Category Archives: Contracts

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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Contracts, Free agency, The roster

Hawks need to ‘find a way’ to keep Mebane?

February 26, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Brandon Mebane apparently is in danger of being cut.

On 710 ESPN, John Clayton said, “I think they’d like to find a way to be able to keep him.”

That’s both ominous and surprising.

It’s hard to imagine the Hawks parting with Mebane, especially with so few in-house options at nose tackle. He was playing some of his best football before suffering a torn hamstring in November and being place on injured reserve.

Mebane, 30, is slated to make $5.5 million in the final year of his deal. Clayton thinks he is in line for a pay cut like tight end Zach Miller took last year, when he reduced his 2014 pay from $6 million to $2.88 million and his 2015 pay from $5 million to $3 million.

Of course, the difference is: This is the final year of Mebane’s contract. So they either would be asking him to take a pure pay cut or they could extend his deal by a couple of years. The pay cut does not really make sense, but Clayton thinks the Hawks think so.

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Contracts

Lynch controls the action, and his bosses know it

February 20, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll and John Schneider have kowtowed to Marshawn Lynch for years, so why would anyone think they suddenly would take a tough-guy approach with him and set a drop-dead deadline for him to accept a new contract or declare that he will play in 2015?

Carroll and Schneider are not disciplinarians. They ask their players to do things; they never tell them.

In Lynch’s case, they have let him do whatever he wanted ever since they traded for him in 2010. He plays when he wants, he defies the NFL as he chooses and he grabs his junk whenever he is about to score. He has Carroll and Schneider by the balls, too.

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Contracts, Free agency, History

As usual, Hawks won’t use franchise tag

February 16, 2015 cc 1 Comment

John Schneider (via Fresh Files) The Seahawks have not used the franchise tag since 2010 — the first year of the Carroll/Schneider regime — and they almost positively won’t use it this year either.

The window opened today and goes through March 2.

John Schneider has been great about re-signing key free agents before their contracts expire, and the guys they have lost in free agency have been role players or lesser starters they were prepared to lose.

This year they have only two starters scheduled to hit free agency, and they are not going to pay cornerback Byron Maxwell or guard James Carpenter $13 million in 2015.

Schneider has said the team will try to retain Maxwell, but he also admits it will be hard. Maxwell is expected to get an offer worth at least $7 million a year — the Hawks probably would go only as high as $6 million.

Contracts, Free agency, NFL draft, The roster

Not as many decisions to make on defense

February 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

We’ve already looked at what the Seahawks need to do on offense — from their shaky situation at wide receiver to an “out of the box” option for Russell Wilson’s contract to the need to determine the future of the unit this offseason.

The defense does not need nearly as many major renovations, but they certainly have some work to do on that side of the ball. Here’s a look:

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Contracts

Hawks will go ‘outside the box’ in creating Wilson’s extension

February 10, 2015 cc Leave a comment

In a look ahead to the offseason with 710 ESPN on Tuesday, general manager John Schneider gave some hints about the Seahawks’ possible approach to an extension for quarterback Russell Wilson.

Schneider basically indicated that Wilson is on board with helping the team structure the deal in a way that it does not inhibit the Seahawks’ ability to remain a contender. The GM also hinted the deal will be put together in creative fashion and might not resemble many of the quarterback deals done over the last two years.

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Contracts, State of the team, The roster

This is the perfect time to reset the offense

February 9, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks have spent the last five years building one of the best defenses in the history of the NFL — a unit that has allowed the fewest points in the league for three years running and has been the main reason Seattle has reached back-to-back Super Bowls.

But, as we saw in the Super Bowl, the offense is a two-dimensional cardboard cutout — forced to rely largely on the determination of Marshawn Lynch (aka Beast Mode) and the freelance ability of Russell Wilson (aka DangeRuss).

When Seattle’s best offensive personnel grouping includes undrafted receivers Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Ricardo Lockette and fifth-round tight end Luke Willson — and the coaches think throwing to Lockette on the goal line to win the Super Bowl is the best play — the Hawks have a serious problem.

This offseason, that must change. It’s the perfect time for Pete Carroll, John Schneider, Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable to determine the future of the offense — to improve their receiving corps, find some reliable offensive linemen and otherwise make a concerted effort to fix a unit that has been running on the shoestrings of Lynch and Wilson.

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Contracts, Free agency

Hawks could make room for Ndamukong Suh, if they really wanted to

February 7, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Suh and Avril — Ndamukong Suh (left) with Cliff Avril when Avril was still with the Detroit Lions.

Ndamukong Suh, who grew up in Portland, apparently would love to
return to the Northwest and play for the Seahawks. John Schneider and Pete Carroll probably would love to have the dominant defensive tackle, too.

But how realistic is it?

Continue reading Hawks could make room for Ndamukong Suh, if they really wanted to →