Tag Archives: Bobby Wagner

Wagner’s contract gives team some flexibility

August 3, 2015 cc Leave a comment

In the wake of Bobby Wagner’s monster contract, Pete Carroll said the Seahawks face uncertainty next year in the way the team is going to be constructed.

“It is so challenging to do this,” Carroll said, “and particularly as it (the salary cap) changes and you don’t know and you have to predict. … This is a big year now (for Seattle free agents); we don’t know what’s going to happen with the cap. We’ll wait and see.”

As it turns out, Wagner’s contract reflects the uncertainty and also covers the Hawks in case he misses games, as he has the past two seasons.

Wagner’s four-year, $43 million deal reportedly includes an $8 million signing bonus and — rare for the Seahawks — a $4 million option bonus in 2016 that would activate 2019 while giving the team cap flexibility next year and beyond.

Either way, the Hawks will pay Wagner $7 million in 2016 — with a $3 millon salary if they pay the option or $7 million if they don’t. So the cap hit could be $6.1 million or $9.1 million in 2016. If they decline the option, it would make it just a three-year extension. But they surely just wanted to include a second signing bonus to offset cap hits in 2015 and beyond.

The Hawks also included $3.5 million in per-game roster bonuses — $500,000 in 2016 and $1 million in each of the next three seasons. Wagner missed five games last year and two the previous season, so the Hawks clearly want him to earn some of the deal through simple availability.

Contracts, State of the team

Wilson & Wagner are signed; who else can Hawks keep?

August 3, 2015 cc Leave a comment

With Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner signed, the Seahawks can check off their two biggest 2016 free agents.

But what does it mean for the others?

The official numbers for Wagner’s deal are in, and the Hawks are looking at about $14 million in space under a projected $150 million salary cap next year.

With Wilson and Wagner signed and Tony McDaniel released, their key UFAs in 2016 — barring any other extensions — will be Russell Okung, J.R. Sweezy, Bruce Irvin, Brandon Mebane, Ahtyba Rubin, Jermaine Kearse and Jon Ryan. They can’t keep all of those guys for $14 million.

“It is so challenging to do this,” Pete Carroll said, “and particularly as it (the salary cap) changes and you don’t know and you have to predict. … This is a big year now (for Seattle free agents); we don’t know what’s going to happen with the cap. We’ll wait and see.”

Continue reading Wilson & Wagner are signed; who else can Hawks keep? →

Contracts, State of the team

Can the Hawks really please them all?

August 1, 2015 cc Leave a comment

One down. Three to go?

The Seahawks got Russell Wilson signed just in time, but Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor and Michael Bennett all are unhappy and showing it in different ways.

It’s funny how back-to-back Super Bowls can make people feel entitled — all three of those guys are signed, Chancellor and Bennett very recently, but they all feel like they deserve more than they agreed to.

Basically, they are flipping the script — knowing NFL teams can cut them at any time and trying to use the power of their all-star play as leverage before they lose it. Pete Carroll understands.

“They’re trying to make the most of their opportunity and trying to figure out what’s best for them,” he said after the Hawks finished their first practice Friday. “They’re difficult decisions, and they’re hard for them.

“Sometimes when they sign, they love what they sign, and it just looks different after a while,” Carroll said, referencing how contracts quickly become undervalued in the constantly growing NFL economy. “I’m compassionate towards these guys.”

Continue reading Can the Hawks really please them all? →

Contracts, State of the team

Quick thoughts on Wilson’s contract

July 31, 2015 cc Leave a comment

(Update No. 2: We had it the first time)

Some thoughts on Russell Wilson’s reported four-year, $87.6 million extension:

**The $21.9 million average puts Wilson right behind Aaron Rodgers ($22 million) for No. 2 in average annual salary among NFL QBs.

**The $31 million signing bonus matches the bonus Pittsburgh gave Ben Roethlisberger and the guaranteed money Carolina gave Cam Newton this offseason. Agent Mark Rodgers said they split it up for tax purposes, but it is all guaranteed.

**The $61.5 million in total guarantees is the most Seattle has paid to a player. Richard Sherman received $40 million in rolling guarantees. It also trumps Newton’s $60 million in total guarantees.

**Although Wagner tweeted out an ominous statement — “Can’t keep everyone” — the Seahawks still could afford Wagner if he’s amenable to something like a four-year, $38 million deal with a $10 million signing bonus. Pete Carroll said, “We’re on it. Anything you’ve heard otherwise is wrong. I hope he’s with us for a long time.” Wagner said the deadline for a deal is “now” and said he had considered holding out, a la Chancellor, until a deal was done.

**Now that Wilson is signed, Brandon Mebane might be in danger. The Hawks have around $4 million left under the salary cap; and, if they want to sign Wagner, they might need some breathing room from somewhere to account for practice squad and injury replacements during the season.

**Holdout Kam Chancellor congratulated Wilson on his deal via Twitter, and Carroll made it sound like the Hawks might try to accommodate him, saying: “Kam Chancellor is an amazing Seahawk. We want to make something happen. We want him back immediately.”

CHAWK LINES

July 26, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The latest in Russell Wilson talks: The Hawks reportedly have offered a deal worth $21 million per year but paying less than $20 million in 2015.

