Antoine Winfield signing: Seahawks further improve defense with the addition

The Seattle Seahawks continued improving their squad on Friday as news broke that the team had signed Antoine Winfield to a one-year deal. Ian Rapoport is reporting the deal is worth $3 million, with $1 million guaranteed.

Although Winfield is 36 years old, this one-year deal provides a potential short term boost to an already strong secondary. Winfield will enter training camp as the No. 1 option at the slot corner position, with Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner serving as the starting cornerbacks.

Given his age and the one-year nature of his contract, Winfield is not guaranteed much of anything with Seattle, other than that $1 million. At the same time, Winfield was a very solid corner last year. Pro Football Focus has developed some signature stats, and one such stat measures run stop efficiency by cornerbacks. Winfield was tops in the league last season. Age is always a concern, but if he can maintain his performance from last year, that's a big boost for Seattle's run defense. Winfield was fairly middle-of-the-road as a cover corner, but he was not such a liability that it raises concerns for Seattle.

The Seahawks have done excellent work this offseason in improving their roster. There will be plenty of commenting about how the 49ers and Seahawks continue trying to one-up each other with their roster moves. However, as Mike Sando pointed out, some of these moves are fairly coincidental. Both teams needed backup QBs, both teams needed wide receiver help and both teams are looking to improve their secondary depth. The timing is a little bit amusing, but for the most part, both teams are simply doing what they need to improve their respective rosters.

The 49ers are just about wrapped up heading into the 2013 NFL Draft, and I imagine the Seahawks are getting close to finish. The draft should be an interesting one given that the two teams have a combined 23 picks between them. Of course, the 49ers have five picks in the first three rounds, while the bulk of the Seahawks picks come in the later rounds. Seattle has a second, third, fourth, two fifths, a sixth and four sevenths. San Francisco has a first, two seconds, two thirds, two fourths, a fifth, two sixths and three sevenths.