Tag Archives: Brandon Browner

It’s a high bar, but Dunbar drama tops all in Carroll era

The Seahawks have been NFL drama queens almost from the start of the Pete Carroll/John Schneider era, so it’s never that surprising when some crazy news comes along.

But nothing ever done by the likes of rogues Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett or chuckleheads Leroy Hill, Percy Harvin, John Moffitt or Malik McDowell could top the situation Quinton Dunbar finds himself in.

Dunbar’s case (alleged robbery) is still working through the system, with conflicting reports (by the same people) of whether Dunbar was involved. We’ll keep following it and see how it turns out, but it certainly is one of the crazier crime stories ever related to the Seahawks. And they have had a few.

Continue reading It’s a high bar, but Dunbar drama tops all in Carroll era

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No surprise Schneider is shopping Lewis (or others)

John Schneider draftingJohn Schneider has made at least one trade in the preseason in each of his six years in Seattle, so it’s no surprise to hear he is trying to make another this year.

Schneider reportedly is shopping Patrick Lewis, who apparently has lost the battle for the backup center spot to rookie Joey Hunt.

Plenty of teams need offensive line help, and Schneider surely could find one interested in a player who has started 13 games over the past two years. Lewis’ salary is $1.67 million, which could be a hindrance to a trade. Lewis, a former undrafted free agent, probably wouldn’t bring any more than a late pick.

Continue reading No surprise Schneider is shopping Lewis (or others)

Hawks at Kansas City: What we’re watching

At Kansas City logoIt’s finally time. For most of the wannabe Seahawks anyway.

The Seahawks kick off their 2016 preseason Saturday in Kansas City (1:30 pm PT), and Pete Carroll and his coaches will take the next step in evaluating these guys.

“There (are) so many things to see, so many areas to watch,” he said Friday. “For the coaches, so many exciting guys that see challenge for the first time in a game situation and we’ll start making sense of this thing. This is one huge opportunity to do that.”

Continue reading Hawks at Kansas City: What we’re watching

Record-setting defense plans to get better

Earl Thomas and Pete Carroll (The Seattle Times via Twitter)The Seahawks’ defense has put together an unprecedented run — becoming the first modern NFL team to go four straight years as the No. 1 scoring unit.

After Seattle shut down Arizona 36-6 in the 2015 season finale to clinch the top spot again, a beaming Pete Carroll said, “I don’t know if there is a record that I could be more proud of than to see our guys go for four straight years and lead the league in scoring defense. I think that is a remarkable accomplishment by a bunch of guys dedicated to the program and what we are doing.”

Carroll’s defense also has given up the fewest yards over the last three years, ranking first in the 2013 and 2014 Super Bowl years and second last season.

That’s a pretty darn good run of defense — and yet the Seahawks know they can become more consistent if they can cover their Achilles’ heel.

Because they have so many veterans on the unit now, the coaches apparently are finally planning to address the soft underbelly of their defense, which has been prone to giving up big chunks of yards and too many touchdowns to tight ends, running backs and slot receivers.

Their plan to fix that issue figures to be one of the big stories of training camp, which begins Saturday.

Continue reading Record-setting defense plans to get better

CHAWK LINES -- Week in review

Richard Sherman’s celebrity softball event is today at Safeco Field. Sherman has been trash-talking about the Home Run Derby.

Saying he was “thrilled to be able to support him,” Pete Carroll showed up to Michael Bennett’s football camp in Hawaii. (Carroll apparently has a home on Oahu as well.)

Jordan Hill, who just hosted his own camp, is headed to Hawaii to work with Bennett and Cliff Avril ahead of Seattle’s training camp.

Bennett, whose camp was free, ripped NBA MVP Stephen Curry for charging outrageous fees for his Hawaii camp.

ICYMI: Russell Wilson and Ciara got married last week. Then, in yet another TMI moment, they talked about how much sex they are going to have. This all came after Ciara said she thinks Wilson’s life is in danger.

Avril’s NFC team won a “Family Feud” battle against an AFC quintet.

Brandon Browner allegedly was in an altercation with his girlfriend’s father in California.

Terry Poole and Kristjan Sokoli supported the Special Olympics in Alaska.

From the “Who cares?” file, Bobby Wagner apparently was annoyed he was not on NFL Network’s list of the NFL’s top 100 players.

