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CHAWK LINES
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CHAWK LINES -- Week in review

Marshawn Lynch kept it real, as always, in a Sports Illustrated interview — saying, among other things, that he is definitely retired.

John Schneider had a long conversation with Peter Schrager, recapping major moments in his career. Before the Seahawks, his biggest moves were drafting Aaron Rodgers and trading Brett Favre (yeah, he negotiated the deal with the Jets).

The mandatory minicamp will be held Tuesday through Thursday.

The Seahawks worked out Nate Robinson on Monday but did not sign the 32-year-old former Husky and NBA player.

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Contracts

Baldwin’s market rate is confirmed at $10M-$11M

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Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin celebrate a 16-yard TD hookup vs. Carolina (Seahawks.com)It’s official: The going rate for second-tier No. 1 receivers is indeed upwards of $11 million a year.

Keenan Allen’s new deal with San Diego — $45 million over four years — backs up the four-year, $40 million deal Allen Hurns received from Jacksonville and sets Doug Baldwin’s market.

As we said the other day, John Schneider is going to have to decide whether to overpay yet another receiver — as he did Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin (after Tim Ruskell overpaid Deion Branch and T.J. Houshmandzadeh). The difference, of course, is that Baldwin is a homegrown Seahawk who has a proven performance history for Seattle.

Continue reading Baldwin’s market rate is confirmed at $10M-$11M →

Franchise history, Playoffs

Until recent years, Hawks had better fortunes off the field

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Hawks value

This weekend marked the 42nd anniversary of Seattle being awarded an NFL franchise — a monumental event that until recent years had proven much more fruitful off the field than on.

The Seahawks had a horrendous first two decades on the gridiron, making the playoffs just four times. But, in the 19 years since Paul Allen purchased the team, they have been in the postseason 11 times — including 10 times in the last 13 years.

They have reached the Super Bowl three times in the past 11 seasons — a feat matched only by Pittsburgh and New England during that time (coincidentally, the Hawks lost to both in the title game).

Allen’s fortunes off the field have been even better. The team is worth almost 10 times what it was when he bought it from Californicator Ken Behring — $1.87 billion vs. $194 million.

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CHAWK LINES
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks OTAs & minicamp

Doug Baldwin told 710 ESPN that he has not talked to the Seahawks about a new deal yet.

Tom Cable said it’s way too early to make any judgments on the offensive line.

Justin Britt said he is losing hair over all of the position switches but just wants to be “one of the five.”

Bob Condotta gave a rundown of all of the offensive linemen.

Cable said Pro Football Focus, which called Germain Ifedi the worst first-round pick in the 2016 draft, will “eat their words” after seeing him play.

Cable stated the obvious: The Hawks will be deep at running back.

Darrell Bevell talked about the team’s running backs and more with John Clayton.

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Contracts

Hawks have to decide whether to overpay Baldwin

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Salary cap logoGus Bradley’s Jacksonville Jaguars did the Seahawks no favors Thursday when they blew up the receiver market by lavishing a rich contract on Allen Hurns.

The four-year deal that reportedly could be worth $11 million a season figures to complicate contract talks between Seattle and Doug Baldwin.

It has always been expected that Baldwin would seek at least $10 million a year, based on his career-best 2015 season, which featured 78 catches, 1,069 yards and an NFL-best 14 touchdowns.

But, to Seattle, Baldwin really isn’t worth more than about $8 million a year. And now the Seahawks will have to decide whether to overpay Baldwin the way the Jags seemingly overpaid Hurns.

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CHAWK LINES
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CHAWK LINES -- Week in review

Back from a couple of unplugged weeks in Europe, here’s the most recent on the Seahawks:

Bob Condotta ran down some personnel pairings from the OTAs.

Seahawks.com posited six takeaways, including a reminder not to forget about Tharold Simon (who has been easy to forget in his first three years).

Pete Carroll says he won’t rush Jimmy Graham and Thomas Rawls into training camp and is “kind of counting on” them to be ready for Week 1.

