Opinion

It's almost time for WWE's annual Hell in a Cell event, which means the return of more Bray Wyatt comeback speculation.

Funnily enough, a Wyatt return would save WWE from a meh summer, too.

Wyatt's character and "The Fiend" persona just mesh in a way that makes sense with the event. When fans fantasy-book a return for him, it doesn't usually center on an event like Royal Rumble as it does for most Superstars.

It's all about the hellacious-themed event that, admittedly, has lost a bit of luster in recent years.

The stipulation tends to just get thrown into certain feuds for the heck of it, but there's nothing lackluster or underwhelming about the idea of a Wyatt comeback. And it just so happens the speculation mill has fired up that idea again, largely thanks to vague tweets from the man himself:

Odd as it might sound at the moment, WWE could really use a kick like Wyatt, too. He was one of the only very unique, supernatural-ish characters the company actually handled well for the most part. He was also maybe the only long-term story that evolved well on a weekly basis.

Given his past as a contender all over the card and his various personalities, Wyatt could return at any level of WWE programming, too.

Want Wyatt in the title scene? He's got plenty of history with Roman Reigns and the company desperately needs a way to get one of the titles off him. He could work some unfinished business with Randy Orton, as the last time we saw Wyatt in April of 2021, he was losing that encounter. That could let Riddle go and contend for the Money in the Bank briefcase or a world title.

Speaking of unfinished business, Wyatt has plenty with a guy named Seth Rollins. And since WWE is adamant on dragging its feet with Cody Rhodes' title contention, he could always go after the guy who just returned from a stint with All Elite Wrestling.

Never mind the biggest wild card to point out—Edge's spooky new Judgment Day stable consisting of himself, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley. Wyatt could join or oppose them in a fresh element to programming.

In AEW, things are feeling a little bloated given the amazing depth of the roster and limited on-air time. How he'd fit in a company with Dark Order and plenty of guys already in the main event scene is much harder to project.

Granted, there are big concerns. WWE shoved The Fiend into the title scene when it didn't need to, and it was an unmitigated disaster. The feud with Rollins, especially, overpowered him and eventually forced Rollins himself into character changes, too. It's hard to trust WWE to not botch Wyatt again, or vice versa, but it would be thrilling to watch unfold.

This isn't nearly as important as all the above, but Wyatt shooting off a tweet then actually making his return quickly would be...refreshing. It would allow fans to avoid the endless "is Wyatt going to Promotion X" saga on a weekly basis before he finally appears. That would let them just focus on the in-ring action and storytelling as opposed to what's going on outside of it.

The opportunity for WWE to have a post-Undertaker supernatural Superstar with Wyatt was right there. It got brutally fumbled for one reason or another, but that's the fun of pro wrestling—nobody would complain if he popped back up and went for it again.

A supernatural monster like The Fiend—or even just creepy-swamp-dude-under-a-swinging-lightbulb—just coming out and wreaking havoc all over the card whenever he feels like it is too good to pass up.

As always, Hell in a Cell is the perfect place to launch such a return, too. Him returning after a power outage or from through the ring mat itself to wreck anyone, from Rhodes all the way up to Reigns, would give WWE that moment it so desperately desires and a wow-worthy reason for fans to catch the weekly summer broadcasts.

Do it right, and SummerSlam has a true co-main-event in waiting besides whatever Reigns is doing. Because right now, even the prospects of the MITB briefcase don't add much hype to the summer months after how it has been used in recent years.

But Wyatt returning? That's the sort of jolt WWE could use given his versatility and ability to encourage long-term investment in a character and storyline, a rarity in WWE at the moment as it heads for its second-biggest show of the year.

The Seattle Seahawks are entering a new era in 2022, but not in a good way.

The last vestige of the team's "Legion of Boom" defense was sent packing this offseason when the Seahawks released inside linebacker Bobby Wagner. They also traded the quarterback who led the team to the only Super Bowl win in franchise history, dealing Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos for a package headlined by two first-round picks.

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock was shipped to Seattle as part of that deal, and Lock and Geno Smith are set to battle for the right to open the season as the team's starter against the Broncos in the first Monday night affair of 2022.

That duo combines to form a morass of mediocrity (on a good day) that leaves the Seahawks with arguably the worst quarterback situation in the entire National Football League. A deficiency at the game's most important position that all but dooms the team to a miserable 2022 campaign. A weakness that more than a few people are surprised the team made no real effort to bolster in the offseason.

But while having Smith and/or Lock take the snaps this season may be painful in the short term, in the long term, an argument can be made that it's the right play for the franchise.

Like it or not, the Seahawks are in the opening stages of a ground-up rebuild. And sometimes, ripping the bandage off is less painful than peeling it away slowly.

Now, don't tell head coach Pete Carroll that. Carroll insisted all the way back before the draft that there is no rebuild in the Emerald City.