Field Gulls said the Hawks offered $54 million guaranteed last month. Former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, who once was John Schneider’s boss, apparently has heard the Hawks’ offer, too, and thinks it is “very fair” and Wilson should take it. Easy for him to say, of course.

The gossip queens went wild over Mike Sando’s QB survey, which placed Wilson eighth or something. We couldn’t care less. (And no, it has no impact on his contract situation.)

Meanwhile, Wilson is working on his boxing in San Diego ahead of training camp starting Friday.

Word also came that the Seahawks are closing in on a deal with Bobby Wagner.

Ricardo Lockette wrote that he refuses to watch a replay of the ill-fated pass at the end of the Super Bowl. But he said Wilson told him, “We’re going to get back there; and, if we’re in that same position again, I’m going to throw you the ball again. We’re going to get it done. I trust you.”

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Contracts, State of the team, The roster

Wagner is worth $9M to league’s No. 1 defense

July 24, 2015 cc Leave a comment

When Bobby Wagner signs his new contract — and it appears that could be in time for training camp next week — every offense that has to face the Seahawks’ defense for the next three seasons is going to shed a few more tears.

You would too if you knew the No. 1 defense of the last three years likely will remain that way for the next three — with Wagner, Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, K.J. Wright and Cliff Avril (and maybe Michael Bennett) all under contract. That’s seven starters signed through at least 2017. And that doesn’t count Cary Williams, Frank Clark or Kevin Pierre-Louis — expected key contributors all signed through 2017 as well. Continue reading Wagner is worth $9M to league’s No. 1 defense →

Contracts, State of the team

Okung knows his worth, but what is it?

July 20, 2015 cc Leave a comment

As if the Seahawks didn’t already have enough odd contract situations, Russell Okung has added another one.

Russell Wilson’s marathon negotiations have received the most attention, as the quarterback reportedly seeks to be the highest-paid player in the game. On top of that, Michael Bennett has been grouching about his deal, just one year after signing it; Bruce Irvin bitched about not having his 2016 option picked up and talked about playing in Atlanta next year; and the Hawks also are talking with Bobby Wagner about a contract that could end up making him the highest-paid middle linebacker in the NFL.

Now we can add to that cauldron of contract conundrums the news that Okung plans to represent himself. As part of what he eloquently wrote on The Players’ Tribune, he said: “Before I became a free agent, I decided to free my agent.”

Continue reading Okung knows his worth, but what is it? →

Contracts, State of the team

How tagging Wilson would affect the roster

June 25, 2015 cc Leave a comment

If the Seahawks end up using the franchise tag on Russell Wilson in 2016, as it currently appears they might, it most likely would mean the end of the Seattle tenures of Russell Okung and Bruce Irvin.

Irvin knows that and doesn’t really care, even if he said last week that he wants to stay in Seattle. He clearly would be just as happy playing in his hometown of Atlanta. And he knows the Hawks have only so much money to go around.

“They’ve got a lot of people to take care of,” he said. “You’ve got Bobby Wagner, who deserves his money, and Russell, who deserves his money. Like I said, it’s a business and that stuff will work itself out.”

Continue reading How tagging Wilson would affect the roster →

State of the team, The roster

‘This is a team that’s built for the future’

June 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

“This is a team that’s built for the future. … We’re in the middle of this. This is not like the end. This is just the middle of this.” — Pete Carroll to 710 ESPN after blowing the Super Bowl in February.

The Seahawks’ contract impasse with Russell Wilson has many wondering how much longer he will be the team’s quarterback and, in a related consideration, how long the Hawks’ Super Bowl window will remain open.

But Pete Carroll’s comments from February remain just as germane today, despite the apparent lack of progress on Wilson’s deal: This team is right in the middle of its Super Bowl window.

The team controls Wilson’s contract for at least three more seasons, which happens to match the duration of the deals of some of the team’s best players: Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy Graham, Kam Chancellor, Michael Bennett. Signed through 2018 are Cliff Avril, K.J. Wright, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman.

Sure, Lynch could walk at any time if he feels the Call of Duty to do something else. And Bennett might not be with the team beyond this year if he continues to sit inside the VMAC whining about his contract while his teammates practice.

But, with the team now talking to Bobby Wagner about a new deal, we should be able to add the linebacker to the list of long-term Seahawks at some point this year.

Add the team’s young receivers (Paul Richardson, Tyler Lockett, Kevin Norwood) and some of the other additions from the last two drafts, and the Hawks have a solid core through at least 2017.

Continue reading ‘This is a team that’s built for the future’ →

CHAWK LINES, Contracts, OTAs

June 10, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Tom Cable says four guys are competing at center — the position “that certainly has the most uncertainty.”

Among the Seattle Times’ impressions from Tuesday, Tyler Lockett and the players’ overall speed impressed special teams coach Brian Schneider.

Derrick Coleman says this special-teams group is the best the Hawks have had since he has been there.

Richard Sherman had a couple of great retorts for his critics on Tuesday.

Cary Williams explains why he prefers Pete Carroll’s Seahawks to Chip Kelly’s Eagles.

Anthony McCoy reminded everyone he is still around and has the talent to make the team after missing the past two seasons with Achilles injuries.

Marshawn Lynch is putting a little Beast Mode into “Call of Duty.” Lynch said, “I’ve been in the Super Bowl, movies, music videos, Madden. But to have your own character in Duty is, I mean, it’s almost like you arrived.”

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