Category Archives: The roster

NFL draft, The roster

Not much help from recent third-rounders

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NFL draftOver the past three years, the Seahawks have drafted eight players in the third round — a league-best haul created by comp picks and draft trades that figured to help forge the next core of Pete Carroll’s team.

But it hasn’t so far — at least not as much as Carroll and John Schneider surely hoped it would.

With about 20 percent of this season complete, only one of those eight guys has become a starter and only two others are even contributing much.

That has to be disappointing after Schneider set up Seattle for some quality drafts in 2016 and 2017 — 11 picks in the first two days. Of seven third-rounders from those drafts, Shaquill Griffin is the only one to crack the first string (he has two interceptions this season).

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The roster, Week 2: At Chicago

No risk: Kendricks might be here for only a week

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Logo -- At ChicagoThe Seahawks have some temporary (we hope) problems at linebacker, and they came up with a controversial solution when they reportedly added Mychal Kendricks, who faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced in January for insider trading.

Assuming his only fault is that he cheated to gain some extra investment cash, Kendricks is not any kind of risk for the Hawks — and there’s no reason to dislike the move. He committed a victim-less crime and will pay his penance after his Jan. 24 sentencing.

Most fans seem to agree with us, not overly concerned about his financial crime — knowing he did not hurt anyone and will pay for his investment shenanigans later. But some wonder whether the NFL might suspend him, making this signing moot.

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Preseason, The roster

Final preseason roster projection

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Logo -- PreseasonPete Carroll is ready for the season. But his roster isn’t quite.

After the Seahawks finished off their first winless preseason ever with a mistake-filled 30-19 loss to Oakland, Carroll said, “I’m excited about getting to our 53. We’ve got roles for guys to take over. We’ve got a real clear thought about what we’re doing with a lot of stuff.”

Carroll and John Schneider still have some tweaking to do to get to the 53, though. They already have upgraded at backup quarterback, adding Brett Hundley, and you can bet they will be looking for help at a few other places — perhaps safety, corner, tight end and edge rusher.

Ahead of Saturday’s 1 p.m. cutdown deadline, here’s our final roster projection:

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Preseason, The roster, Trades

Which trades will Schneider make this week?

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Logo -- PreseasonAs the preseason winds down, teams are already starting to use trades to address weaknesses in their rosters.

It won’t be long before John Schneider joins the fray.

Schneider always makes a trade at some point before the season — he made seven deals from the start of camp to just before the season last year, and he has made 15 other preseason deals since 2010. That’s an average of 2.75 per preseason.

Schneider has been 50-50 in acquiring and moving out players in these deals. Last year, for example, he traded Kevin Pierre-Louis, Cassius Marsh, Tramaine Brock and Jermaine Kearse while adding D.J. Alexander, Matt Tobin, Sheldon Richardson, Justin Coleman and Isaiah Battle (Duane Brown didn’t come until October).

He probably won’t be nearly as active this year, but it’s a good bet he will make some kind of deal — because he always does. So, which trades might he make?

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Preseason, The roster

Projecting the roster after three games

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Logo -- PreseasonAfter three preseason games, the Seahawks’ roster looks pretty set through about 45 positions.

With only Thursday’s game against Oakland left, the Hawks seemingly are set everywhere but their last few cornerbacks, including the starter on the right side, plus their sixth receiver, their last offensive and defensive linemen and maybe their final linebacker. (UPDATE: Backup QB was up in the air until the Seahawks acquired Brett Hundley on 8/29.)

Injuries will play into a couple of decisions. The Hawks probably won’t put fifth-round tackle Jamarco Jones (high ankle sprain) or J.D. McKissic (broken foot) on IR because they don’t want to lose either for the season. So expect the team to keep them both and then possibly use short-term IR on one or both after Week 1.

That will affect the keepers on the offensive line and at running back, where the Hawks might forgo a fullback (as they did in 2016).

Here’s our roster projection through three games (updated with comments from Pete Carroll):

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Preseason, The roster

What we’re watching in Minnesota

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Logo -- PreseasonIt has been an eventful week leading up to the big dress rehearsal game.

Among other things, we learned J.D. McKissic is out 4-6 weeks, Doug Baldwin and Rashaad Penny could be back next week, George Fant is going to compete against Germain Ifedi, and Brian Schottenheimer isn’t satisfied with the running game.

As the Seahawks head to Pete Carroll’s formative NFL stomping grounds in Minnesota for the all-telling third preseason game, the coach has a few goals.

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Contracts, The roster

Wagner sends clear messages to Schneider

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Salary cap logoBobby Wagner fired a couple of warning shots at John Schneider on Wednesday — well-placed markers that should have buzzed right by each of the GM’s ears.

Wagner’s messages to Schneider: (1) Make sure you re-sign K.J. Wright and (2) get ready to pay me a lot of money next year. Wright is in the final year of his contract, and Wagner will be up for an extension next offseason, entering the final year of his deal.

There apparently have been no talks between the Seahawks and Wright to this point, which seems to indicate that Schneider is willing to let the 29-year-old star leave rather than pay top dollar next offseason. That would fit Schneider’s new MO of not paying third contracts to the team’s Super Bowl core.

We have already firmly stated we are in favor of extending Wright, a savvy, durable leader who should be good for four more years because his game is not based on speed.

Wagner made it clear he will be watching how the team handles Wright — and don’t be surprised if that affects whether he is amenable to a new deal next year.

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Injury report, The roster

McKissic out 4-6 weeks, Fant to RT, Darboh to IR? And more updates

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Seahawks bandagesJust as they seemed to be getting healthy, the Seahawks reportedly suffered another big injury.

With two and a half weeks remaining until roster decisions must be made, Pete Carroll and his coaches are making their midway tweaks and setting timelines for injured players. And now word comes that J.D. McKissic is out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot.

Among the other big developments Tuesday, based on Carroll’s comments: George Fant will move to right tackle to challenge Germain Ifedi; Doug Baldwin and Rashaad Penny might play next week and will definitely be ready for the opener; Amara Darboh has a new injury that could land him on IR; and Dion Jordan is probably not going to be ready for the opener in Denver.

On top of that, both kickers released Monday were picked up and the Hawks brought in another pass rusher, troubled Junior Galette, for a tryout.

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Preseason, The roster

Roster projection at midpoint

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Logo -- PreseasonPhilip Rivers and Melvin Ingram gave the Seahawks a great test in Game 2 of the preseason, a 24-14 win by the Chargers, and we can only hope young guys such as Tedric Thompson, Tre Flowers and Germain Ifedi will learn from it.

Meanwhile, Chris Carson again showed why he is the No. 1 tailback (unless he keeps fumbling), Jaron Brown entrenched himself as the No. 3 receiver, David Moore secured a roster spot with a couple of stellar plays, and Maurice Alexander, Dontae Johnson and Poona Ford all gave the coaches something to think about as we head into the final two weeks.

Here’s our roster projection after two games:

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