Category Archives: NFL draft

NFL draft, The roster

No. 3 receiver is not high on the need list

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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

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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.

Continue reading Smith a better value than top-five QB in 2023 →
NFL draft, The roster

Building around QB spot: Roster report after the draft

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The Seahawks may not yet know who their quarterback will be – Geno Smith, Drew Lock or someone else — but they certainly are building around that position.

For once, the Seahawks played the draft by the book – and the result looks like their best set of rookies in a decade.

They filled all of their most pressing needs except center — adding tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas, running back Kenneth Walker, pass rushers Boye Mafe and Tyreke Smith and corners Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen. They tossed in a pair of receivers/possible return guys in the seventh round.

The Seahawks got proper value for every pick. Cross, Lucas, Walker, Mafe and Bryant look like five foundational players – four who should be starters now or quite soon. Woolen is an intriguing project as well.

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NFL draft

Hawks can have a big Day 2; will it include a quarterback?

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The Seahawks did what they needed to on Day 1, finding their new permanent left tackle in Charles Cross.

Now they prepare for a big Day 2, where they have the eighth and ninth picks to start the session, plus No. 72 overall (third round).

They figure to be looking for a possible QB, plus a corner, center, running back, linebacker and edge rusher.

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NFL draft

Draft Day 2022: Hawks get a new left tackle

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The Seahawks eschewed drafting outside linebacker Jermaine Johnson, instead filling their void with left tackle Charles Cross.

It’s a redux of 2010, when they drafted Russell Okung to anchor the left side.

Some analysts who know the Seahawks’ penchant for a balanced offense don’t think Cross has the necessary run-blocking skills. But he graded second in the SEC in run blocking last season, per PFF.

No one doubts his pass blocking, as he faced the premier pass rushers in the NCAA and held his own.

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NFL draft

Will other teams be as ‘pliable’ as Hawks?

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It’s no surprise that the Seahawks want to trade down from No. 9 – or that they might be entertaining moving back into the bottom of the first round to get a quarterback.

Those are moves we’ve been projecting in our own mocks leading up to this week’s draft. But the latter might be easier than the former.

John Schneider stated the obvious last week when he said, “People know that we’re very open to moving around. We’re pliable.”

But will any teams have incentive to trade up to No. 9? Which players would be targets?

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NFL draft

Can Hawks finally recharge power core?

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When the Seahawks were considered annual contenders, from 2012 to 2017, they had a core of 9-10 stars. Seven of them were on defense.

As they embark on a rebuild, the big question is: How far away from that kind of nucleus are they right now? And how much closer can they get through the upcoming draft?

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NFL draft, Trades

This draft’s template was created in 2010

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In some ways, it is 2010 all over again for Pete Carroll and John Schneider.

They have a top-10 pick for the first time since that inaugural year – and they need similar positions: a new QB, a left tackle and some defenders to fit a new scheme.

One thing they don’t have that they had in 2010: a second first-round pick to help hasten their franchise rebuild. But that may be coming, too.

We’ll get to the DK Metcalf trade options in a minute. First, let’s revisit a little history to see how Carroll and Schneider might approach this draft as they build the roster again.

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Free agency, NFL draft, On the air

Carroll admits it’s a two-year process; no pressure to draft QB

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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.

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NFL draft

Comp picks no longer a priority for Seattle

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John Schneider has stopped playing the comp game.

As the deadline for compensatory signings passed this week, the Seahawks once again ended up with a zero in the comp column. The 2022 draft will be the fourth time in five years that the Seahawks won’t have any comp picks – quite a reversal for a team that used to play that game as much as anyone.

As we wrote last year, Schneider wasn’t getting much out of those picks anyway. But why has his strategy changed?

The quick answer: Seattle has lost few quality UFAs and largely has decided signing veterans to replace departing players is better than angling for a fourth-round pick the next year.

Let’s delve deeper into it though.

Continue reading Comp picks no longer a priority for Seattle →