Tag Archives: Noah Fant

The roster, Training camp

Year 2 of Macdonald era starts — with playoff expectations

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Summer is still going strong in Seattle, which means there are more good times to be had before football season starts. But, for the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL, the preparation for football season starts this week.

It’s Year 2 of the Mike Macdonald era – with high expectations after his 10-win rookie season. The Hawks have a playoff-amenable schedule and an odd juxtaposition on offense and defense. The latter unit – a top-five defense — returns entirely intact, with two or three additions on top of that. The offense, meanwhile, is being rebuilt almost from the ground up – with just four definite returning starters (after Noah Fant was released this week) and a completely new staff.

It likely will take a while for the offense to jell. It starts with the line, which thankfully has a very solid left side in Charles Cross and rookie Grey Zabel but also has work to do at center and right guard. In the passing game, Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp need to get synced up. Ideally, Klint Kubiak and his familiar staff can work some magic with the running game early on, to take pressure off Darnold.

The schedule lines up for 11 or 12 wins, by our estimation. That would mean a playoff spot and a shot to do even more.  

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NFL draft, Trades

Trade talk: Howell, Woolen — who else?

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When the Seahawks brought back Drew Lock last Friday, the first thought that came to mind was: Whither Sam Howell?

With Lock reportedly signed to a two-year deal, it sure seems to put Howell on the trade block.

The Hawks acquired Howell in a pick swap last year, getting a fourth and sixth while giving up a third and fifth. It was not a bad price to pay (equivalent of a fourth-rounder) for a look at a guy who had started a full season in the NFL and might be a possible long-term QB.

But Howell was no competition for Geno Smith and showed very poorly in clearly trying circumstances against the Packers late in the season.

John Schneider had said he looked forward to seeing Howell in Klint Kubiak’s offense because Ryan Grubb’s offense “wasn’t a good setup for him.” But now here comes Lock back, and he seems like as good a fit or better as the backup in Kubiak’s offense, which includes plenty of rollouts and bootlegs.

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Week 7: At Atlanta

Have Hawks learned enough about selves to start a new streak?

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Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks finally got themselves a quality win – and they needed it big time.

With a surprising 34-14 blowout of a red-hot Falcons team that had won three straight, the Hawks avoided the dreaded four-game losing skid that might have been the death knell for any playoff hopes (just one team out of 15 in Seattle history had overcome a streak of four or more losses to make the playoffs).

And now the question is whether they can sustain it.

“It was inevitable that (adversity) would happen, so you want to see a rebound,” Julian Love said. “We’re still learning how to win as a team. … We’re still building; we’re still learning who we are as a team.”

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Contracts, Free agency

Hawks used over $35M in cap space and don’t look any better

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By the end of the first day of the new league year, the Seahawks had used over $35 million in salary cap space to address four of their six positional needs – and they still didn’t look like they had improved their roster.

After free agents flew off the shelves in the first two days, we thought John Schneider might be preparing to make a trade to improve his roster. Instead, he stuck to his typical MO and overpaid role players who gradually ate up almost all of Seattle’s cap space.

There certainly were good moves. The Hawks accomplished their top priority: keeping Leonard Williams. They also kept their starting tight end, Noah Fant; found a safety, Rayshawn Jenkins, to start opposite Julian Love; and added insurance at right tackle by bringing back George Fant.

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Contracts, NFL draft

How will Hawks make cap room for rookies and the rest?

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Upon completion of a draft that added 10 players to Seattle’s cap-strapped roster, John Schneider was asked whether he needed to make any contract-related moves to sign the rookies.

Schneider’s answer: “We’re OK right now.”

“Right now” is the operative phrase, as the Seahawks definitely will need to create about $4 million in space to sign the rookies before training camp. By the time the season starts, they also will need about $6 million for practice squad and injury moves. And they probably are budgeting about $2.5 million for Al Woods or another veteran D-lineman – which they need very much.

All told, the Hawks need about $12.5 million in added cap space.

So where do they get it?

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Contracts, Free agency

After Wagner’s return, Hawks ‘pretty tapped out’ but still have work to do

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After the Seahawks cut Al Woods last week, John Schneider told Seattle Sports 710 “… we needed to create some space to try to get something done.”

And then they got that “something done,” bringing back Bobby Wagner on a deal reportedly worth up to $7 million.

It put the cap on perhaps the most aggressive free agency period we have seen by Schneider and Co., who signed six projected starters – five of them on defense – and paid an aggregate annual average of $8.5 million, the most they have ever spent on outside free agents in an offseason. Most of that is thanks to paying $17 million per year to new star defensive lineman Dre Jones, but all except Evan Brown got more than $3.5 million per year.

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NFL draft, The roster

No. 3 receiver is not high on the need list

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Q&A series: We take a look at some big questions about the Seahawks’ salary cap situation and roster.  

Today’s question: Should the Seahawks prioritize a No. 3 receiver with one of their top three picks?

Because Dee Eskridge has been a bust, there is a hue and cry by some for the Seahawks to prioritize a No. 3 receiver again this offseason — preferably with one of their top draft picks.

Should that really be a priority though? Over the front seven and interior offensive line?

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Free agency, The roster

Hawks focus on familiarity, fit

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While the spotlight on the first day of the league year understandably was on Russell Wilson’s official departure from Seattle and arrival in Denver, the Seahawks were busy building back their roster.

By the end of the first day, they had seen five players depart, five return and six newly arrive (including the three they got in the Wilson trade) — leaving them with just four positions to fill (QB, LT, RT, RB).  

They are focused on their typical traits: familiarity, scheme fit, rehabilitating former high picks.

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State of the team, The roster, Trades

Was the trade a good deal? And how quickly can the Hawks ‘reset’?

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Many Seahawks fans are understandably upset over the trade of longtime franchise QB Russell Wilson, not realizing that it is the best thing for the franchise (and for Wilson).

Some fans are so busy sobbing into their beers that they even think the Seahawks are counting on Drew Lock to be the new starter. Some think they got a bad deal from Denver (Lock’s presence might have some bearing on that). And almost everyone thinks the Hawks are now rebuilding.

Let’s take a look at each of those concerns and see where the Seahawks go from here:

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