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.
Continue reading Report: Hawks willing to pay (or tag) Geno
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.
Continue reading Time to look at Geno’s season and value
The NFL is a transient industry. Nothing has illustrated that more than the past two weeks of blockbuster trade after blockbuster trade amid the standard free agency movement.
But even Justin Coleman and Quinton Jefferson have to be surprised by the total lack of familiarity with Seattle’s defensive personnel as they come back to Seattle after three years playing for other teams.
They are reunited with exactly one defender: Poona Ford, who was an undrafted rookie when Jefferson and Coleman were key players for Seattle in 2018.
Continue reading Jefferson & Coleman return to entirely different roster
The Seahawks definitely see this rebuild/reset as a two-year thing, and they seem unlikely to take a quarterback with their first pick this year.
Those were our two main takeaways from Pete Carroll’s radio appearances Tuesday.
He also said they want to extend DK Metcalf, they want more pass rushers, they know they are in a quandary at the tackle spots and Chris Carson is no sure thing to play again.
Continue reading Carroll admits it’s a two-year process; no pressure to draft QB
Clint Hurtt was not kidding when he said the Seahawks’ defense would be different in 2022.
After he was promoted to coordinator, he said, “The 3-4 system is something that I’ve really embraced and obviously Vic Fangio is a big influence. … There’s going to be some element of that. I will say we’re going to be multiple. …
“You have to adjust along the way,” he said, “and sometimes that means you have to adjust your scheme. That’s where we’re going into a transition right now.”
That transition has been very clear in the personnel moves the Seahawks have made in the first week of free agency. Gone are Carlos Dunlap, Kerry Hyder and Benson Mayowa – replaced by Uchenna Nwosu and former Seahawk Quinton Jefferson.
Continue reading Hurtt’s talk of 3-4 foreshadowed recent moves in front seven“We’ll continue to explore options. … There’s a number of guys still available, and we’re gonna continue to work through that.” – John Schneider on quarterbacks
When it comes to replacing Russell Wilson, the Seahawks basically have three options: (1) Get an experienced, expensive vet to start now; (2) do a repeat of 2012 with Drew Lock battling a rookie and maybe Geno Smith; (3) play for the 2023 draft, expecting Lock to lose more than he wins.
Plenty of fans (call them the Rebuilders) want the latter, but that is not Pete Carroll’s style, especially at age 70.
And it indeed sounds like Carroll and John Schneider prefer Option 1. They reportedly want to add a veteran starter and have reached out to both the Browns and Falcons, about Baker Mayfield and Matt Ryan – plus others.
Continue reading Quarterback hunt: Mayfield is worth a shot, but who else?While the spotlight on the first day of the league year understandably was on Russell Wilson’s official departure from Seattle and arrival in Denver, the Seahawks were busy building back their roster.
By the end of the first day, they had seen five players depart, five return and six newly arrive (including the three they got in the Wilson trade) — leaving them with just four positions to fill (QB, LT, RT, RB).
They are focused on their typical traits: familiarity, scheme fit, rehabilitating former high picks.
Continue reading Hawks focus on familiarity, fit
Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner joined the Seahawks on the same draft day in 2012. They won a Super Bowl together in their second season, and they were the last remnants of that championship team, so it was fitting that both were let go by the franchise on the same day – 10 years after they arrived.
Wilson and Wagner will go down as the greatest quarterback and linebacker in franchise history, both likely bound for the Hall of Fame for their record-setting play over the past decade. As everyone also knows, they were equally exemplary human beings during their tenure in Seattle. They were everything you want in players, on and off the field.
But life requires change, and all things eventually end. This always seemed the month we would say goodbye to both Wilson and Wagner.
Continue reading It was time
“We have so many decisions to make and so many things we have to handle.” – Pete Carroll.
As the franchise tag window opened this week, a report emerged that the Seahawks have begun negotiating a long-term deal with Quandre Diggs. Consider that the first step as Seattle’s offseason gets under way.
As the 2021 season ended, Pete Carroll said he wanted most of the roster from the 7-10 season back. Diggs is obviously the No. 1 free agent.
As the offseason revs up and the league year approaches, let’s look at Diggs and Seattle’s other priorities (we’ll avoid Russell Wilson trade talk here).
Continue reading ‘So many decisions’: Diggs and other offseason priorities
We will finally hear from John Schneider and Pete Carroll, at noon Wednesday, and you can bet they will be at their snarkiest – considering they (hopefully) are going to be asked about a lot of things they don’t really want to talk about.
A lot has happened since we last heard from Carroll in early January. And, because there was no Combine or in-person owners meetings, we haven’t heard from Schneider yet this offseason.
We put together 20 questions we would ask them about this offseason, starting with a couple of easy ones before hammering them with the tough stuff about Russell Wilson, Aldon Smith, Jarran Reed, etc.
Continue reading What we want to hear from team bosses
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 