Contracts, Free agency, The roster, Trades

Good value: Hawks snagged a third-rounder in Graham deal, too

March 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

One of the big questions coming out of the Seahawks’ trade Tuesday is whether they got the proper value in the deal.

We’d say it was a great deal for the Hawks — getting a first-round-caliber tight end and picks in the third and fourth rounds in exchange for a first-round pick and a second-round center whose value no longer matched that.

Yeah, we know: The deal between the Seahawks and Saints brought tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick for center Max Unger and a first-rounder. Technically no third-rounder.

But that is not the way Seattle GM John Schneider is looking at it. Guaranteed he sees it this way: By trading for a top offensive player and not signing an unrestricted free agent at $8 million a year, he still will get a third-round comp pick in 2016 for losing Byron Maxwell to the Eagles at $10 million a year.

And you know he will be careful to make sure the Hawks lose more UFAs than they sign so that third-rounder comes to him. The Hawks are about to go plus-three in comp picks for 2016, losing Maxwell, James Carpenter (Jets) and Malcolm Smith (Raiders). Cary Williams and Will Blackmon do not count because they were released by their teams.

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Free agency, The roster, Trades

Another blockbuster to start the league year: Hawks get ace tight end

March 10, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks reportedly have traded Max Unger and the No. 31 pick in the draft to the New Orleans Saints for tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick.

The Hawks and Saints reportedly have been talking about the trade since Sunday. Seattle had reportedly lost a bidding war for Denver tight end Julius Thomas.

Graham is just 28 and could be a great solution to one of the Seahawks’ chief problems. Last year, the 6-foot-7 target caught 85 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns.

A third-round pick in 2010, Graham has 386 catches for 4,752 yards and 51 touchdowns in 78 games.

It’s the second time in three years the Seahawks have traded their first-round pick for a veteran playmaker on offense, and they have to hope this deal works out much better than their blockbuster for Percy Harvin in 2013.

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Free agency, The roster

Hawks address CB depth, other roster spots

March 9, 2015 cc Leave a comment

A day before free agency, the Seahawks took care of several roster questions — adding two cornerbacks and keeping two of their own pending free agents — while also learning James Carpenter probably will join Byron Maxwell on the way out of town.

The additions of 30-year-old cornerbacks Will Blackmon and Cary Williams address the major depth problem the Hawks face at that position — Maxwell leaving, Jeremy Lane dealing with a broken wrist and torn ACL, Richard Sherman healing up a torn ligament in his elbow and Tharold Simon apparently recovering from shoulder surgery.

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Free agency

Is Browner an option to replace Maxwell? Plus, other free-agency notes

March 9, 2015 cc Leave a comment

With Byron Maxwell headed to Philadelphia, the Seahawks are looking around for cornerbacks.

They could end up basically swapping cornerbacks with the Eagles — already having visited with former Philly corner Cary Williams. They could sign a Green Bay cornerback. And they could bring back an old friend.

That latter is not a reference to Walter Thurmond, whom many want the Hawks to re-sign. It is a takeaway from a Boston Herald report that the Patriots might let Brandon Browner go. They are allowing him to “explore his value around the league” before a $2 million roster bonus is due Tuesday.

Would the Seahawks want the 30-year-old corner back? They would have to be comfortable with the idea that he is in the league’s drug program and is still among the most penalized players in the NFL.

We’d pass, but it’s worth mentioning.

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Contracts, Free agency

Overpaid Maxwell might not last long in Philly

March 9, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Byron Maxwell owes Pete Carroll and Kris Richard a big vacation. Without those guys, he never would have become a $10 million player.

His looming deal with the Eagles, reportedly $60 million over six years and guaranteeing $25 million, is not far off the deal Richard Sherman signed last year: five years, $57.4 million with $40 million guaranteed. That’s the kind of overpayment free agency breeds.

The Hawks apparently tried to retain him, surprisingly offering as much as $8 million a year, but what chance did they have at that rate?

