, Love.
Still, one would assume Conner would prefer to have an opportunity to play, which would only be in a limited capacity in Arizona. The Cardinals successfully managed to turn their running back room from a weakness into a strength over the offseason, but it's come at the expense of their current group, Benson and Conner, falling down the depth chart.
With Conner finally getting healthy and suddenly more expendable, it could make sense for a depleted team like the Seahawks to see if they can scoop him up.
Typically, it wouldn't be wise to help out a defending Super Bowl champion who also happens to be a divisional rival. But the 1-3 Cardinals are in the midst of a rebuild and should be okay with Conner potentially heading to the Pacific Northwest, given the contrasting timelines. With how desperate Seattle is at the position, Conner could even be an underrated move on the margins to help boost their chances of defending the title.
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