Tag Archives: Chris Carson

The roster

Waiting for new core to emerge, Schneider won’t invest beyond two years

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Logo -- Free agencyJohn Schneider had around $35 million in 2020 salary cap space to spend on free agents when the league year began, and everyone expected a chunk of that to go toward a pass rusher on a long-term deal.

That has not happened, and it would be a surprise now if it did — because Schneider has spent about $34 million on 13 veterans (including four RFAs). And he has followed his SOP of not giving out long-term deals to outside players — just three of his signings (Jarran Reed, B.J. Finney, Brandon Shell) have been for two years. Even his reported offers to Jadeveon Clowney have been for just one or two years.

Other than guys on rookie deals, the Seahawks have just three players signed for the next three seasons: Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner and shaky kicker Jason Myers.

Basically, this team is built — you might say patched together — through only 2021. And that includes Schneider and Pete Carroll, whose contracts expire after that season as well.

Why are they being so shortsighted? Because they generally give long-term deals only to players who have proven themselves in Carroll’s system — and few of their recent draft picks have earned the right to be considered part of the core.

Continue reading Waiting for new core to emerge, Schneider won’t invest beyond two years →

Contracts, The roster

Escalators shrink projected cap space

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Salary cap logoThe Seahawks lost a chunk of cap space this week as a few players got 2020 pay hikes.

Per OverTheCap.com, instead of a projected $63 million, the Hawks now are forecast to have $54 million (counting cap savings for Ed Dickson’s expected release). That would give Seattle more like $47 million for veterans between now and the start of the season.

The players whose cap numbers all went up include Tyler Lockett ($2 million), K.J. Wright ($1.5 million), Chris Carson ($1.4 million), Shaquill Griffin ($1.4 million), Tedric Thompson ($1.4 million), D.J. Fluker ($750,000) and Duane Brown ($250,000) — for a total of close to $9 million.

Continue reading Escalators shrink projected cap space →

Playoffs: At Green Bay, The roster

Clowney & other offseason needs

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logo-playoffs(Updated 1/21) The Seahawks had been on an uphill climb for over a month, as injuries whittled their roster, so it was no surprise they finally succumbed, losing 28-23 in Green Bay to extend their losing streaks to nine games in Green Bay and on the road in the divisional round.

They certainly had their chance to win — especially if they had taken the first half more seriously. But, it probably was about as far as they could expect to get in a year in which they led the NFL in games lost to injury, at various points losing their starting tight end and center and their top three running backs while using six offensive line combinations and never really playing with a full deck on defense.

Continue reading Clowney & other offseason needs →

The roster, Week 17: San Francisco

Hawks have made Week 17 rebound before

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Logo -- San FranciscoThe Seahawks just got upset by a bad division rival at home and now face a big finale against a playoff-bound division foe. Sound familiar?

The same thing happened in 2015. In Week 16, they lost to the 6-8 Rams (Seattle’s offensive line played poorly in that one, too) and then (missing a bunch of key players) blew out 13-win Arizona 36-6 in the finale.

On Sunday night, the Hawks (11-4) will face the 49ers (12-3) for the NFC West title — and they will do so without Chris Carson and Duane Brown (and previously injured Rashaad Penny, Justin Britt and Will Dissly) and also still might be without defenders Jadeveon Clowney, Quandre Diggs and Shaquill Griffin (though Pete Carroll sounded optimistic about Clowney on Monday).

Marshawn Lynch is returning to replace Carson for a game or two (or however long the Hawks are in the playoffs) — and Lynch certainly could provide a big emotional lift to a downtrodden 11-4 team, even if Travis Homer carries most of the running load.

Continue reading Hawks have made Week 17 rebound before →

Week 6: At Cleveland

Still learning, Hawks continue super start

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Logo -- At Cleveland“We’re trying to go somewhere. It takes everything we’ve got.” — Russell Wilson

Despite making their share of errors in a game full of mistakes by both teams and the refs, the still-developing  Seahawks showed their resilience yet again as they continued their super start.

The Seahawks took the ball away four times — five if you count a blocked punt — as they won a mistake-filled game in Cleveland, 32-28, to improve to 5-1 for the third time in franchise history.

