Tag Archives: Jimmy Graham

March 28, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks got four comp picks for the first time, giving them 11 picks in the draft.

The Seahawks added three defensive coaches — including former Seattle assistant Dwaine Board and one of Pete Carroll’s former USC defensive backs.

John Schneider talked about Russell Wilson, Michael Bennett and Brandon Mebane at the owners meetings.

Carroll said he is “fueled” by the Super Bowl loss and doesn’t want to let it go because he wants to learn from it.

He also said, “I’m confident that this team is going to come back and fricking roar. We are going to roar back into this offseason. These guys are working hard for it.’’

Carroll said all reports on Wilson’s contract so far were incorrect, and he talked about many of the players along the defensive line.

Carroll also said the Hawks are working on re-signing several of their remaining free agents.

Schneider said the Seahawks chose Michael Bennett over Golden Tate last year because the draft had a better class of receivers than pass rushers. (The Hawks ended up drafting receivers Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood.)

The NFL is going to change the PAT in some fashion. Here’s Carroll’s idea:

Our idea for the extra point: -Automatic 7pts for a TD -Mandatory try from the 2 for 1pt -Defense can score 1pt by returning a fumble or INT

— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) March 25, 2015

The Saints reportedly talked to the Dolphins about Jimmy Graham, too.

The Kingdome was imploded 15 years ago this week. And the debt for that structure was finally paid off this week as well.

Carroll helped Mike Williams, former USC star and one-time Seahawk, get a gig coaching high school football in Los Angeles.

Marshawn Lynch will appear in a Ludacris video for the rapper’s riff called — what else? — “Beast Mode.” (Did he have to pay Lynch royalties for using that title?)

Lynch has a strain of pot named after him, but he doesn’t smoke, according to Snoop Dogg, who said, “My homeboy got a career to play. He’s still in the NFL. He’s got a commissioner to deal with.”

Clare Farnsworth, who had covered the Seahawks for nearly their entire existence, retired this week.

State of the team, The roster

Roster analysis: Hawks are already better

March 22, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Two weeks into the new NFL year, the Seahawks are already a better team — despite losing four starters and nine players overall from their 2014 roster.

Re-signing Marshawn Lynch and adding one of the league’s best tight ends will make any team’s offseason.

Sure, the Hawks lost cornerback Byron Maxwell, center Max Unger, guard James Carpenter, tight end Zach Miller and five others via free agency, trade or cut. But they replaced Maxwell with Cary Williams and Will Blackmon and satisfied their tight end/receiver need with their stunning trade for Jimmy Graham.

They’re still looking for help along the lines but otherwise appear to be moving on to the big extensions for Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner — as well as the draft, where they will get even better via 11 picks.

Continue reading Roster analysis: Hawks are already better →

CHAWK LINES, Free agency

March 15, 2015 cc Leave a comment

For the second time in three years, the Seahawks stole the headlines on the first day of free agency, trading Max Unger and a first-round pick to the Saints for Jimmy Graham and a fourth.

Just days after signing his new contract, Marshawn Lynch purportedly found himself in the middle of a street brawl — and wisely extricated himself.

Lots of former Seattle cornerbacks are getting paid by other teams, Bob Condotta points out. It’s because they come from the Pete Carroll Secondary School.

The Seahawks added their own corner, Cary Williams. Here’s a breakdown from Doug Farrar. And here’s one from Field Gulls.

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CHAWK LINES, Trades

March 13, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Lots of reaction from the principals in the Jimmy
Graham-Max Unger deal:

Graham said he will follow Russell Wilson anywhere to make sure they establish the same kind of rapport he had with Drew Brees. He also said he will help open up more running lanes for Marshawn Lynch, making safeties play honest — or else make big plays against Cover Zero.

As excited as Graham is to be coming to Seattle, Unger is understandably as sad to be leaving.

Pete Carroll and John Schneider talked about the trade the day it happened. Said Carroll: “Your best players always help your other guys play well and be productive. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Schneider elaborated on the deal the next day, telling 710 ESPN that the Saints asked about Unger, which led to Schneider asking about Graham.

