Tag Archives: J.R. Sweezy

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.”

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Contracts, Free agency, Injury report, NFL draft, State of the team

Carroll discusses his roster & Hawks watch comp picks add up

March 13, 2015 cc Leave a comment

As the New Orleans Saints continued to revamp their roster Friday with yet another trade, the Seahawks — still basking in the glow of the deal that brought tight end Jimmy Graham from the Saints — simply looked within.

The news that impacted them was of players signing elsewhere, but they don’t care. No one will miss Bryan “Wave It Off” Walters, who signed with Jacksonville, and the Hawks didn’t need Shelley Smith, who got $5.65 million over two years from Denver or Stefen Wisniewski, who is a possibility but not a pressing need.

Pete Carroll has said several times this week, including on KJR Radio on Friday, that the Seahawks feel comfortable with some of their young linemen (Alvin Bailey, Patrick Lewis, Garry Gilliam, Keavon Milton, et al.) and think the draft is full of good linemen. Expect the Hawks to use at least two of their 11 picks on big guys.

They can only hope to come up with another J.R. Sweezy, the 2012 seventh-rounder who has played so much that he received $260,000 in performance bonuses from 2014 and got a CBA-mandated bump to a $1.54 million salary this year (as did Russell Wilson).

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Free agency, The roster, Trades

Hawks have not lost much on the line; it’s time to upgrade anyway

March 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ offensive line has been a mess for years. The unit has not started the same five since 2007 and has averaged seven combinations per year under Pete Carroll.

It’s not for a lack of trying. Since 2009, the Hawks have drafted two linemen in the first round and two in the second.

But that group has just not stayed healthy or developed as a unit — so it’s no surprise at all that the Hawks let two so-called starters go Tuesday.

Center Max Unger missed 13 games over the past two seasons, and left guard James Carpenter never played a full season in four years as a Seahawk. The Hawks were no longer interested in paying Unger, preferring to bring in Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham instead, and they were not going to keep Carpenter for $5 million a year either.

Some people are wringing their hands over the loss of two nominal starters, but the fact is they were more like part-time starters, the Hawks did well enough without them and it’s time to bring in some new blood.

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Contracts, Free agency, The roster

What will Hawks do in free agency? Check out the last three years

March 5, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Over the past three years, we have gotten a good idea of how John Schneider leads the Seahawks in free agency.

Outside of the big blockbuster deal for Percy Harvin in 2013, Schneider typically has moved at a measured pace in March — making as many roster deletions as additions and signing only mid-priced free agents.

It should be more of the same this month.

Schneider said it himself at the Combine last month: “We are going to keep doing things the way we started here: Just keep drafting people and playing young people and trying to keep the players that we can keep, try to identify the players that we have to reward and make those tough decisions about players that are under contract that you may have to let go to create some cap room. Those are just tough decisions as you go. We are not going to change anything we do.”

So what have they done the last three years?

Continue reading What will Hawks do in free agency? Check out the last three years →

Contracts, State of the team, The roster

This is the perfect time to reset the offense

February 9, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks have spent the last five years building one of the best defenses in the history of the NFL — a unit that has allowed the fewest points in the league for three years running and has been the main reason Seattle has reached back-to-back Super Bowls.

But, as we saw in the Super Bowl, the offense is a two-dimensional cardboard cutout — forced to rely largely on the determination of Marshawn Lynch (aka Beast Mode) and the freelance ability of Russell Wilson (aka DangeRuss).

When Seattle’s best offensive personnel grouping includes undrafted receivers Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Ricardo Lockette and fifth-round tight end Luke Willson — and the coaches think throwing to Lockette on the goal line to win the Super Bowl is the best play — the Hawks have a serious problem.

This offseason, that must change. It’s the perfect time for Pete Carroll, John Schneider, Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable to determine the future of the offense — to improve their receiving corps, find some reliable offensive linemen and otherwise make a concerted effort to fix a unit that has been running on the shoestrings of Lynch and Wilson.

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CHAWK LINES, Playoffs: Green Bay

January 17, 2015 cc Leave a comment

First, some game matchups to watch, via Seahawks.com.

Jerry Brewer expresses what probably every Seahawks fan feels: The team needs to find a way to keep Marshawn Lynch beyond this season.

Lynch’s new gold-plated shoes are pretty boss … Boss.

How much did the Seahawks want to keep B.J. Daniels around? They bumped his pay by five times to equal an active-roster salary.

With Bam Bam Kam Chancellor getting so much love all week, Greg Bishop of SI.com put together an in-depth look at the Seahawks’ Super Serious Safety, Earl Thomas.

Sound FX got some great sound from the Carolina-Seattle game off the microphones of linebackers Bobby Wagner and Luke Kuechly.

Demarcus Dobbs’ team is in the NFC title game for the fourth straight year. He should get his first Super Bowl win this time.

Russell Wilson and J.R. Sweezy’s salaries will jump in 2015 due to the “Proven Performance Escalator.” Of course, Wilson is going to get a huge contract extension, making the escalator moot. But Sweezy’s $660,000 salary will more than double, into the $1.5 million range.

Who says all big linemen are blockheads? The Packers’ guys are addicted to the strategy game “Settlers of Catan” (wait until they try “Puerto Rico”).

Injury report, Playoffs: Green Bay

If Britt sits, it will be OL combo No. 8 — not like it matters to the Hawks

January 16, 2015 cc Leave a comment

It was almost inevitable.

Just when you thought the Seahawks’ offensive line had done its best Humpty Dumpty routine and been put back together again, it appears the Hawks could end up using their eighth starting combination of the season Sunday against Green Bay.

Rookie right tackle Justin Britt, who had started every game alongside right guard J.R. Sweezy while the left three positions juggled around all season, will be a game-time call Sunday due to a knee injury suffered against Carolina last week.

If Britt can’t play, sixth man Alvin Bailey would make his sixth start of the season — at his third position. He started two at left tackle for Russell Okung and three at left guard for James Carpenter, and he also stepped in briefly for Sweezy in one game.

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Contracts, State of the team, The roster

With decisions to make, Hawks need to create a more dependable O-line

December 17, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks' line — Russell Okung (76), James Carpenter and the rest of the Seahawks’ line sit on the bench during their win over the 49ers on Sunday (Seahawks.com)

Rookie right tackle Justin Britt’s
struggles have opened up the
debate about whether the
Seahawks should consider
replacing him next year, but the bigger question is whether the Seahawks should replace the left side of their line — Russell Okung and James Carpenter — over the next two years.

The Hawks are unlikely to give up on Britt so soon, but they definitely will have decisions to make along the line in the next couple of years, especially with three starters up for free agency — not that we can tell a starter from a backup anyway, considering injuries continually knock out Okung, Carpenter and center Max Unger.

Offensive line has long been Seattle’s weakest link — and that predates John Schneider, Pete Carroll and Tom Cable. The last time the Hawks started the same five all season was 2007, and they have averaged seven combinations a year in five seasons under this regime. They really need to find some consistency so the offense can progress.

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State of the team, Week 15: San Francisco, X's & O's

Once again, Hawks are winning despite O-line

December 17, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks have rediscovered the formula that won them a Super Bowl: No. 1 defense plus Beast Mode plus DangeRuss plus crappy offensive line.

Can you imagine what kind of season Marshawn Lynch would have if he was running behind the 2005 Super Bowl line that featured future Hall of Famer Walter Jones and All-Pro Steve Hutchinson? We’re probably talking a 2,500-yard season with 30 touchdowns.

But that’s fantasy. Reality is that this line is basically in the same shape as the one that limped into the playoffs last season.

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