Seattle is willing to pay Earl Thomas top of the market, Bradley McDougald is 70 percent to re-sign and Michael Bennett is 70 percent to be let go, according to “nuggets” from Davis Hsu, a reliable champion of Seahawks scuttlebutt on Twitter.
Also from Hsu’s source: Cliff Avril has a better chance to play again than Kam Chancellor, it looks like Byron Maxwell will return and Malik McDowell apparently has made some progress as he recovers from his ATV accident.
After two days of talking by the players and Pete Carroll, we’ve learned a few tidbits about the Seahawks’ personnel and upcoming decisions as they sit out the playoffs for the first time in six years.
A lot of people think the defense is in complete disarray and has to be rebuilt almost from scratch. Don’t tell that to Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Frank Clark, Jarran Reed, Nazair Jones and Shaq Griffin. Those eight are all under contract for at least 2018 and figure to key a resurgent Seattle defense next season.
Carroll said he views it like 2011-12, when he was developing his Super Bowl core.
“There is a young nucleus and a new nucleus of guys that have come to us,” he said, referencing Bradley McDougald, Dion Jordan and Terence Garvin. “They’re part of that (2017 draft) class (which included Jones and Griffin) as well and the class from last year. These are good groups of guys now, so we’re very optimistic about the roster.”
Two weeks ago, Seattle knocked off the high-flying Philadelphia Eagles, and it sure looked like the Seahawks were getting ready to spread their wings for another long postseason flight.
Even a 30-24 loss in Jacksonville last week did nothing to shake the faith — the Seahawks basically beat themselves thanks to Russell Wilson’s overly aggressive interceptions and a few other mistakes.
There was plenty of reason to think they could beat the Rams at home and take control of the NFC West. And even if they had lost by just a touchdown, it wouldn’t have been unexpected or created a huge stir beyond the uphill battle to make the playoffs.
But a 42-7 demolition has raised a ton of questions about the future of these Seahawks.
Russell Wilson shook off a first-play interception to account for three touchdowns as the Seahawks handed the San Francisco 49ers their 10th loss of the season Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.
Wilson ran for one score in the first quarter and found his tight ends for scores on the first two drives of the second half as Seattle won 24-13.
The 49ers fell to 1-10 as they lost to the Seahawks for the eighth straight time. The Seahawks (7-4) remained a game behind the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West. The Rams (8-3) ended New Orleans’ winning streak at eight games.
Continue reading Hawks recover from horrible first half to beat 49ers
It looks, unfortunately, like Cliff Avril’s career is finished.
Pete Carroll told SiriusXM NFL Radio that the Seahawks are going to put Avril on injured reserve, meaning his season probably is over. Carroll said the 31-year-old is “seeing a bunch of doctors, seriously looking at a big decision.”
If he can’t play now, despite apparently feeling fine after suffering a stinger against the Colts, why would he return off IR in eight weeks or come back at all in 2018? Carroll previously said tests “showed some stuff” — and the IR move indicates that “stuff” was serious enough to shut down one of Seattle’s top defenders.
Avril told Yahoo Sports he is not thinking of retiring right now and that the “big decision” is whether to undergo neck surgery.
But Michael Bennett made it sound very much like Avril, who is in his 10th NFL season, knows he needs to retire.
Michael Bennett posted a letter describing a frightening encounter with Las Vegas police.
TMZ released a video showing Bennett being handcuffed by the cop.
Las Vegas police held a press conference in which they said race played no factor in how they dealt with Bennett.
Video clearly shows the cop holding a gun on Bennett as he prepares to cuff him.
It took John Schneider almost six months into the league year to do it, but he pulled off the big bang we thought he would.
Every odd year since 2011, he has made a stunning signing or trade — and he obviously is hoping Sheldon Richardson turns out more like Jimmy Graham than Percy Harvin or Sidney Rice. Even if it’s for only one year.
The deal that sent Jermaine Kearse, a 2018 second-round pick and a seventh-rounder to the New York Jets for Richardson and a seventh is Seattle’s Big Bang Theory: Add a Young Sheldon and create a universe in which Seattle’s defense goes where no defense has gone before.
For one year anyway. This is almost surely just a one-year rental. And it works best that way.
Continue reading Big Bang Theory: One-year rental works for all
Plenty of people wonder why
Michael Bennett has picked up where Colin Kaepernick left off in sitting out the national anthem.
If you are one of those folks, you obviously are among those Bennett wants to take out of their “comfort zone” and to make evaluate whether the “Star-Spangled Banner” really stands for what you think it means. He wants you to rethink your allegiance to a nation that still condones the oppression of minorities, a country now run by an obvious racist.
If Bennett’s sit-down offends you, maybe you forgot the anthem is a war hymn written by a slave owner during America’s slavery era. The non-inclusive salute to the “land of the free and the home of the brave” stuck as America’s song, passed down from generation to generation.
It made its first sports appearance at the 1918 World Series, where it served as a random uniting moment as World War I was winding down. Of course, it united only white people. Baseball did not begin to integrate until Jackie Robinson made his major-league debut in 1947, and segregation was rampant throughout America until the late 1960s — 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. This was far from the “land of the free” for everyone.
So, yeah, Bennett has every reason not to celebrate the song. Just like Kaepernick did. Just like everyone does.
Continue reading Bennett’s stance a chance to reconsider anthem’s meaning
The Seahawks began training camp today with some pretty simple edicts: Build an offensive line, foster better depth and recreate the chemistry that helped them to Super Bowls in 2013 and 2014.
The Seahawks have been one of the best teams in the league the last five years — No. 3 in wins (56) behind New England (62) and Denver (59) — but they have been on a steady decline since winning Super Bowl XLVIII.
After winning 36 games from 2012 to 2014, the Seahawks have won 20 over the past two years. Double-digit wins are always a sign of success, but it has been a disappointment to see the Seahawks fade — from the Patriots’ 1-yard line in XLIX to bad playoff losses the last two years.
This year they have to reverse the trend. There are three keys to doing it:
Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman both backed Russell Wilson in the wake of rift reports.
Bennett also shared more of his life philosophies (most of which make great sense).
Sherman came across as happy and ready to be a team player again.
Sherman’s attitude was one of several reasons Pete Carroll called it a “very successful offseason.”
Carroll said Jimmy Graham and Earl Thomas were the most impressive players this offseason.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 