Cliff Avril was placed on injured reserve. He said he is not retiring and might be back this season.
Jeremy Lane probably won’t play in New York, but Michael Bennett “looks like he’s ready to go.”
Quinton Jefferson is expected to play with a cast. Projected inactives: Jordan Roos, Isaiah Battle, Luke Joeckel, Jeremy Lane, Tedric Thompson, C.J. Prosise, Garrison Smith.
Here are five areas where the Seahawks need to improve ASAP.
Cliff Avril said he understands why Marshawn Lynch wants to play in Oakland, is glad the Seahawks did not trade Richard Sherman, and also looks forward to mentoring Malik McDowell.
Those were the top takeaways from a good interview with Avril on NFL Network on Tuesday — as Avril returns from his Haiti work and a side trip to the NFL draft to announce some of Seattle’s picks.
“You want to have picks all the way through. You kind of look at Cleveland’s board (11 picks) like, ‘Dang, it’s awesome.’” — John Schneider
John Schneider always wants more draft picks. In his seven Seattle drafts, he has never had fewer than eight. At this point, he has seven for this week’s draft — including an impressive five in the first three rounds — but he seems quite likely to add to his stockpile.
He still could add picks by trading Marshawn Lynch and/or Richard Sherman — although the Oakland Raiders and Lynch still have not worked out a contract and Schneider repeated he is not expecting a Sherman deal.
“We’ve kind of moved past that,” he said Monday, reminding everyone the price for Sherman remains high. “The guy’s one of the top cornerbacks in the league. You don’t just give him away.”
Continue reading Will Schneider trade first pick for sixth straight draft?
“Who says we’re picking at 26?” — John Schneider in 2016 (and 2017?).
With the draft two weeks away, it looks like John Schneider could be getting ready to make some big moves.
On top of the Marshawn Lynch trade that seems destined to happen at any time and the potential Richard Sherman deal, Schneider is rumored to be talking to teams about moving up in the first round — which would be a first for him as Seattle’s general manager.
Reports early Thursday indicated the Seahawks and Raiders would end up working out a trade, assuming Lynch and the Raiders worked out a contract. On Thursday night, Lynch sent out a tweet that seemed to indicate he and the Raiders had come to terms, and it was reported as done Friday until Lynch seemed to set everyone straight.
Once it gets “real” with the Raiders, a deal between Seattle and Oakland would seem to be coming shortly after.
At the NFL owners meetings this week, Pete Carroll and John Schneider gave us a better idea of where Seattle’s seven new veterans (not counting kickers) might fit.
We also learned that Marshawn Lynch is indeed contemplating a return and the Seahawks really have heard from teams (including the Patriots) gauging a trade for Richard Sherman.
On top of that, Carroll and Schneider addressed their backup quarterback situation, which is a little hazy in light of Trevone Boykin’s recent arrest — but won’t include Colin Kaepernick.
Let’s take a look at the key comments from Carroll and Schneider, by position, courtesy of Bob Condotta and John Boyle of Seahawks.com:
John Schneider surely knew this was a possibility: Marshawn Lynch wanting to come back.
And he had to know he might have to make a tough decision on how to handle Beast Mode if he did want to return, considering the Seahawks had already made their plans to move on.
So here come the Raiders, reportedly wanting to lure Lynch out of retirement and hope the Seahawks basically give him to them — a “friends and family” discount from Schneider to former Green Bay cohort Reggie McKenzie, who runs the Raiders. Unlike last year, when the Raiders reportedly tried to trade for Lynch, it sounds like Lynch is amenable to playing. And it sounds like he wants the Seahawks to release him so he can play in his hometown for another year or two.
If all true, Schneider has a decision to make on Lynch: Keep him, trade him or cut him. Keeping him is not really an option — both sides seemingly have moved on. Trading him might be tough, if the Raiders refuse to cooperate. So that could leave Schneider with only one option: Just let him go for nothing. Well, almost nothing.
Continue reading Schneider’s options on Lynch: There might be only one
Some fans still can’t get past the idea that fantasy football is not real football. So you get goofballs thinking the Seahawks need to spend a lot of money to hire a big-name running back — forgetting that the rusher has to have a line that can block for him and he has to stay healthy.
So, no, the Seahawks should not — and almost certainly will not — pursue one-time stars Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles. Just like they didn’t pursue DeMarco Murray last year.
The topic is relevant today because the Vikings declined to pick up Peterson’s 2017 option, and the Chiefs are cutting Charles — meaning two of the more productive backs of the last decade will now be available.
But Seattle would be stupid to pursue either.
Continue reading Don’t expect Hawks to pursue Peterson or Charles
John Schneider has several big extensions to consider in 2017, so it makes sense that he started early — removing any doubt about Michael Bennett remaining with the team beyond 2017.
Schneider and Doug Hendrickson, Bennett’s new agent, had been talking about a new deal since the summer, so it is not a big surprise they finished it off before this season ends.
The extension, reportedly for three years and $31.5 million, is almost the terms of the deal they worked out for Marshawn Lynch after the 2014 season.
Continue reading With Bennett deal, Schneider gets a jump on 2017 extensions
Pete Carroll knows his team has to keep trying to run the ball if it is going to keep winning. That was true vs. the Rams and certainly will apply in the playoffs.
The question: Will the offensive line get it back together or will Seattle have to win the way it did against Los Angeles?
The Seahawks had rolled up 655 rushing yards, at a 6.1 average, over four games heading into last Thursday, leading to some confidence that they might be able to buck their trend of poor performances against the Rams.
But they instead conjured one of their worst rushing games of the season, averaging a season-low 2.4 yards per carry. It was their sixth game under 3.0 this season — the most in Carroll’s seven seasons. It also was the worst rushing performance by that metric since Russell Wilson became QB.
Apparently Pete Carroll was right: That dud in Tampa in Week 12 was an exception to the Seahawks’ new rule.
Their explosion in a prime-time payback game vs. Carolina was their third season-best performance in the past four weeks.
In the 40-7 blowout, they set season highs for points and rushing (240) and total (534) yards as Thomas Rawls and Tyler Lockett showed what they can do when healthy.
On a night Marshawn Lynch showed up on the sideline, Rawls had his best game of the season: 106 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 