Carroll told Mike Salk of Seattle Sports 710 AM (via Liz Mathews of Seahawks Wire):

"It's the challenge, it's the excitement, it's the newness. The sense of the return to the core of where we began putting things together, where we really were wide open and really aggressive and all. As time goes, you get kind of connected to the salary cap and the cash cap and all that—you get slowed down a little bit, you don't have as much freedom. So we feel the freedom of the draft picks, we feel the freedom of the financial situation, and the excitement of putting our team together again."

The team has also been shining up its quarterback competition. Veteran wideout Tyler Lockett praised Smith's performance in OTAs.

"Being able to come in and know you can run the team and him coming in in OTAs, I mean, he has that fire in his eyes," Lockett told reporters. "He has that look to be able to go out there and do great. I mean, he hasn't had the opportunity to play in a couple years. When you have that opportunity right in front of you, what else do you need, you know what I mean? This is an opportunity that all of us wait for."

Of course, Lockett also had good things to say about Lock.

"He can throw the ball, y'all were out here today, he makes great throws," Lockett said. "He just has that type of calmness about himself to where he knows what he can do, he's making the throws regardless of where the DB is. He had a couple of really great deep ball throws last week before we had this break. I think he's adjusting really well."

Even in a time of year when every report is glowing, that's laying it on pretty thick.

Long story short, neither Smith nor Lock is a good NFL starter. Or even a capable NFL starter. In three starts last year in place of an injured Wilson, Smith topped 200 passing yards in a game all of once. After Lock won four of five starts as a rookie, his play went off a cliff. He has completed less than 60 percent of his career passes and tied for the league lead in interceptions in 2020 with 15.

Neither quarterback has a career passer rating of at least 80 or a completion percentage of 60. Combined, the duo is 21-34 as a starter in the pros.

Whether it's Smith or Lock doesn't matter. With either under center, the Seahawks are a last-place team.

The thing is, that last-place finish may have been unavoidable.

It's not like the team's quarterback of the future was available in 2022 anyway. Trading Wilson just to mortgage the picks gained (and then some) on Deshaun Watson would have been…confusing. A trade for Baker Mayfield would put Seattle on the hook for quite a bit of cash to essentially rent a quarterback who, while once the No. 1 overall pick, is in the last year of his rookie deal and possibly not that big of an upgrade over Lock and Smith.

Even if Mayfield is better, it's no certainty that he's "lead the franchise into a new day" better. There's been speculation galore that Mayfield could wind up out west, but while appearing on The Ryen Russillo Podcast, ESPN's Dianna Russini refuted that speculation.

"The Seahawks have been telling me from day one they have no interest in Baker Mayfield," Russini said. "They're riding Drew Lock. … That's their choice."

Seattle also passed on adding a quarterback in this year's draft. But again, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. There wasn't a signal-caller worth the ninth overall pick Seattle got from Denver, and given that Pitt's Kenny Pickett was the only quarterback taken in the first two rounds, the general consensus among NFL teams appears to have been that this year's class was underwhelming.

The class of 2023 is another story.

Finally, it's not like any quarterback realistically available to the Seahawks in 2022 would take this team anywhere. All three of the other teams in the NFC West made the postseason in 2021. Two made the NFC Championship Game. And the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks have a pair of excellent receivers in Lockett and DK Metcalf, depth in the backfield and a solid duo of safeties. But the team also had the lowest-ranked offensive line in the division last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and a bottom-five defense that managed just 34 sacks in 2021.

There's a reason why the Seahawks hadn't made it past the divisional round since losing Super Bowl XLIX. Quarterback isn't the only position on the roster that needs work—work that started with the selection of offensive tackle Charles Cross with the ninth overall pick in 2022.

At 70 years old, Carroll is the oldest active head coach in the league. The odds that he'll be able to guide the team through a prolonged rebuild are slim. The Seahawks need a way to kick-start the process. Speed things up. And the best way to do that is with one of next year's top quarterback prospects.

To do that, Seattle needs one of two things: a high pick of their own or a high-ish one they can combine with Denver's first-rounder in 2023. If there's one thing Smith and Lock have a legitimate shot at doing in 2022, it's losing games.

Cynics might call it tanking, but it's actually sound strategy—bottoming out and then bouncing back as opposed to year after year of mediocrity or being a fringe playoff team with one postseason win over the last four seasons.

So steady yourselves, "12s." (Hey! That rhymes!) The 2022 season is going to sting.

But a sharp pain that comes and goes quickly beats a dull ache that drags on for years.

On Wednesday night, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen took part in the latest iteration of Capital One's The Match. He and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes took on fellow signal-callers Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers in a match play-style golf event to benefit charity.

