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.
The Seahawks left themselves light at defensive tackle when they cut down to 53 players, choosing instead to keep 10 offensive linemen and J.D. McKissic.
It almost came back to bite them Sunday vs. San Francisco, as Carlos Hyde ripped off two big runs as he became the first back to go over 100 rushing yards twice against Pete Carroll’s defense in Seattle. So Carroll decided to beef up the middle again, calling up Garrison Smith from the practice squad to replace David Bass.
It’s the first of what could be two or three moves in the trenches this week.
We learned a lot about the Seahawks’ offensive line over the past couple of days — and we’ll learn a little more tonight when the Hawks host the Minnesota Vikings.
On Wednesday, Tom Cable announced that three-fifths of the line is set for the season opener, and Thursday the team announced that one of those three is set for the next four seasons — Justin Britt signing a three-year, $27 million extension.
It’s the only second deal for a Seattle starting lineman since 2012, when the team re-signed Breno Giacomini and extended Max Unger. As everyone knows, those two and the rest of the 2013 Super Bowl line were all gone by 2016 — none of them meriting what the market dictated the Hawks would have to pay.
His first two years, it certainly didn’t look like Britt would buck that trend. But he found a home at center last year and benefitted from the departure of J.R. Sweezy, becoming a technician rather than a Sweezy-style brawler.
“He has been a fantastic leader for us up there,” Pete Carroll said. “He had an excellent (2016) season and (has) played three spots and started at tackle, guard and center now. We really think he is in the best spot for him. I think it’s a recognition and acknowledgement of the player and teammate he has become for us.
“And also the fact that we are able to do it in the offensive line — I think it is important to note.”
Continue reading Will any other O-linemen be as worthy as Britt?
The Seahawks are still a long way from figuring out their starting five linemen for 2017, but Pete Carroll at least has defined the positions where the key players will be competing.
Luke Joeckel and Rees Odhiambo are working both left spots, George Fant is at left tackle, Mark Glowinski has moved over to right guard to battle Oday Aboushi, Germain Ifedi has moved from right guard to right tackle, and rookie Ethan Pocic is starting out on the right side in an apparent reserve role.
“We have all kinds of flexibility,” Carroll told 710 ESPN, “but we’re zeroing in in that fashion.”
Why did the Seahawks let Garry Gilliam go to the 49ers?
It’s a question some fans are asking, but the answer is simple: They didn’t want to guarantee $1.4 million to a guy they probably were going to ask to take a pay cut this summer anyway.
It was a 50-50 proposition that the Seahawks were even going to tender Gilliam back in March, but they gave him the low tender, $1.8 million, because they were short on bodies.
When they were able to add Luke Joeckel and Oday Aboushi in free agency, it gave them the flexibility to bump Germain Ifedi to right tackle. With the 2016 first-round pick expected to win that job, Gilliam, the former undrafted player who struggled in 2016, looked destined for a backup role.
As they have done with many previous restricted free agents, the Hawks then would have asked Gilliam to take a pay reduction from the $1.8 million tender. So, when the 49ers came over the top with a $2.2 million deal that guaranteed almost the entire amount of the RFA tender, it was a pretty simple decision for the Hawks.
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:
The Seahawks dominated the NFL news cycle on Friday, signing four players, bringing in four for visits and finding themselves facing the prospect of having to deal with the possible return of Marshawn Lynch.
It was a busy day to cap the first full week of the league year, which has seen the Seahawks focus intently on improving their running attack while also trying to fill holes in their defense.
The Seahawks so far have lost four players, re-signed three and added four. None of their losses — Steven Hauschka, Brock Coyle, Damontre Moore, John Jenkins — have been very significant. But there’s also no guarantee that any of their additions will make them much better than the 10-win team that fizzled out of the playoffs in Atlanta.
