I am a fan of Seattle's D, but in the end it's also in part to economics. As I said earlier in this thread, the Seahawks spend $75.6 million of their cap on their defense. Of which $38.6 go to their secondary. Meanwhile their offensive line only gets $8.7 million. If Brady played behind that OL we can watch him host his retirement party after this year. It's the same thing with the Broncos. They spend $76.9 million on defense. The Seahawks are 29th in offensive cap hit and the Broncos 30th.
Meanwhile the Patriots' defense is on the books for $52.5 million. Only six teams (Lions, Saints, Redskins, Falcons, Browns and Panthers) spend less. The Patriots offense takes a cap hit of $74.4 million, good for 9th in the league.
Well. The Patriots are scheduled for a big defensive makeover next year. Right now, before any cuts, only $33.5 million are booked by defenders ($60.1 million by offensive players). A selected list of (youngish) defenders that are scheduled to hit the market (before any cuts):
DTs: Kawann Short, Johnathan Hankins, Dontari Poe, Sylvester Williams, Brandon Williams, Nick Fairley, Lawrence Guy, Bennie Logan
DEs: Jason Pierre-Paul, John Simon, Courtney Upshaw, Nick Perry, Melvin Ingram, Chandler Jones, Alex Okafor, Jabaal Sheard, Shaquil Barrett (RFA)
LBs: Jarvis Jones, Jamie Collins, Dont'a Hightower, Malcolm Smith, Jelani Jenkins, Keenan Robinson, Manti Te'o, Zach Brown, Kevin Minter, Kiko Alonso (RFA), Zach Orr (RFA)
CBs: Trumaine Johnson, Prince Amukamara, Stephon Gilmore, Morris Claiborne, Chris Culliver, Dre Kirkpatrick, Micah Hyde, A.J. Bouye, Marcus Cooper, Ricardo Allen (RFA), Malcolm Butler (RFA), Marcus Williams (RFA),
Safeties: Eric Berry, Chris Conte, Darian Stewart, Matt Elam, Tony Jefferson, D.J. Swearinger, Jonathan Cyprien