Category Archives: The roster

Good news on the cap, but Hawks still have to make more room

February 8, 2021 cc 1 Comment

Based on recent reports, the NFL salary cap is expected to be between $180 million and $185 million in 2021. The actual number is not expected to be set until just before the league year begins March 17, but the ceiling apparently will be at least $5 million more than the floor the NFL and NFLPA had set last year.

The Seahawks and the rest of the NFL would happily take an extra $5 million, if Tom Pelissero’s report is more accurate than Adam Schefter’s tweet. (Here’s an easy explanation of how the league arrives at the salary cap.)

Assuming the number is Schefter’s reported $180 million, the Seahawks still would need to create room just to tender Poona Ford (about $3.4 million on the second-round offer) and a few ERFAs, let alone sign needed starters at center, running back, linebacker and cornerback.

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Contracts, The roster

Reality check for fanciful fans

January 20, 2021 cc 2 Comments

We certainly understand (and share) the frustration of fans over the Seahawks’ latest premature playoff ouster, and we are as eager as anyone to see the franchise fix its flaws and finally get back to the NFC title game and Super Bowl. But fans need to stop overreacting and get a grip on reality.

Pete Carroll is not going to be fired, and the Hawks are not going to trade Russell Wilson or Jamal Adams or Bobby Wagner. None of those guys are going anywhere.

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The roster, Week 15: At Washington

The Legion of Blitz & more hot topics

December 17, 2020 cc Leave a comment

Jamal Adams’ sack record is getting a lot of attention this week.

Some say it is over-inflated – like a blind squirrel finding a nut in a park full of them. Some say Pete Carroll’s use of a safety as his main sack guy has completely changed his defense. And some say Carroll is again revolutionizing secondary play for the entire NFL.

We say Carroll is doing what he always tries to do (and often succeeds at doing): Use the skills of his players to best effect. So yeah, LOB now means Legion of Blitz. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

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It's bigger than football, The roster

Gordon’s second chance with Hawks is here: ‘Hopefully it’s better than last time’

December 4, 2020 cc 1 Comment

John Schneider has never been shy about betting on veteran talent – whether they’re big trades or no-risk deals.

Josh Gordon might be the first guy Schneider has taken a cheap flyer on twice. The troubled but talented receiver is back, conditionally reinstated by the NFL and eligible to play for the Hawks in Week 16 against the Rams (if he’s ready that fast).

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Contracts, The roster, Trades

‘This is just the start’: Dunlap is a keeper, extensions expected

November 23, 2020 cc 2 Comments

It took almost two years, but it looks like John Schneider finally found Seattle’s next star pass rusher. And he had better plan to keep him beyond 2021.

In three short games, veteran star Carlos Dunlap has proven to be everything we expected — a grand steal of a deal from the Bengals – and he clearly should be in Seattle’s plans next year and beyond.

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State of the team, The roster

Midseason roster report: Can the defense improve?

November 12, 2020 cc 1 Comment

Midway through the season, the Seahawks are a game better than we expected — despite a horrendous pass defense that might be the thing that keeps them out of the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks are off to one of their best starts under Pete Carroll, 6-2 (or better) for the third time. With the easiest finishing slate in the NFL, they look destined for at least 11 wins. The question, as it has been all season, is whether their defense will improve enough to help them get to the Super Bowl.

They have been 6-2 or better just two other times under Carroll. In 2013, they started 7-1 and finished 13-3 on the way to a Super Bowl title. Last season, they started 6-2 and finished 11-5 (knocked out of the playoffs by Green Bay).

They look good for 11-5 this season, too. The second-half schedule is the easiest in the league. The tough part will be the division games: They play the Rams twice, starting this week, and Arizona in Week 11. But they also face three NFC Least clubs, plus the Jets and the decimated 49ers. The very worst they should do in the final eight is 5-3, which would net 11 wins.

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The roster

Harrison, Dunlap and green all expected to play next week

November 1, 2020 cc Leave a comment

Impatient Seahawks fans and media made a big stink when Damon Harrison was not one of the two practice squad guys called up Saturday. And Harrison put the Snacks-down on all of them.

“All of these theories of why I’m not playing are funny as hell. Y’all reaching. (Bryan) Mone and Poona (Ford) are playing really well. What did y’all expect? You think I didn’t know the situation before I arrived? I’m here because I WANT to be, not because I HAVE to be.”

Keep in mind Harrison has been in Seattle just three weeks. Everyone else had five weeks to get ready for the season. So there is no reason to wonder why he has not been called up from the practice squad yet.

“I don’t owe anybody an explanation for anything,” Harrison said. “I’m working every day and that’s all that matters. No, I’m not out of shape. I’m just not ready to play in a game YET. I’ve been doing this nine years. I know my body. I’m good.”

So Harrison agrees with Pete Carroll that he isn’t quite ready. Expect him to be next week, when he, Jamal Adams, Carlos Dunlap and Rasheem Green all should provide reinforcements for Seattle’s sagging defense in Buffalo.

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The roster, Trades

More deals coming?

October 30, 2020 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks apparently are still in the trade game, both as potential buyers and sellers. Could they marry the two to add another pass rusher?

After John Schneider’s typical shrewd move to add an impact veteran – getting Carlos Dunlap from Cincinnati for B.J. Finney and a seventh-rounder – word is the GM may indeed still be on the lookout for another pass rusher.

The ideal options would be veteran stars Ryan Kerrigan and Melvin Ingram, with young Takk McKinley and Chase Winovich possible secondary choices. The Hawks reportedly inquired about Dallas pass rusher Aldon Smith, but were rebuffed.

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The roster, Trades

Schneider finally addresses biggest offseason whiff

October 29, 2020 cc 2 Comments

Most observers are giving John Schneider major kudos for once again filling a big roster hole by taking advantage of another team’s dysfunction.

The trade for Carlos Dunlap – Schneider’s third October deal in four years — certainly was needed, and Schneider did well to get it done for a mere seventh-round pick and overpriced backup center B.J. Finney, as Cincinnati clearly was eager to get rid of Dunlap. (The GM would do better to add another pass rusher, too.)

But let’s not forget this is the continuation of an ongoing theme: The Seahawks were in this mess because Schneider created it – and then failed to fix it until now, maybe only for now.

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The roster

Antonio Brown? AB-solutely not

October 22, 2020 cc 1 Comment

As the Seahawks come off their bye, they are making some expected additions. But there is one they AB-solutely should not make.

Pete Carroll said they are checking into soon-to-be-unsuspended Antonio Brown – a fABulously stupid idea. This is at least the third time the Seahawks have been linked to the headcase receiver. We can only hope it is the last and they aren’t serious.

Carroll explained it thus: “We have endeavored to be in on everything that’s going on and John (Schneider) has done a marvelous job of always being tuned in to what’s happening. And this is no exception. So we’ll see what happens as we go forward. But we’re tuned in to what’s happening there.

“Let’s wait and see what happens and all that. We do all of the homework we can think of doing. We will never think that we can leave a stone unturned. That’s how we approach everything. So we’ll continue to do that here.”

The Hawks would be major chuckleheads if they signed Brown – and they would get blasted by many fans, rightfully.

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