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When the Seahawks won the Super Bowl last season, they were the second-youngest team ever to claim the title.
Considering Seattle had an average age of 26.4 last year, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that if the Seahawks, more or less, keep the bulk of the roster together, they could continue making Super Bowl runs for the next six or seven years.
But a young team isn't necessarily a mature team, and that's where former Seattle fullback Michael Robinson sees a potential issue.
"My question for the Seahawks this year is ... there's a lot of young guys in that locker room with new money," Robinson said on the Dave Dameshek Football Program, via NFL.com. "When issues come up in the locker room, who is the veteran that settles it? I mean, last year you had guys like Red Bryant, Chris Clemons, myself that they can rely on."
This season, though, Bryant is with the Jaguars on a four-year, $19 million deal; Clemons is in Jacksonville on a four-year, $18 million contract; and Robinson, at the age of 31, might very well be retired.
"Things come up, 'Hey guys -- stop doing that! Hey, you go over there, you go over there, and it's over. No more.' And guys would stop," Robinson said. "Right now, guys have gotten paid, you know what I mean? Guys have got egos, you know what I mean? That's just only natural with money, and they have to watch against that in the locker room, and that's something that (coach) Pete (Carroll) can't see -- their offices are upstairs. They just have to keep a close watch on it."
That was a problem last season in Miami when the Dolphins bullying scandal broke. One of the supposed reasons Richie Incognito, a veteran himself, could get away with the alleged bullying was because nobody else in the locker room could -- or was willing to -- stand up to him and tell him to back off the hazing of Jonathan Martin.
While Robinson mentions that soon-to-be 34-year-old Kevin Williams, the defensive lineman who spent the previous 11 seasons in Minnesota, could be that veteran leader -- as could Cliff Avril, who's still only 28 but is one of the older veterans on defense -- Robinson also sees plenty of youth.
"Richard (Sherman's) a great counselor -- he's a guy that I even confide in with certain issues -- but again, he's still very young," said Robinson. "You just can't add years to him -- you can't add vested years to him. He's just so young."
Which, sure, could present issues moving forward for Seattle. But if you had the choice of a young Seahawks team who could be an NFC title contender for the next several years or an older squad with a rapidly-closing window of success (like, say, the Broncos), which would you take? Probably the former.
