Tag Archives: Kam Chancellor

Preseason

Wilson, fast-finishing Hawks in midseason form

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Dallas logoSeattle’s third preseason game — the one that most resembles the real thing — definitely looked like the real thing Thursday.

As usually happens during the season, the offense and defense started slowly and then found their grooves and pulled away — beating Dallas 27-17.

Russell Wilson and the offense were out of sync early — missing a few pass plays, running inconsistently, having snap issues, committing penalties. And Darrell Bevell didn’t help by calling a couple of his favorite bubble screens — Doug Baldwin gained three yards total on both plays.

But the offense did finally get on the board for the first time this preseason — Wilson hitting Paul Richardson on a short touchdown pass after they had secured a field goal in the first half and then finding Tyler Lockett on a scramble play in the third quarter.

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State of the team, Training camp

Carroll, Hawks discover ‘Road to Character’

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)When the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII, they were still a bunch of upstarts, misfits and castoffs who really didn’t know what to expect and were just following the Pete Carroll way: Always compete.

By the time they got back to the Super Bowl the next year, they had become seasoned veterans despite still being one of the NFL’s youngest teams.

But they were still young and immature — as so many of them proved during and after Super Bowl XLIX — and they failed to mentally or physically recover from that debacle in time for the next season. They still lacked focus and cohesion early in 2015, and it ended up costing them in the postseason.

But they have rediscovered their sense of purpose this offseason, largely because Carroll has changed the way he delivers his mantra.

Continue reading Carroll, Hawks discover ‘Road to Character’ →

State of the team, Training camp

Chancellor’s renewed commitment: ‘It’s about a brotherhood’

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Training camp logo2Kam Chancellor has changed his tune — back to the original refrain — and the rest of the Seahawks are whistling along.

The once-beloved safety lost a lot of fans with his ill-fated holdout last year, and he didn’t win too many back with his average play from Week 3 on.

He made the Pro Bowl on name recognition (as so many have over the years), but the fact is he wasn’t the same hard-hitting leader who had been a major factor in each of the previous two Super Bowl runs.

On Monday, he called his 2015 play “up and down” — which probably was an overly favorable analysis.

Asked what he learned from last year, he said, “I learned that this is a business; this is the NFL. But more importantly, it’s about a brotherhood. We started a brotherhood here, and we’ve got to continue what we’ve started. That’s the most important thing.”

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Training camp

Bennett, Carroll bring great news as Hawks open training camp

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Training camp logo2Seahawks fans breathed two sighs of relief after the first day of training camp: Michael Bennett showed up and Pete Carroll said he sees no end to his coaching days.

That’s the kind of positive news everyone wanted to hear as the Hawks prepare to make a run at their second NFL title in four years — and keep it going beyond that.

There was some doubt about whether Bennett would report, based on his recent comments over his contract and a report that his agent was in Seattle last week. But he stayed true to what he has said all offseason: He wants to be a great teammate and help the Seahawks win a Super Bowl.

“I just want to get back to Houston, Texas, and play in the Super Bowl in my hometown, and play against my brother (Martellus of the Patriots),” Bennett said. “That’s all I think about, so I’m here to make that happen.

“I just wanted to show up and be a great teammate. No distractions for the team,” he added. “I just want to be a Seahawk for the rest of my life, and that’s just the most important thing.”

Continue reading Bennett, Carroll bring great news as Hawks open training camp →

Contracts

Will Bennett take the Lynch deferment plan?

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Bennett and LynchIt sure looks like Michael Bennett is considering holding out, after all. Why else would his agent come to Seattle on the eve of training camp?

Bennett apparently wants at least $14 million a year, but will he settle for the Marshawn Lynch deferment plan — the deal his new agent, Doug Hendrickson, worked out in 2014?

Per ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Hendrickson and the Seahawks will discuss the Pro Bowl defensive lineman’s “desires” for a new deal this week.

Bennett wants a two- or three-year extension that pays him among the top six or seven defensive linemen in the NFL, Anderson reported. That means at least $14 million per year — double what he is making now.

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State of the team, Training camp, X's & O's

Record-setting defense plans to get better

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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.

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Contracts, State of the team

What does Baldwin deal mean for Bennett, 2017?

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Salary cap logoEarlier this year, we said 2017 could be another “splash” offseason for John Schneider. But he dived into the deep end early, giving Doug Baldwin a $46 million deal this week.

Now the big question: What does that mean for Seattle’s 2017 salary cap? More important: What does it mean for the underpaid Michael Bennett? And, by extension, what might that mean for the highly paid Jimmy Graham?

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Contracts, Minicamp, State of the team

Contracts take backseat to Super Bowl LI

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Kam and BennettA year ago at this time, the Seahawks had all kinds of financial turmoil — and it ultimately played a role in ruining team chemistry and the season.

Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner needed extensions. Bruce Irvin was unhappy his option had not been picked up. Michael Bennett was dissatisfied with his brand-new deal. And, unbeknownst to everyone in June, Kam Chancellor was the most displeased of all.

As it turned out, Chancellor was the only player who caused a ruckus, holding out until the third week of the season, but it was a distraction that did indeed affect chemistry and performance. The Seahawks ultimately fell short of a third straight Super Bowl because of it.

This June, the Seahawks seemingly are one big, happy family again — of one mind as they prepare for a Super Bowl redux. Sure, Bennett and Chancellor still feel they are underpaid. And Doug Baldwin is waiting to get a new contract. But, out of their own mouths, none of those three are going to hold out and screw up team chemistry.

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CHAWK LINES
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks OTAs & minicamp

Michael Bennett was back for mandatory minicamp and explained why he won’t hold out.

Kam Chancellor is healthy, wealthy (enough) and (finally) wise — not planning a holdout.

Russell Wilson, 27, wants to play at least 15 more years.

Among the notables on Day 2 of the minicamp, per Bob Condotta, were C.J. Prosise, Christine Michael and Douglas McNeil.

J’Marcus Webb returned while Garry Gilliam remained out.

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State of the team, The roster

A look at the roster after the ‘rebirth’

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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:

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