Will change do these Hawks good?

All good things must come to an end.

And it’s happened once before with the Seahawks.

Believe it or not, they rebuilt the roster after the Super Bowl run in 2006.

Sure, they made it the playoffs again last year, but don’t expect this year’s team to look anything like those recent teams.

IN THE course of the past few weeks, Seattle has cut ties with wide receiver Doug Baldwin and safety Kam Chancellor.

For both, it appears to be the end of their playing days due to injuries.

Baldwin missed a handful of games last season, but was effective when it mattered most late in the year, helping getting the Seahawks into the playoffs.

Chancellor, who missed the entire season due to a lingering neck injury, was also released, but has still not officially retired from the NFL.

Throw in the departure of Earl Thomas, and only Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright remain from the team that won the Super Bowl over Denver a little under six years ago.

Amazing that a team can have so many players depart, but stay somewhat relevant in the NFC West.

But there was also a point in time when guys like Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Alexander, Mack Strong and Lofa Tatupu also departed Seattle, and new faces trickled into the lineup.

Seattle still made the playoffs a few other times after that trip to the Super Bowl, but didn’t reach the conference championship game again with that bunch of players.

Remember, there still was a point in time where Tarvaris Jackson was the starting quarterback in Seattle, and almost had them in the playoffs as well.

NOT THAT this year’s team is going fully into a rebuild like the Mariners, not even close.

Keep in mind, Seattle still has Wilson under contract for a few more years. Wagner’s deal could — or should — get done anytime before the start of training camp in July.

But unlike those lean years where Seattle was getting to the playoffs, almost by default due to other teams in the NFC West being down, other squads in the division are a lot better.

The Rams are the defending NFC champions. San Francisco — with that Sherman guy back — are just a few players away from stepping into a team to watch as the season gets started in 96 days.

Seattle returns Tyler Lockett at wide receiver, but he’s known more as a punt returner. With no Baldwin, does this mean that we’re going to see less of Lockett returning kicks now?

And while Wagner has said he won’t hold out if he continues to wait on a new contract, will he really? Keep in mind that Wagner was on the field when Thomas — who was also playing for a new contract — broke his leg at Arizona and missed the rest of the season.

FANS HAVE been used to seeing Thomas make play after play on defense. Same with Wagner since being drafted from Utah State.

Sure, Seattle still has Wilson at quarterback as well. Who he’s throwing the ball to, remains to be seen.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.