Doug Baldwin expects contract talks to start soon, but he is not worried about it.

While we were gone, Bennett told 710 ESPN he will not hold out for a new contract.

The Marshawn Lynch speculation won’t die, but Bennett and Doug Baldwin think he’s done.

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State of the team, The roster

A look at the roster after the ‘rebirth’

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)The Seahawks didn’t have a so-called “championship offseason” last year, and the results were pretty predictable: no championship.

Everyone hoped they could overcome all of the negatives — the loss of confidence in Pete Carroll after his asinine Super Bowl call, the silly fan backlash against Russell Wilson, the poor health of almost their entire secondary, the pointless holdout of Kam Chancellor, the idiotic coaching decision to start Drew Nowak at center.

It all added up to a disjointed start and disheartening finish. It was obviously too much to overcome for a team that had become fractured and really needed to be glued back together again.

The Hawks entered this offseason with more than a few concerns about their ability to bounce back. They needed to replace Marshawn Lynch, deal with unhappy campers Chancellor and Michael Bennett, rebuild their offensive line and fortify their defensive line.

At this point, it looks like they have put the glue in place for all of those fixes: Lynch was replaced by three draft picks; Chancellor made up with the team; Bennett sounds like he will come back ready to repeat his stellar 2015 season; the club replaced Russell Okung, Alvin Bailey and J.R. Sweezy with five linemen and Brandon Mebane with three.

Carroll says this offseason “almost feels like a rebirth.”

“We’ve been through a lot of stuff; we’ve been challenged by a lot of stuff,” he told 710 ESPN on Monday. “We’ve learned so much: winning and losing and then trying to come back again and still maintaining this huge standard and expectation. And we know it’s right there for us. Everybody feels it. That’s what is really fueling the energy around the building and why we’re so enthused. And then we hit it with this draft, so it’s feeling pretty good. Millions of things have to happen, but we’re in the right place right now.”

Let’s take a post-draft look at the roster and see whether that is true:

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CHAWK LINES, Minicamp
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Rookie minicamp review

Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN this offseason feels like a “rebirth” after a “very challenging” 2015 offseason.

The Seahawks added five players from the minicamp and released A.J. Francis, Mohammed Seisay and three others.

Justin Britt is working at center as the coaches try to figure out what their line is going to look like. Don’t put much stock in it though.

Bob Condotta reviews the draft picks after the minicamp.

Rookie DTs Jarran Reed and Quinton Jefferson want to “wreak havoc any way we can.”

Trevone Boykin tops the list of the P-I’s six minicamp takeaways.

Boykin, a mini-Wilson, plans to “stay in his hip pocket.”

The running backs top six takeaways from Seahawks.com.

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Contracts, State of the team

Bennett: ‘Why would I not be there?’

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Just like last year, Michael Bennett is staying at home in Hawaii during Seattle’s offseason workout program. But, asked Thursday whether he will be at training camp, he said, “Why would I not be there?”

The question is pertinent because Bennett has been dissatisfied with his contract. He stayed away from OTAs last year, too, but returned in time for the mandatory minicamp in June, was present for all of training camp and then turned in his best NFL season.

All signs have pointed to Bennett not holding out, even though he has far outplayed the four-year, $28.5 million contract he signed in 2014.

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Contracts, NFL draft

Looking at the value (picks & cash) of Seattle’s draft class

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Jarran Reed on stageEveryone always laughs at the instant draft grades handed out by analysts — the argument being that it is impossible to know how well a team did until its draft class has shown itself over a couple of years.

That part certainly is true. But the one part of the draft that can be judged immediately is the value a team received for its picks.
The Seahawks haven’t always gotten great value for their picks. It’s why they were judged harshly in 2011 and 2012 — even though they found future stars in both of those drafts.

This draft has pretty unanimously been judged a success — both because the Seahawks seemingly picked up good players who filled roster needs and because they got some great value along the way.

Continue reading Looking at the value (picks & cash) of Seattle’s draft class →