Hawks will pay Wilson $30M APY in 2020, but in what form?

May 6, 2018 cc 1 Comment

Matt Ryan just became the NFL’s first $30 million player, and the handwringing is already beginning about Russell Wilson’s next contract.

Ryan reportedly signed a five-year deal worth $150 million, with $100 million guaranteed. So there’s the new bar for quarterbacks; Aaron Rodgers and Wilson (and maybe another QB or two) will surpass it in the next year.

Wilson is signed through 2019, so the Seahawks will need to extend him next offseason. However, it sounds like Wilson’s camp is expecting to get the franchise tag in 2020, which would mean Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, does not think the Seahawks will meet his asking price next year.

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Cliff Avril: A great leader and ‘statesman’

May 4, 2018 cc Leave a comment

This day was destined to come, but it doesn’t make it any less sad to see a stellar player’s career end (at least in Seattle) due to injury.

If you measure the best by (1) how they played and (2) how they comported themselves on and off the field, Cliff Avril goes down as one of the best Seahawks ever. He was pure class as a player and remains so as a person. (Just check out his Players’ Tribune tribute to Seattle.)

As Pete Carroll said after rookie minicamp Friday: “He has been a great leader and a bit of a statesman for us. He always says the right thing and stands for the right stuff and he has been a really high-character guy who you can just always count on. He has been a great competitor in the program, and I love him, and we’d like to keep him connected with our club as long as we can, because he’s just exactly what you’d hope to represent you.”

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NFL draft, Trades

How the Hawks moved down to add Green

May 3, 2018 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider drafting The Seahawks got Rasheem Green because four teams fell in love with other defenders in the first round, but should Seattle have gotten more out of moving down?

Everyone knew Seattle was going to trade down from 18 — the question was which team would be the trade partner. It was somewhat apropos that it turned out to be Green Bay, especially after John Schneider and Mike Holmgren, both former Packers, had chatted on draft day about the difficulty in trading down.

“I was talking to Coach Holmgren about … how everyone thinks you’re going to move back and it’s so easy,” Schneider said after the first day. “The board has to start falling a certain way, and you have to have certain people that want to give up and that want to come with us. Where Green Bay came from is a long way, from 27 to 18. We weren’t confident.”

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NFL draft, The roster

Hawks should have what they need for the O-line

May 1, 2018 cc 2 Comments

Some — maybe even many — people thought the Seahawks screwed up by not drafting an offensive lineman before the late fifth round last weekend.

Sure, they could have selected Austin Corbett or Will Hernandez instead of Rashaad Penny with their first pick (after trading down, of course). But the Seahawks have put a lot of resources into the line over the past couple of years, and Pete Carroll obviously is betting Mike Solari will do a much better job with that talent than Tom Cable did.

Carroll is expecting Solari to boost the Hawks out of a two-year funk that has seen them rank second only to Detroit in fewest rushing yards by non-quarterbacks. (Russell Wilson’s 845 yards raise Seattle to 11th worst.)

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NFL draft

Did Hawks just redraft 2016 third round?

April 30, 2018 cc 6 Comments

This draft almost looks like an admission by the Seahawks that they screwed up the third round of the 2016 draft — they basically performed a do-over by drafting Rashaad Penny, Will Dissly and Jamarco Jones.

The 2016 third-rounders, who were supposed to be part of the next core, have done next to nothing for Seattle. C.J. Prosise has been injured almost his entire first two years, Rees Odhiambo was ineffective before getting hurt last year and Nick Vannett has barely contributed.

That trio has one last chance to show something, but the Seahawks’ additions of Penny, Dissly and Jones are obvious signs of discontent by John Schneider and Pete Carroll.

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NFL draft, The roster

A look at the roster after the draft

April 30, 2018 cc Leave a comment

“You never hear a doctor come out of a surgery, ‘You know what, I don’t know if that was such a good surgery.’” — John Schneider

As always, and as with every team, the Seahawks think their draft went well. Of course, they got their typical mixed reviews from analysts (the NFL’s worst grade in this composite) — understandable considering they drafted Rashaad Penny and Will Dissly higher than most ranked them and then traded up for a punter.

We’ve long known Schneider is not great at getting the best value for his picks — certainly not like the Patriots and some other teams are — but, throwing draft strategy out, it looks like the Hawks landed five roster locks and a couple of potential projects. And they kept Earl Thomas (reportedly ignoring Dallas’ offer of a third-round pick on Day 2).

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NFL draft

Draft Day 3: The house of Griffindor

April 28, 2018 cc 1 Comment

House of Griffin-dor The Seahawks did what pretty much everyone hoped they would and reunited Shaquill Griffin with his one-handed twin Shaquem — easily the best story of the entire draft right there.

Shaquem, who runs a 4.38 40 at 227 pounds, could play anywhere from outside linebacker to strong safety, and he obviously will be a huge factor on special teams.

The Seahawks then made another notable pick when they traded the 226th overall pick (seventh round) to move up from 156 to 149 and draft Texas punter Michael Dickson.

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