All posts by cc

Wagner return unlikely, but Hawks have other options

February 25, 2023 cc Leave a comment

Q&A series: We take a look at some big questions about the Seahawks’ salary cap situation and roster.

Today’s question: Should the Seahawks bring back Bobby Wagner?

Bobby Wagner reportedly will be a free agent when the new league begins March 15, and plenty of Seattle fans (and former teammates) would like the Seahawks to bring him back.

That does not seem likely, even though the Seahawks do need two inside linebackers.

Even if Wagner were to forgive the way he was unceremoniously dumped by Seattle last year, the issue remains the same: Money.

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Contracts, The roster

2023 is make-or-break for $70M man Adams

February 20, 2023 cc Leave a comment

Q&A series: We take a look at some big questions about the Seahawks’ salary cap situation and roster.

Today’s question: Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs are the highest-paid safety tandem in the NFL and have the largest cap hits on the team in 2023. How is that hurting the team? And how long will that continue?

Recent salary guarantees for Seattle’s top-paid players served as the latest occasion for some fans to grouse about the team’s overinvestment in its safeties.

The Seahawks having the highest-paid safety duo in the NFL is nothing new. Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor once held that distinction, too.

But Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs are no Chancellor and Thomas, and plenty of fans are understandably irked over Seattle’s waste of resources at the position – they have the highest cap hits on the team in 2023 at $18.1 million each, ahead of star receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.

Some who don’t understand capology – or the way the Seahawks operate — want the rehabbing Adams to be cut. That won’t happen, especially after part of his salary was guaranteed on Feb. 17. But you can bet 2024 will be a different conversation, if he does not play up to his $70 million contract in 2023.

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NFL draft, The roster

No. 3 receiver is not high on the need list

February 11, 2023 cc 2 Comments

Q&A series: We take a look at some big questions about the Seahawks’ salary cap situation and roster.

Today’s question: Should the Seahawks prioritize a No. 3 receiver with one of their top three picks?

Because Dee Eskridge has been a bust, there is a hue and cry by some for the Seahawks to prioritize a No. 3 receiver again this offseason — preferably with one of their top draft picks.

Should that really be a priority though? Over the front seven and interior offensive line?

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Contracts, NFL draft

Smith a better value than top-five QB in 2023

February 4, 2023 cc Leave a comment

Q&A series: We take a look at some big questions about the Seahawks’ salary cap situation and roster.

Today’s question: Instead of paying big money to Geno Smith, should the Seahawks draft a QB or go with Drew Lock and use cap space on other positions?

There remains a subset of fans and media who think the formula for winning the Super Bowl is a quarterback on a rookie contract and a team built around that player.

The main data point for their argument is the fact that no team has won a Super Bowl with a QB who has taken up more than 13.1% of the team’s salary cap. Russell Wilson, a former third-round pick with a cap hit of $681,000 when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, is the bellwether for that theory.

The fact is that, in the salary cap era (1994 to now), 75% of the time the Super Bowl-winning QB has been in the top three in team cap percentage, according to a 2022 study by Bookies.com. Three QBs on rookie deals have won it in the past 11 years, but most of the winners fell in the range of 10.6% to 12.3% of team cap.

In other words, there is no rhyme or reason to the trend.

If the Chiefs beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, Patrick Mahomes will become the first QB over 13.1% (Steve Young in 1994) to win it. Mahomes took up 17.2% of the Chiefs’ cap this season.

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Free agency, The roster

‘A dream opportunity’: Roster review and offseason to-dos

January 29, 2023 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll and John Schneider clearly were happy they defied most expectations and put together a playoff team in 2022. But they know they have work to do, both citing the 49ers as their paragon as they enter the second half of a two-year franchise build using high draft picks.

As Schneider told Seattle Sports Radio, the 49ers are “the biggest, fastest, most physical football team in the National Football League. And we gotta get back to that. No questions asked. … We know what we need to do to attack this thing and take the next step.”

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Contracts, Free agency

Cap situation makes franchise tag for Geno Smith unlikely

January 21, 2023 cc Leave a comment

While the franchise tag seems like an easy fallback option for the Seahawks to retain Geno Smith, a close look at their salary cap situation reveals that they probably are not going to use it – or, if they do, it won’t be for long.

If they do not use it by the March 7 deadline, they would have until March 13, when free agency discussions with other teams can begin, to get a deal with Smith.

Here’s why.

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State of the team

Lots of optimism, but Hawks have to ‘do something with it’

January 18, 2023 cc 7 Comments

In the wake of a surprising (to most) playoff appearance, there is a lot of optimism about the immediate future of the Seahawks. Many seem to think it’s automatic that the team will take the next step and contend next season.

But John Schneider and Pete Carroll have a lot of work to do to convert those positive vibes into a team that can yield positive results in the playoffs. As Carroll said, “It’s nothing unless we do something with it.”

There are two main things to do: Secure the quarterback position and remake the defensive front seven.

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Free agency, Playoffs: At San Francisco

Report: Hawks willing to pay (or tag) Geno

January 14, 2023 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks reportedly are willing to pay Geno Smith $32 million a year – the projected value of the franchise tag.

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Smith will be back – whether it’s on a new contract or the tag.

After the Seahawks beat the Rams 19-16 in overtime in Week 18 to set up a playoff spot (with a later win by Detroit over Green Bay), Smith and Pete Carroll both were asked about the quarterback’s future.

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Free agency, Week 17: NY Jets

Time to look at Geno’s season and value

January 3, 2023 cc 1 Comment

Before the season, we expected the Seahawks would end up 8-9 — leaning on a strong running game and a defense that would force some takeaways to make up for inconsistent play at quarterback.

Well, here they are, right where we projected them – 8-8 with a shot at 9-8 and the playoffs (if Green Bay loses in Week 18, too). They have gotten here largely the way we thought they would – the huge difference being that they got a Pro Bowl season out of QB Geno Smith rather than having to use a combo of Smith and Drew Lock throughout the season.

Smith just beat his old team, the Jets, to get to 8-8. He did it with the help of that running game, which has been streaky rather than strong this season, and the turnovers, which have gone both ways all year (the win over the Jets was the first game in which the Hawks did not lose a turnover).

Once this season ends – whether it is with a playoff game or not – there will be plenty of debate about whether the Hawks should pay Smith top money to return. Some have wanted to extend him since September. We said, “Let’s wait and see.”

With the season almost finished, we now have seen. So let’s look at how he fared and how he and the Seahawks might fit into what could be a very interesting quarterback market.

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Week 16: At Kansas City

Predictable loss in KC again shows Schneider what he needs to do

December 25, 2022 cc 4 Comments

The Seahawks were not going to beat Kansas City. Everyone knew that from the moment the schedule came out back in May.

There was perhaps some hope this week that the Hawks could score against what seemed to be a susceptible Chiefs defense. But, instead, the 24-10 loss was another referendum on the Seahawks’ need for better players on both lines and for Pete Carroll and Clint Hurtt to figure out how to get their defenders to tackle.

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