All posts by cc

It’s official: Seahawks get four comp picks for the first time

March 23, 2015 cc Leave a comment

It’s official. The Seahawks received four compensatory draft picks when they were announced today and will have 11, as expected.

It’s the first time since comp picks were introduced in 1994 — the year after salary-cap free agency was introduced in the NFL — that Seattle has netted the maximum four. Teams receive comp picks if they suffer a net loss of qualifying free agents in the previous offseason.

The Hawks are one of three teams with the maximum four comp picks this year (also Denver and Kansas City). They figure to get four more in 2016, based on their free-agent losses this year. And they could end up with a few more in 2017.

Continue reading It’s official: Seahawks get four comp picks for the first time →

State of the team, The roster

Roster analysis: Hawks are already better

March 22, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Two weeks into the new NFL year, the Seahawks are already a better team — despite losing four starters and nine players overall from their 2014 roster.

Re-signing Marshawn Lynch and adding one of the league’s best tight ends will make any team’s offseason.

Sure, the Hawks lost cornerback Byron Maxwell, center Max Unger, guard James Carpenter, tight end Zach Miller and five others via free agency, trade or cut. But they replaced Maxwell with Cary Williams and Will Blackmon and satisfied their tight end/receiver need with their stunning trade for Jimmy Graham.

They’re still looking for help along the lines but otherwise appear to be moving on to the big extensions for Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner — as well as the draft, where they will get even better via 11 picks.

Continue reading Roster analysis: Hawks are already better →

Contracts

Wilson deal is coming: What will it look like?

March 20, 2015 cc Leave a comment

If scuttlebutt is to be believed, the Seahawks are closing in on their much-anticipated contract extension for Russell Wilson.

The Hawks are almost sure to have it nailed down in the next month. Last year, they finished up big extensions for Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman the week before the draft.

Both of those deals were market-setting, and Wilson figures to get a very lucrative deal as well. The question everyone wants answered: What might it look like?

General manager John Schneider has given some clues over the past month or so.

Continue reading Wilson deal is coming: What will it look like? →

Free agency, NFL draft, The roster

Will Rubin replace Mebane? And what’s the long-term plan?

March 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Even if Ahtyba Rubin is
displacing Brandon Mebane, the Seahawks need to address the nose tackle position long term — most likely in the draft.

The Hawks reportedly are bringing in Rubin on a one-year, prove-it deal — not unlike the contract Michael Bennett signed in 2013.

Rubin, 28, is a big-time run stopper who tallied 80 tackles twice in seven seasons with the Cleveland Browns and was making more than $6 million a year. The Hawks are paying him about half that, especially considering they apparently think $5.5 million is too much to pay the 30-year-old Mebane. (Update: Rubin reportedly will make up to $3.1 million.)

Whether they keep both players or pair Rubin with Tony McDaniel (making $3 million) and send Mebane the way of former Seahawks draft picks Red Bryant and Max Unger, it is obvious the Hawks need to address the position beyond this year.

Continue reading Will Rubin replace Mebane? And what’s the long-term plan? →

Free agency, The roster

If Jackson leaves, is Daniels the backup QB?

March 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks want Tarvaris Jackson back as Russell Wilson’s backup and he reportedly would like to come back, but the Hawks apparently are not offering him enough to return.

That explains why Jackson is visiting the Miami Dolphins, who are exploring options to replace free agent Matt Moore.

If Jackson ends up signing with Miami, what would the Seahawks do?

Three options: (1) Save a roster spot by using B.J. Daniels as a utility QB/KR/WR, (2) sign a veteran, (3) draft a quarterback.

Continue reading If Jackson leaves, is Daniels the backup QB? →

Free agency, Trades

Are Bennett/Hardy reports driven by Rosenhaus?

March 17, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Drew Rosenhaus
appears to be creating quite the drama
surrounding the
Seahawks today,
apparently telling a Dallas reporter that Michael Bennett wants the Seahawks to trade him to Atlanta, where he would want a new contract, and the Seahawks are meanwhile prepared to match any offer the Dallas Cowboys make to social pariah Greg Hardy.

Rosenhaus is the agent for both Bennett and Hardy, and it seems clear he is using Dallas reporter Clarence Hill as a way to improve the market for Hardy, the mercurial defensive end who is still unsigned because of a domestic-assault case and potential NFL suspension.