Seahawks fans are ruing the loss, but why? The Pete Carroll Secondary School made Maxwell, and they will make another guy just like him. Carroll is the key to Seattle’s secondary. Maxwell was just a cog.

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CHAWK LINES

March 7, 2015 cc Leave a comment

What else is new? Marshawn Lynch dominated the news this week.

First, he talked to Turkish TV about the last play of the Super Bowl, which prompted Warren Moon to say Lynch’s MVP comments stemmed from the fact that he “just doesn’t trust a lot of people.”

Robert Turbin said he didn’t buy into the conspiracy talk surrounding the final play.

Then, on Friday, Lynch signed an extension with the Hawks, who also released Zach Miller and tendered restricted free agent Jermaine Kearse at the second-round level.

Lynch’s agent, Doug Hendrickson, talked about how the deal came together and answered other questions about his client.

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Contracts, Free agency

Here’s a plan that adds Julius, Tramon & Paea

March 7, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Now that the
Seahawks have
Marshawn Lynch locked up, they can get to work on the rest of their spring home improvement projects.

They basically broke even with the salary cap on Friday, with Lynch’s cap number remaining the same and Jermaine Kearse taking up the same $2.4 million slot that Zach Miller vacated. So, the Hawks still have around $24 million to work with as free agency ramps up this weekend and begins Tuesday.

That’s plenty of money for the Hawks to sign tight end Julius Thomas at $8 million a year ($6 million cap hit in 2015), defensive tackle Stephen Paea at $6 million a year ($3.5 million in 2015) and cornerback Tramon Williams at $5 million a year ($3.7 million in 2015).

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Contracts, State of the team

Lynch’s agent discusses the deal and his client

March 6, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Doug Hendrickson, the agent for Marshawn Lynch, said the running back never wanted to leave Seattle and has not mentioned retirement to him, and Seahawks general manager John Schneider pushed a contract extension hard starting the day after the Super Bowl.

Talking to KJR Radio about Lynch’s three-year, $31 million contract, Hendrickson said Lynch was Seattle’s first priority and Schneider called him the day after the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl — by not running Lynch at the goal line — and started talking about getting Lynch’s deal extended.

“They wanted to get it done, and they wanted to get it done fast,” Hendrickson said.

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Contracts, Free agency, The roster

Lynch deal overshadows the bad news

March 6, 2015 cc Leave a comment

It was a good news-bad news day for the Seahawks.

The release of Zach Miller and double dose of bad news from the Bears-Jets trade Friday was trumped by the great news that Marshawn Lynch is set to return for another season.

After various reports had him making $11 million for one year, $24 million for two years or $31 million for three years, it appears the latter is correct. He will get $12 million in 2015, up from his scheduled $7 million. His cap hit will remain the same, though, at $8.5 million, because he will get $4.5 million in salary and $7.5 million in a signing bonus (he had $1.5 million in bonus proration from his previous deal).

He is signed through 2017, if he chooses to return. He would make $9 million in 2016, counting $11.5 million. He would make $10 million in 2017, including a $3 million roster bonus, and count $12.5 million. If he retires after 2015, the Hawks would take a $5 million cap hit in dead money next year.

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Contracts, Free agency, The roster

What will Hawks do in free agency? Check out the last three years

March 5, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Over the past three years, we have gotten a good idea of how John Schneider leads the Seahawks in free agency.

Outside of the big blockbuster deal for Percy Harvin in 2013, Schneider typically has moved at a measured pace in March — making as many roster deletions as additions and signing only mid-priced free agents.

It should be more of the same this month.

Schneider said it himself at the Combine last month: “We are going to keep doing things the way we started here: Just keep drafting people and playing young people and trying to keep the players that we can keep, try to identify the players that we have to reward and make those tough decisions about players that are under contract that you may have to let go to create some cap room. Those are just tough decisions as you go. We are not going to change anything we do.”

So what have they done the last three years?

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