Tag Archives: Pete Carroll

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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Free agency, The roster

Monroe query is natural, but Carroll says Hawks ‘in good shape’ at LT

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Salary cap logoAs the Seahawks work to reconstruct their offensive line this year, it was natural to ask whether they might have any interest in Eugene Monroe after Baltimore cut him Wednesday.

The answer: Sure, if he’s cheap. But he won’t be — he was due $6.5 million next season. Of course, he also might not be healthy: He has missed 15 games the past two seasons.

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CHAWK LINES -- Week in review

Back from a couple of unplugged weeks in Europe, here’s the most recent on the Seahawks:

Bob Condotta ran down some personnel pairings from the OTAs.

Seahawks.com posited six takeaways, including a reminder not to forget about Tharold Simon (who has been easy to forget in his first three years).

Pete Carroll says he won’t rush Jimmy Graham and Thomas Rawls into training camp and is “kind of counting on” them to be ready for Week 1.

Doug Baldwin expects contract talks to start soon, but he is not worried about it.

While we were gone, Bennett told 710 ESPN he will not hold out for a new contract.

The Marshawn Lynch speculation won’t die, but Bennett and Doug Baldwin think he’s done.

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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:

Continue reading A look at the roster after the ‘rebirth’ →

CHAWK LINES, Minicamp
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Rookie minicamp review

Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN this offseason feels like a “rebirth” after a “very challenging” 2015 offseason.

The Seahawks added five players from the minicamp and released A.J. Francis, Mohammed Seisay and three others.

Justin Britt is working at center as the coaches try to figure out what their line is going to look like. Don’t put much stock in it though.

Bob Condotta reviews the draft picks after the minicamp.

Rookie DTs Jarran Reed and Quinton Jefferson want to “wreak havoc any way we can.”

Trevone Boykin tops the list of the P-I’s six minicamp takeaways.

Boykin, a mini-Wilson, plans to “stay in his hip pocket.”

The running backs top six takeaways from Seahawks.com.

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NFL draft, State of the team, The roster

Hawks going big to avoid going home early again

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NFL draftThe Seahawks lost seven games last season, and most of those losses occurred because their offensive line got pushed around.

The Rams and Panthers especially dominated Seattle with their great defensive fronts — the Rams’ Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, Robert Quinn and William Hayes; the Panthers’ Kawann Short, Star Lotulelei, Kony Ealy and Charles Johnson. Those crews handed Seattle four losses, including the one that knocked the Hawks out of the playoffs.

The Seahawks will see those lines at least three times next season, and Pete Carroll and John Schneider know they have to get stronger up front if they are going to avoid the same fate they suffered in 2015. They can’t be swept by the Rams if they want to win the NFC West, and they can’t lose to the Panthers if they want to win the NFC.

That’s all you really need to know to understand why they drafted 6-foot-6, 324-pound tackle Germain Ifedi in the first round, 6-4, 314-pound guard Rees Odhiambo in the third and 6-2, 299-pound center Joey Hunt in the sixth. They are all smart, strong and athletic — and it sounds like the Seahawks think they all have a chance to start, now or later.

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NFL draft, State of the team, The roster

Carroll: Rawls is the starting tailback

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Rawls and Wilson vs. RavensHow many running backs does it take to replace Marshawn Lynch while he rides off into the sunset on a camel? Apparently three.

As Lynch led their running game for most of the last six years, the Seahawks had drafted just four running backs (including one fullback). Now, with Lynch retiring — yes, he is, Pete Carroll and John Schneider confirmed — the Seahawks added three backs in this draft alone.

But none of them will displace Thomas Rawls as the starter. Carroll made that clear Saturday after the Seahawks added Alex Collins and Zac Brooks to a backfield that already included third-rounder C.J. Prosise, Rawls and former second-rounder Christine Michael.

“Thomas gives us a great element in his style of play. We love the way he is physical and aggressive and tough,” Carroll said of the second-year back who took over for an injured Lynch as a rookie and rushed for 830 yards before suffering a broken ankle against Baltimore in Week 14.

“I think the message of who we are and what we’re about has been Thomas,” Carroll said. “We’re really excited to continue to see that.”

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NFL draft

Just four picks today, plus the ever-fruitful ‘eighth round’

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NFL draftFor the first time since John Schneider became general manager, the Seahawks drafted more players on the first two days than on Day 3.

In fact, the four picks today will be the fewest under Schneider — assuming the Seahawks don’t make an unexpected move involving a player or 2017 pick that gives them another selection.

Barring those kinds of moves, the Seahawks will draft once each in the fifth and sixth rounds (both untradeable comp picks) and twice in the seventh (both tradeable but not likely to be dealt).

Schneider has been money in the fifth round, hitting on 4 of 9 picks — Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor standing as his masterpieces. He has hit on a few in the last two rounds, too — Byron Maxwell, Jeremy Lane, J.R. Sweezy, Malcolm Smith — but the Hawks have actually been at least as good in the “eighth” round.

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NFL draft

‘It’s going to be a hell of a class’

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“I think it’s going to be a hell of a class.” — John Schneider, after adding five players in the first two days of the draft.

Draft -- Schneider and CarrollFor the first time since 2010, the Seahawks did not do anything offbeat — and it looks like it could turn out to be their best draft in four years.

The Seahawks like to point out that their grading system is not the same as the rest of the league, but this time most of their picks matched projections — and they got some great value as they filled holes on both lines and added depth at running back and tight end.

Continue reading ‘It’s going to be a hell of a class’ →