Some observers think Seattle’s big move to add Sheldon Richardson is a sign that team brass thinks the Super Bowl window is closing.
Quite the contrary: The Richardson deal will help the Seahawks in the future as much as it helps them in the present.
We previously talked about Young Sheldon’s expected impact as a one-year Big Bang rental, but the deal also gives Seattle a lot of flexibility as John Schneider and Pete Carroll decide how to configure their roster for 2019 and beyond.
It took John Schneider almost six months into the league year to do it, but he pulled off the big bang we thought he would.
Every odd year since 2011, he has made a stunning signing or trade — and he obviously is hoping Sheldon Richardson turns out more like Jimmy Graham than Percy Harvin or Sidney Rice. Even if it’s for only one year.
The deal that sent Jermaine Kearse, a 2018 second-round pick and a seventh-rounder to the New York Jets for Richardson and a seventh is Seattle’s Big Bang Theory: Add a Young Sheldon and create a universe in which Seattle’s defense goes where no defense has gone before.
For one year anyway. This is almost surely just a one-year rental. And it works best that way.
Continue reading Big Bang Theory: One-year rental works for all
It made too much sense for them not to try: The Seahawks reportedly are shopping Jermaine Kearse.
The Seahawks don’t want to keep more than six receivers. Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson are the other veterans. Kasen Williams has played his way onto the team this preseason, and Amara Darboh, who has struggled with injuries, figures to stick because the Hawks won’t throw away a third-round pick this early. And Tanner McEvoy is a 6-foot-6 target who can throw passes and block kicks.
Pete Carroll isn’t ready to move Luke Joeckel to left tackle yet — he is holding out hope that Rees Odhiambo will play with confidence and consistency, letting his physical talent take over.
In the wake of George Fant’s season-ending ACL injury, Carroll indicated Monday that Odhiambo will get first crack at replacing Fant, Joeckel will remain at left guard and Mark Glowinski will remain at right guard.
The Seahawks also traded for versatile lineman Matt Tobin, who started 20 games at guard for the Eagles since coming into the league undrafted in 2013. Tobin started for the Eagles at right tackle last weekend, and the Seahawks surely see him as a versatile backup.
Continue reading Carroll hopes Odhiambo can hold left tackle
The Seahawks’ first day of camp was notable mostly for the guys who were not available, but there is nothing to worry about.
Tyler Lockett, one of three PUPs, failed his physical but will be back shortly. DeShawn Shead, who had a minor cleanup surgery on his ACL knee, was not expected anyway. Rookie Justin Senior is the other PUP.
Malik McDowell and C.J. Prosise were the surprising absences on Day 1, though not a big deal since neither is imperative to Seattle’s Super Bowl challenge.
Continue reading Don’t worry about the guys who weren’t there
Richard Sherman is refocused, and there’s “like zero percent” chance he will be traded at this point, Pete Carroll says, but the Seahawks will continue to listen.
And, once they lower the price next year, he probably will be traded.
“There (are) always opportunities to trade,” Carroll told 710 ESPN. “We would say that everybody’s untouchable, but we always have to listen to the opportunities … to compete to make our team better.”
Continue reading Sherman refocused, but Hawks still listening
Immediately after the first round of the draft, we all saw the story of Reuben Foster, former Alabama linebacker, saying he hung up on New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton because the 49ers were calling to draft him instead.
It turns out John Schneider was largely responsible for that — and he made the 49ers squirm a lot in the meantime, according to Peter King’s first-person account from the 49ers’ draft room.
The 49ers, who considered drafting Foster with the No. 3 overall pick, tried to get back into the first round for quite a while Thursday night. They talked to every team from 12 down to the Seahawks at 26. They originally offered the Seahawks their fourth-round pick to move up from 34.
Continue reading Saints looked silly because Schneider was toying with 49ers
The Seahawks got great value on their first-round trades down Thursday and ended up parlaying their top pick into five selections via three trades. But there’s a reason they moved down three times before drafting inside pass rusher Malik McDowell.
McDowell had an underwhelming 2016 season in which some think he mailed it in, and he did not impress some teams during the pre-draft process. But John Schneider and Pete Carroll really wanted him because of his size (6-6, 295), athleticism and versatility.
“He’s too unique,” Schneider said, comparing him to Calais Campbell, the 6-8 lineman who used to terrorize Russell Wilson as an Arizona Cardinal (and will again as a Jaguar next season). “We’ve been looking for a pass-rushing 3-technique since we’ve been here together.”
It sounds like the Seahawks are indeed in full QB dangle mode.
A couple of reports indicate (1) they were interested in Patrick Mahomes in the first round and (2) they are considering drafting a quarterback today.
The Mahomes report seems far-fetched. The Seahawks have used QBs as bait in two of the past three drafts, so this probably was more of that — just a way to create more interest in the 26th pick (the Chiefs ended up jumping from 27 to 10 to take Mahomes).
It is entirely possible that the Hawks want to take a QB today, but this scuttlebutt is surely a way to engender interest in the 34th overall pick and get some team to come up for Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer (if the Packers don’t pick or trade out for him) or perhaps Cal’s Davis Webb.
Green Bay holds the power to start Day 2 of the draft. Having moved down to pick 33, the Packers are now fielding calls from teams interested in moving up. The target for most probably is Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer.
Seattle’s pick, the second in the round, should be popular, too — whether it’s for a QB or another player who dropped out of the first round.
The Seahawks have a league-high six picks today — two in the second round, four in the third — and they aren’t against adding more.
“We have some freedoms here that could come to us, and we’re in a great spot in a couple of these rounds right now,” Pete Carroll said Thursday, after the Hawks traded down twice to net an extra third, a fourth and a seventh. “I imagine we’re not going to turn down phone calls. John will be working it.”
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 