The Seahawks are caught between a rock and a hard spot — not that they would recognize or admit it, of course.
They are terrible drafters in the late first round, which is why it is always good when they move down from the 20s. If they do that this week, they figure to have a good shot at five picks on Day 2. The problem: They messed it up the last two times they had the power on Day 2.
Continue reading Looking at a big Day 2, will Hawks get it right this time?
“We’re trying to figure out how to whip the other guys, get better information, more intel and all that.” — Pete Carroll on preparation for the virtual draft
As the NFL gets ready for what Pete Carroll called “a one-time-only situation” and “really unique” virtual draft, this is an opportunity for the Seahawks to show they are still one of the league’s most tech-savvy franchises by taking advantage of less-prepared franchises.
The Seahawks have been a pretty bad drafting team since 2013, but John Schneider has an experienced personnel crew, established connections around football and a franchise that became cutting edge under the late Paul Allen. That all should help the Hawks where other teams might fail in this virtual format.
“It’s the wild, wild West a little bit,” Carroll recently told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “We’ve all got guidelines and rules and everything, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways in there that you can’t figure out how you can get what you need to get. Johnny is prepared knowing that he’s not going to have as much as normal and they won’t have the normal process that he would have. But we’re going to try and max that out in every way we can.”
Continue reading How Hawks are handling ‘wild, wild West’ draft
We’re a week away from the first virtual NFL draft, and the Seahawks still have not addressed their most glaring need of the offseason: pass rusher.
Yeah, yeah: Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin are back. But they are supporting players. The star still has not arrived for his closeup.
John Schneider’s offseason will be a failure if he does not sign Jadeveon Clowney, Everson Griffen or Yannick Ngakoue (via trade). He must have a stud veteran pass rusher if the Seahawks are going to compete for the Super Bowl. And, whether he does or not, we can expect him to draft a defensive lineman on Day 2, too.
John Schneider had around $35 million in 2020 salary cap space to spend on free agents when the league year began, and everyone expected a chunk of that to go toward a pass rusher on a long-term deal.
That has not happened, and it would be a surprise now if it did — because Schneider has spent about $34 million on 13 veterans (including four RFAs). And he has followed his SOP of not giving out long-term deals to outside players — just three of his signings (Jarran Reed, B.J. Finney, Brandon Shell) have been for two years. Even his reported offers to Jadeveon Clowney have been for just one or two years.
Other than guys on rookie deals, the Seahawks have just three players signed for the next three seasons: Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner and shaky kicker Jason Myers.
Basically, this team is built — you might say patched together — through only 2021. And that includes Schneider and Pete Carroll, whose contracts expire after that season as well.
Why are they being so shortsighted? Because they generally give long-term deals only to players who have proven themselves in Carroll’s system — and few of their recent draft picks have earned the right to be considered part of the core.
Continue reading Waiting for new core to emerge, Schneider won’t invest beyond two years
Clearly, the return of sports is not significant in the face of a deadly pandemic that requires us to cease our normal lives in order to keep each other healthy. But the return of sports will be important because it will signal the re-normalization of society and thus the presumed passing of the coronavirus.
The question we all want answered and for which there is no answer yet: When might that happen? July? October? Next year?
And, if we have to repeat social distancing every few months, should/will the 2020 season even be played?
Continue reading Will fear of second wave scuttle the season?
The NFL didn’t postpone free agency, so it makes sense that the league is not going to put off the draft either. It’s still on for April 23-25, three weeks from now.
Well, for John Schneider’s Seahawks, it probably will be April 24-25 – the usual two-day affair after a move out of the first round.
Just about every non-trade mock draft has the Seahawks taking a pass rusher with the 27th overall pick. Two problems with that: Seattle won’t stay at 27, and pass rusher probably won’t be Seattle’s first pick.
Continue reading Draft countdown: Skill players over pass rusher?
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 