It was a competition where Allen stood out in a couple of respects—neither of which had anything to do with his golf game. All three of the other players involved have been named the NFL's Most Valuable Player, with Rodgers winning the award four times (including each of the past two seasons). The other three competitors have all also lifted the Lombardi Trophy as champions of the NFL, with Brady accomplishing the feat a staggering seven times.

It was quite the metaphor for Allen's goals for the season to come. For what he needs to do on the playing field in 2022. For all that Allen has accomplished in his first four seasons, if he truly wants to be considered among the game's greats under center, he needs to do one of two things this year.

He needs to win the league's MVP or take the Bills to the Super Bowl.

For what it's worth, when asked in a pre-match chat who would be the next to win MVP honors, Mahomes singled out his golf partner:

It's not like he was going out on a limb with his statement. At DraftKings Sportsbook, Allen is +700 (bet $100 to win $700) to be named MVP in 2022. No player has better odds. Not Brady. Not Mahomes. Not the two-time reigning winner of the honor.

His numbers the past two years back up those odds. In 2020, Allen completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 4,544 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added 421 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground, made his first Pro Bowl and finished as the runner-up to Rodgers in MVP voting.

Last year's passing numbers were down relative to 2020, but they were still outstanding. He completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 4,407 yards and 36 scores against 15 interceptions. However, he picked it up on the ground, setting a career high with 763 yards (while averaging a robust 6.3 yards per carry) with six touchdowns and 12 broken tackles.

When we last saw Allen on the playing field, he and Mahomes were engaged in one of the best duels we have ever seen. Allen's Bills came up short on the scoreboard, but it certainly wasn't his fault, as he threw for 300-plus yards in both of Buffalo's playoff games last year with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.

Those last two seasons from Allen are the two best single-season passing years in the history of the Buffalo Bills—a history that includes a Hall of Fame quarterback in Jim Kelly. Per Nick Fierro of Bills Central, Allen is the only player in NFL history with 100 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns over his first four seasons. Only one quarterback had more total touchdowns over the first four seasons.

Fella named Marino. Played in Miami. Rumor has it he was good.

Edge-rusher Von Miller hasn't had the chance to play with Allen yet, but he has played with a Super Bowl champion in Matthew Stafford and an all-time great in Peyton Manning. As Mark Mulville of the Buffalo News reported, Miller said he believes Allen absolutely has what it takes to be the best in the game at what he does.

"All the great quarterbacks I've ever been around—from Peyton Manning to Matthew Stafford to all the guys I've been around—they all have this aura about them," Miller said. "Like no matter how high it gets, no matter how low it gets, no matter if it's OTAs or no matter if it's the day before the Super Bowl. And Josh Allen has this aura about him, for sure."

Of course, Allen can't do it all himself. No one can. It's half a dirty secret, but even the best quarterbacks can't win without talent around them. Yes, they can make those around them better, but they can't turn water into wine. Or perhaps more aptly in Buffalo, snow into beer.

Fortunately, Allen doesn't have to. As a matter of fact, he has as much talent surrounding him as anyone.

If there was any question about the wisdom of the trade for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, it has been answered—emphatically. In two years in Buffalo, he has caught 230 passes for 2,760 yards and 18 touchdowns.

It's not just Diggs, either. Third-year pro Gabriel Davis had a coming-out party in that shootout loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs, hauling in eight passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns. Tight end Dawson Knox set career highs in catches and receiving yards last year, hauling in nine scores. The Bills bid goodbye to a pair of veteran receivers in the offseason (Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley), but the team offset those losses with the addition of an experienced slot receiver in Jamison Crowder.

That's more passing-game weaponry than Rodgers has in 2022 and probably better weapons than Mahomes.

The Bills were a respectable sixth in the NFL in rushing last year, but a large chunk of that was Allen. Per Mulville, the Bills had the second-fewest rushing attempts and ranked 25th in the league in rushing yards at the position. To help bolster that ground game, they spent a second-round pick on Georgia's James Cook. Buffalo also added veteran guard Rodger Saffold to bolster the offensive front.

Even when Allen is on the sidelines, he's getting help. The Bills fielded the best defense in the NFL last year by yards allowed. They also paced the league in scoring defense, surrendering just 17 points per game.

Every piece of the supporting cast Allen needs to take the next step in his career is there, and so is the talent.

Now it's on him to get it done.

Granted, if Allen doesn't win MVP or the Super Bowl, it won't be the end of the world. Marino never won a Super Bowl. Drew Brees was never named MVP. Both were great players. But neither was considered the best in the game, at least not widely. Not while they were playing, and not after. Marino spent his career in the shadow of Joe Montana. So did Brees with the likes of Brady and Manning.

A quarterback doesn't reach the heights that Allen already has by wanting to be one of the best. He wants to be the best. To be the guy. The big cheese. King of the mountain.

Allen is a great player, absolutely capable of wearing the crown. But to stake a real claim to that title, he needs hardware.

Now is the time to start collecting it.