Per Hill, Bennett wants a new contract and trade to the Falcons, who are now coached by former Seattle DC Dan Quinn. And Hill also reported, via KJR radio, that the Hawks are willing to match any offer the Cowboys make for Hardy.

The Seahawks, meanwhile, have told local reporters they have not heard from Bennett about a trade request (but no word on whether he wants more money). The Hawks also have said their contact with Hardy (i.e., Rosenhaus) has been mere “due diligence.”

So what is the truth/logic behind all of this drama?

Continue reading Are Bennett/Hardy reports driven by Rosenhaus? →

It's bigger than football, NFL draft, State of the team

Hawks already try to identify Borlands

March 17, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Chris Borland’s sudden retirement has caused a big stir among NFL observers, with some declaring this is a harbinger of the end of the game as we know it, forecasting a future mass exodus by players.

Others say Borland is an outlier who does not represent the future of the league. Many have supported his decision; some have criticized it.

In the end, it’s his decision — neither right nor wrong, just a personal choice he is entitled to make. (Although, if he always planned to play just one season and did not tell the 49ers or anyone else, that clearly was a selfish move and the 49ers certainly should make him repay the rest of his signing bonus.)

But the league is not ending any time soon. There will be no rush to the doors by all of the league’s current and future players. One man’s decision — certainly not the first or last such premature retirement — won’t change the game in some major way.

But it might change how teams evaluate players.

The Seahawks are already ahead of the curve on that one. They have made a point to focus as much on the psychological profiles of players as on talent.

Continue reading Hawks already try to identify Borlands →

CHAWK LINES, Free agency

March 15, 2015 cc Leave a comment

For the second time in three years, the Seahawks stole the headlines on the first day of free agency, trading Max Unger and a first-round pick to the Saints for Jimmy Graham and a fourth.

Just days after signing his new contract, Marshawn Lynch purportedly found himself in the middle of a street brawl — and wisely extricated himself.

Lots of former Seattle cornerbacks are getting paid by other teams, Bob Condotta points out. It’s because they come from the Pete Carroll Secondary School.

The Seahawks added their own corner, Cary Williams. Here’s a breakdown from Doug Farrar. And here’s one from Field Gulls.

Continue reading →

Contracts, Free agency, Injury report, NFL draft, State of the team

Carroll discusses his roster & Hawks watch comp picks add up

March 13, 2015 cc Leave a comment

As the New Orleans Saints continued to revamp their roster Friday with yet another trade, the Seahawks — still basking in the glow of the deal that brought tight end Jimmy Graham from the Saints — simply looked within.

The news that impacted them was of players signing elsewhere, but they don’t care. No one will miss Bryan “Wave It Off” Walters, who signed with Jacksonville, and the Hawks didn’t need Shelley Smith, who got $5.65 million over two years from Denver or Stefen Wisniewski, who is a possibility but not a pressing need.

Pete Carroll has said several times this week, including on KJR Radio on Friday, that the Seahawks feel comfortable with some of their young linemen (Alvin Bailey, Patrick Lewis, Garry Gilliam, Keavon Milton, et al.) and think the draft is full of good linemen. Expect the Hawks to use at least two of their 11 picks on big guys.

They can only hope to come up with another J.R. Sweezy, the 2012 seventh-rounder who has played so much that he received $260,000 in performance bonuses from 2014 and got a CBA-mandated bump to a $1.54 million salary this year (as did Russell Wilson).

Continue reading Carroll discusses his roster & Hawks watch comp picks add up →

CHAWK LINES, Trades

March 13, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Lots of reaction from the principals in the Jimmy
Graham-Max Unger deal:

Graham said he will follow Russell Wilson anywhere to make sure they establish the same kind of rapport he had with Drew Brees. He also said he will help open up more running lanes for Marshawn Lynch, making safeties play honest — or else make big plays against Cover Zero.

As excited as Graham is to be coming to Seattle, Unger is understandably as sad to be leaving.

Pete Carroll and John Schneider talked about the trade the day it happened. Said Carroll: “Your best players always help your other guys play well and be productive. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Schneider elaborated on the deal the next day, telling 710 ESPN that the Saints asked about Unger, which led to Schneider asking about Graham.

Carroll talked about Graham’s toughness, how the Hawks will use him and how the tight end clearly fits the mold of a Seahawk in so many ways.

Bob Condotta gives a nice look at the Seahawks’ thinking along the offensive line in the wake of Unger and James Carpenter leaving.