Two down. Three to go. Including the most important.
The Seahawks made a couple of moves Monday, essentially replacing Brandon Mebane and Alvin Bailey with one-time Hawk Sealver Siliga and former Arizona backup Bradley Sowell.
Now they have three spots left to fill, needing to replace Bruce Irvin and J.R. Sweezy and — most important — come up with a starting-caliber left tackle.
Continue reading Finally on the board: Two down, three to go
And then there was one.
With the re-signing of Jon Ryan on Friday, the Seahawks are 4-3 with their eight key UFAs — Russell Okung being the last free agent standing.
If you thought the last few days were full of drama, get a load of this LT puzzle.
As Okung leaves the Giants to visit the Lions (and maybe the 49ers after that), the Seahawks reportedly are planning to meet with Pittsburgh tackle Kelvin Beachum on Monday and reportedly have some interest in Oakland tackles Donald Penn and J’Marcus Webb, along with Arizona’s Bradley Sowell.
Thanks to going minus-five in free agency last year, the Seahawks are going to get three compensatory draft picks this year — including a rare third-rounder.
You can bet John Schneider would be fine with getting another third next year — and he has two free agents who might be able to net him that.
The Seahawks have eight key unrestricted free agents — four defensive starters, three offensive starters and punter Jon Ryan — and are not going to be able to keep all of them. In fact, Seattle could end up losing six UFA starters.
But Schneider would be fine with that — because it would mean another nice haul of comp picks (up to the maximum four) in 2017.
Continue reading Projecting market value for Seattle’s top UFAs
A couple of months ago, we wrote that the Seahawks’ bosses — Pete Carroll and John Schneider — were going to have to make some changes no matter how the season ended.
Well, the season has ended (prematurely), and now it is time for those changes.
“There’s all kinds of stuff we’re going to be working on,” Carroll said Monday. “There’s tons of stuff. I’m not going to single anything out right now because there’s no way I can do that and be talking straight with you, because I don’t know. We don’t know at this point. We have a lot of thoughts, and we’re just going to start putting them together over the next few weeks and all.”
Although the Seahawks are slated to have more free agents this year than they have had in any year since Schneider and Carroll arrived in 2010, Schneider’s focus will be a little bit different this time.
As it turns out, the Seahawks’ 2015 season was an almost exact replica of the 2012 season — from the uneven start to the disastrous postseason finish.
So, if the cycle continues, the Seahawks will be lifting the Lombardi Trophy again one year from now.
Consider the similar paths of the 2012 and 2015 seasons:
**The Seahawks rallied from a 4-4 start to make the playoffs, evolving a paltry offense into a formidable one, and a defense that was terrible in save situations (i.e., protecting leads in the fourth quarter).
**They rallied to win their wild-card game and then got off to a horrendous start in their 10 a.m. divisional game before Russell Wilson led a big second-half rally that fell just short.
**This failure was followed by an immediate excitement about what the future holds, everyone knowing this team is still talented enough to compete for at least a few more seasons.
Continue reading 2015 was like 2012; will 2016 be as Super as 2013?
Another shabby performance has put the focus right back on Seattle’s offensive line — a reminder that no matter how well it played during the five-game winning streak, it is still a very subpar unit that will need to be upgraded next offseason.
The Seahawks have eschewed using high picks on the line ever since 2011 selections James Carpenter (first round) and John Moffitt (third) did not work out; so, instead of Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro, guard Joel Bitonio and right tackle Terron Armstead, they have J.R. Sweezy, Justin Britt and Garry Gilliam.
The line has gotten worse every year since Russell Wilson became quarterback in 2012. It has been terrible at the end of the past two seasons, stuck using rookies and undrafted players to fill in for injured or underperforming high draft picks. And the unit just played one of its worst games of this season, albeit without Russell Okung, causing everyone to hope that was an aberration as the playoffs approach.
However the season ends up, the Seahawks have to upgrade the unit in the offseason, if possible, and try to build some stability in front of Wilson for 2016 and beyond.
They need to determine (1) what to do at left tackle, (2) whether to keep Sweezy, (3) whether to add a veteran center to replace Patrick Lewis and (4) what they are going to do in the draft.
Continue reading O-line decisions/options for Seahawks in 2016
In what really came as no surprise Tuesday, the Seahawks released running back DuJuan Harris among a flurry of moves.
They also cut defensive back Akeem Davis and wide receiver B.J. Daniels while placing Thomas Rawls on injured reserve.
Those moves made room for the team to sign running back Bryce Brown and tight end Chase Coffman while activating linebacker Brock Coyle from IR. They have one spot open on the 53-man roster.
They also terminated three from their practice squad: WR Antwan Goodley, DT Justin Hamilton and LB Alex Singleton.
Going into last offseason, the Seahawks were suddenly uncommonly thin at cornerback — and that, in a nutshell, explains why they wasted $7 million on Cary Williams and ended up losing Tony McDaniel.
After the Super Bowl, Richard Sherman, Jeremy Lane and Tharold Simon were all facing recovery from injuries of varying severity. On top of that, Byron Maxwell was getting ready to sign a blockbuster contract with another team, which turned out to be the Eagles.
That left young Marcus Burley as the only healthy cornerback and DeShawn Shead as a largely untested emergency option who had more experience at safety. So, the Seahawks covered themselves by signing two veteran corners — Williams and Will Blackmon. And then they drafted Tye Smith in the fifth round.
Blackmon once again did not make the roster, and Williams struggled so badly that he was benched three weeks ago, made inactive the past two games and released Monday.
Pete Carroll and John Schneider have never been afraid to admit mistakes and move on from them — e.g., Percy Harvin last year — and that’s basically what they did here.
But they did it because they have plenty of talent at the position, and the future is bright.
Continue reading Hawks are no longer desperate at cornerback
At tight end for Seattle, it’s the same as it ever was — and that was good enough to get to the Super Bowl the past two years.
Plenty of people are all atwitter about Jimmy Graham’s season-ending injury and wondering how the Seahawks will replace him.
Well, how about the same way they replaced Zach Miller last year? Luke Willson, Cooper Helfet and a new guy.
As Bruce Irvin misses another game and David DeCastro comes to town with the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, it’s a great opportunity to show you how the Seahawks could have put together a very good offensive line by now — if they really wanted to.
It all starts with DeCastro, a Bellevue native who has played some very good guard for the Steelers ever since they drafted him in the first round in 2012.
He should have been Seattle’s choice — as we said then.