The last time they were 5-1, they won the Super Bowl. The Hawks also improved to 3-0 on the road, their best such start since 1980.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 6: At Cleveland
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CHAWK LINES -- Hawks at BrownsPete Carroll thinks he finally knows how to put together his pass-rush puzzle.

Jadeveon Clowney: “Once we start clicking on all cylinders, I think we’re going to make a big push at the right time.”

Carroll expects L.J. Collier “to show you … in the next few weeks that he’s going to be able to figure into what’s happening.”

Tyler Lockett is poetry on and off the field.

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Week 5: L.A. Rams

Fortunately 4-1, Seahawks are ‘still growing’

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Logo -- Los Angeles“We’re still climbing. The best is yet to come.” — Shaquill Griffin

The Seahawks are 4-1, despite still not playing their best game — and that’s how we know they’re Super Bowl contenders.

Their lucky 30-29 win over the Rams had a lot of good in it: Russell Wilson’s near perfection, Tyler Lockett’s toe-tapping magic, Chris Carson’s winning efforts and more. But the Hawks still were unable to lock up the win on their own merits — the Rams had to lose it on a missed field goal.

Of course, the Rams would have been lucky to win themselves since Jason Myers missed a first-half field goal that meant the Rams did not need to overcome a four-point deficit at the end.

The Hawks lost two close shootouts to the Rams last season, and now they have won one against the Super Bowl runners-up — proving these teams remain evenly matched. That Sunday night game in Week 14 will be huge.

By that time, though, the Seahawks should have found their defensive groove and be a complete contender.

Continue reading Fortunately 4-1, Seahawks are ‘still growing’ →

Week 4: At Arizona

Nice win, but Hawks need to prove it vs. Rams

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at-arizona-logoThe Seahawks are something between what we saw in their sloppy loss to New Orleans in Week 3 and their fairly easy win against the developing Cardinals at Arizona on Sunday.

One game made them look worse than they are and the other made them look better.

We know they are somewhere in the NFC’s upper tier — with New Orleans, Dallas, L.A., San Francisco and Green Bay. Exactly where they rank should become clear Thursday when they host the Rams (3-1) in the first NFC West battle royale in what appears to be a three-way round robin with the 49ers (3-0).

In between the New Orleans fiasco and the L.A. grudge match, the Hawks (3-1) were lucky to get a game against a struggling team like Arizona (0-3-1) — just to give some of their guys a confidence builder. The players who took most advantage were embattled Chris Carson and new pass rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah.

Continue reading Nice win, but Hawks need to prove it vs. Rams →

State of the team, Week 3: New Orleans

Time for Hawks to show they are better than this

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Logo -- New Orleans“You have to learn in this game, if you’re going to be really consistently good, to get out of your own way … and we haven’t gotten there yet.” — Pete Carroll

The Seahawks probably would love to be playing this Thursday, rather than next, so they could quickly expunge the bad taste of that loss to New Orleans.

But it’s probably a good thing they go to Arizona first, before a huge Thursday home game against the Rams as they face division foes twice in the next 10 days.

The Cardinals are really the ideal elixir for a good Seattle team that needs to show it is better at tackling, rushing the passer, holding the ball and coaching than it showed against New Orleans.

“There’s so much for us to do,” Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN. “There’s so much.”

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Week 3: New Orleans

‘We didn’t do that right either’: Carroll & Co. beat themselves

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Logo -- New OrleansIf you had not known Drew Brees was sidelined by injury and then someone told you the Saints beat the Seahawks 33-27 on Sunday, you probably would have shrugged and said, “Not a surprise. The Saints (who should have been in the Super Bowl last season) are really good.”

In fact, way back when the schedule came out, we expected this to be a loss and for Seattle to be 2-1, just like they are.

The thing that made it disappointing is that Brees was not playing and the Hawks beat themselves in a dozen ways to make that loss a reality. If they’re still going to win our predicted 11 or 12 games, they have to clean up their game, from the top down.

Continue reading ‘We didn’t do that right either’: Carroll & Co. beat themselves →