Carroll talked about Graham’s toughness, how the Hawks will use him and how the tight end clearly fits the mold of a Seahawk in so many ways.

Bob Condotta gives a nice look at the Seahawks’ thinking along the offensive line in the wake of Unger and James Carpenter leaving.

Free agency, State of the team, The roster, Trades, X's & O's

Saints’ interest in Unger creates another shot at TE-focused offense

March 12, 2015 cc Leave a comment

It turns out the Seahawks were not just getting rid of Max Unger in the Jimmy Graham deal.

Saints coach Sean Payton specifically asked John Schneider about acquiring the former Pro Bowl center, and then the two sides began talking about compensation.

The first-round pick the Hawks included in the deal made it seem as if Seattle had approached New Orleans about Graham, but that’s not the way it happened, according to Schneider and other sources.

“They had strong interest in Max,” the Seattle GM told 710 ESPN. “They really want to fix their center positon (and) concentrate on their defense. For us, it was, ‘OK, who are the players involved?’ (Graham) came into the fray and we started talking about it.”

The Saints apparently were still at odds with Graham over the franchise tag battle last year, when the tagged him as a tight end and he filed a grievance seeking to be tagged as a wide receiver, which would have paid him about $5 million more. He ended up signing a four-year, $40 million contract.

Now the Hawks have him for the final three years of that deal — assuming they don’t change it or he somehow doesn’t work out.

This is the latest — and perhaps best — chance for the Seahawks to create the kind of tight-end-focused offense they have tried in the past.

Continue reading Saints’ interest in Unger creates another shot at TE-focused offense →

Contracts, Free agency

Hawks need cap space: How can they make some?

March 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Unless the Seahawks alter Jimmy Graham’s contract, they have about $15 million in cap space. But they will need to earmark about $5 million of that for rookie bonuses, practice squad players and injury replacements next season, and they probably will need about $8 million in additional cap space for the extensions for Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner.

With free-agent needs on both lines and possibly at receiver and backup quarterback, basic math tells us the Hawks need to create some space at some point. How can they do that?

Continue reading Hawks need cap space: How can they make some? →

Contracts, Free agency, The roster, Trades

Good value: Hawks snagged a third-rounder in Graham deal, too

March 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

One of the big questions coming out of the Seahawks’ trade Tuesday is whether they got the proper value in the deal.

We’d say it was a great deal for the Hawks — getting a first-round-caliber tight end and picks in the third and fourth rounds in exchange for a first-round pick and a second-round center whose value no longer matched that.

Yeah, we know: The deal between the Seahawks and Saints brought tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick for center Max Unger and a first-rounder. Technically no third-rounder.

But that is not the way Seattle GM John Schneider is looking at it. Guaranteed he sees it this way: By trading for a top offensive player and not signing an unrestricted free agent at $8 million a year, he still will get a third-round comp pick in 2016 for losing Byron Maxwell to the Eagles at $10 million a year.

And you know he will be careful to make sure the Hawks lose more UFAs than they sign so that third-rounder comes to him. The Hawks are about to go plus-three in comp picks for 2016, losing Maxwell, James Carpenter (Jets) and Malcolm Smith (Raiders). Cary Williams and Will Blackmon do not count because they were released by their teams.

Continue reading Good value: Hawks snagged a third-rounder in Graham deal, too →

Free agency, The roster, Trades

Another blockbuster to start the league year: Hawks get ace tight end

March 10, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks reportedly have traded Max Unger and the No. 31 pick in the draft to the New Orleans Saints for tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick.

The Hawks and Saints reportedly have been talking about the trade since Sunday. Seattle had reportedly lost a bidding war for Denver tight end Julius Thomas.

Graham is just 28 and could be a great solution to one of the Seahawks’ chief problems. Last year, the 6-foot-7 target caught 85 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns.

A third-round pick in 2010, Graham has 386 catches for 4,752 yards and 51 touchdowns in 78 games.

It’s the second time in three years the Seahawks have traded their first-round pick for a veteran playmaker on offense, and they have to hope this deal works out much better than their blockbuster for Percy Harvin in 2013.

Continue reading Another blockbuster to start the league year: Hawks get ace tight end →