A look at the roster after the ‘rebirth’

Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)The Seahawks didn’t have a so-called “championship offseason” last year, and the results were pretty predictable: no championship.

Everyone hoped they could overcome all of the negatives — the loss of confidence in Pete Carroll after his asinine Super Bowl call, the silly fan backlash against Russell Wilson, the poor health of almost their entire secondary, the pointless holdout of Kam Chancellor, the idiotic coaching decision to start Drew Nowak at center.

It all added up to a disjointed start and disheartening finish. It was obviously too much to overcome for a team that had become fractured and really needed to be glued back together again.

The Hawks entered this offseason with more than a few concerns about their ability to bounce back. They needed to replace Marshawn Lynch, deal with unhappy campers Chancellor and Michael Bennett, rebuild their offensive line and fortify their defensive line.

At this point, it looks like they have put the glue in place for all of those fixes: Lynch was replaced by three draft picks; Chancellor made up with the team; Bennett sounds like he will come back ready to repeat his stellar 2015 season; the club replaced Russell Okung, Alvin Bailey and J.R. Sweezy with five linemen and Brandon Mebane with three.

Carroll says this offseason “almost feels like a rebirth.”

“We’ve been through a lot of stuff; we’ve been challenged by a lot of stuff,” he told 710 ESPN on Monday. “We’ve learned so much: winning and losing and then trying to come back again and still maintaining this huge standard and expectation. And we know it’s right there for us. Everybody feels it. That’s what is really fueling the energy around the building and why we’re so enthused. And then we hit it with this draft, so it’s feeling pretty good. Millions of things have to happen, but we’re in the right place right now.”

Let’s take a post-draft look at the roster and see whether that is true:

Continue reading A look at the roster after the ‘rebirth’

As expected, Hawks risking nothing on Browner

While Brandon Browner is no sure thing to make Seattle’s roster, it didn’t cost the Seahawks much to bring him back — and won’t cost anything if they let him go.

As expected, he received the veteran minimum of $760,000 and will count just $600,000 on the veteran minimum-salary benefit. The Saints had guaranteed him $2.75 million in 2016, so they will be paying the balance.

Continue reading As expected, Hawks risking nothing on Browner

Browner faces uphill battle to make team

Pete Carroll and John Schneider have never been afraid to bring back former players, so it’s not a big surprise that they have reclaimed a couple of veterans from their Super Bowl-winning team.

Of course, it’s no guarantee that either Chris Clemons or newly reacquired Brandon Browner will make the team.

Clemons, 34, seems to have the better chance, offering some help in the pass rush and as an extra veteran voice for Frank Clark and other young linemen.

But Browner would seem to have an uphill battle to make the team.

Continue reading Browner faces uphill battle to make team

Schneider talks Wilson, Mebane & more

John Schneider (via Fresh Files)At the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix on Monday, John Schneider shed some light on a few Seahawk mysteries, courtesy of Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. A quick review:

With Phase 2 of free agency nearly complete, the Hawks will pick up negotiations with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner soon.

“Things are calming down a little bit, if you will, on the unrestricted front,” Schneider said, “so we are hoping to get with those guys and their representatives fairly soon.”

That basically shoots down the ESPN radio report from Friday that the Hawks are close to a deal with Wilson and is more in line with the report by Jason La Canfora of CBS that “talks between Wilson and the Seahawks have gone nowhere.”

According to La Canfora, “no real progress” has been made and sources say the quarterback is preparing as if he might have to play out his rookie contract, which will pay him $1.54 million in 2015.

La Canfora has suggested that Wilson might play out his rookie deal and potentially end up getting the franchise tag in 2016. That seems highly doubtful. Much more likely is the Hawks aim for a draft-week deadline, as they did with Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman last year.

Continue reading Schneider talks Wilson, Mebane & more

It’s official: Seahawks get four comp picks for the first time

NFL draftIt’s official. The Seahawks received four compensatory draft picks when they were announced today and will have 11, as expected.

It’s the first time since comp picks were introduced in 1994 — the year after salary-cap free agency was introduced in the NFL — that Seattle has netted the maximum four. Teams receive comp picks if they suffer a net loss of qualifying free agents in the previous offseason.

The Hawks are one of three teams with the maximum four comp picks this year (also Denver and Kansas City). They figure to get four more in 2016, based on their free-agent losses this year. And they could end up with a few more in 2017.

Continue reading It’s official: Seahawks get four comp picks for the first time