With a defense in training, the Seahawks absolutely need Russell Wilson to play his best this season. And it starts on first downs.
That’s what made it so disappointing when Seattle came up short in the opener in Denver — Wilson holding the ball too long and taking unnecessary sacks and Brian Schottenheimer doing very little to help him as the Hawks basically ran their old playbook.
In a lot of ways, the Seahawks’ opener was everything we thought it would be: on-the-job training for young defenders, a de facto preseason game for Earl Thomas, a stress test for the offensive line, a big game for Michael Dickson — and a close loss.
Among all of the negatives in the 27-24 loss in Denver — 329 yards and three TDs by Case Keenum, Shaquem Griffin and Tre Flowers over their heads in their NFL debuts, Von Miller tallying three sacks and two forced fumbles — the biggest was the disappointing play of Russell Wilson in a scheme that looked like it had not changed a bit.
Wilson, now in his seventh season, looked like a rookie throughout much of this game as he dropped to 1-4 in road season openers. He knew he was going against the NFL’s top pass rusher in Miller, and yet he continually held the ball for too long. He said he was responsible for three of Denver’s six sacks, but it was more than three — and he caused his offense trouble in other ways.
John Schneider now knows what he needs to pay Russell Wilson — with Aaron Rodgers setting the bar at $33.5 million a year and $98 million fully guaranteed — and a deal for Seattle’s quarterback should be easy.
After Matt Ryan set the market for Rodgers in May, we wrote about all of the factors that could be in play for Wilson’s next deal. But it could be a lot simpler if Schneider is willing to let Wilson eclipse Rodgers and Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, doesn’t make it harder than it needs to be.
Now that we know the numbers to beat — and you can bet Wilson and Mark Rodgers will want to beat them this time — it’s just a matter of the details.
Continue reading Now that Rodgers is signed, Wilson deal should be easy
John Schneider went back to the 2015 draft with two big moves Wednesday and Green Bay’s quarterback deals impacted Seattle’s QB picture for this season and beyond.
Schneider’s first move was not a big shock: Making a cheap deal with Green Bay to bring in QB Brett Hundley as Russell Wilson’s ostensible backup.
The other was slightly more surprising, but in a pleasant way: Guaranteeing Tyler Lockett $20 million in a three-year extension that could be worth $37.8 million.
And, in other Green Bay-Seattle news, Aaron Rodgers reportedly agreed to a four-year extension worth $33.5 million a year — setting the market for Wilson’s next extension.
Continue reading Lockett gets great deal, and Packers affect Seahawks’ QB picture
We’re two preseason games into Seattle’s new offensive era, and the reviews on Brian Schottenheimer and Mike Solari have been pretty glowing so far.
Last week, Pete Carroll reiterated that one of his concerns about the old offense was that coaches were starting to “jam our players into the system” rather than play to their strengths.
The obvious example there is Jimmy Graham, who was forced to become a blocker and was not used downfield as well as he should have been. But Carroll also meant the offensive linemen. As he said in May, “We needed to shift gears a bit to match up with the guys we have here.”
Well, after two preseason games, they seem to be making progress.
When the Seahawks put together the best run in franchise history, winning 36 games and a Super Bowl from 2012 to 2014, they did it with about two dozen core players — a third of them named Pro Bowl players during that time.
After “resetting” the team this offseason, the Seahawks have just six players left from that Super Bowl core — and a couple of those guys might not be long for the roster.
That brings us to the No. 1 goal this year, aside from trying to contend for the Super Bowl (we put their O/U at 10 wins): John Schneider and Pete Carroll need to establish the new core for the next championship window. It all starts Thursday when they begin training camp.
Are we entering the final four years of the Pete Carroll/Russell Wilson era? Or just the next four?
The recent death of Seahawks legend Chuck Knox brings to mind the future of Carroll, coming shortly after Wilson’s destiny was a hot topic in the wake of another record-setting QB deal.
Seattle’s coach and QB are signed for two more years, and the pessimist’s view says Carroll’s age and Wilson’s price could mean both are gone by 2022. But the Positive Petes out there would point out that Carroll is spry enough to coach 10 more years and Wilson has said he wants to play in Seattle for 20.
Either way, four looks like the magic number right now.
Continue reading How much longer will Carroll/Wilson era last?
Matt Ryan just became the NFL’s first $30 million player, and the handwringing is already beginning about Russell Wilson’s next contract.
Ryan reportedly signed a five-year deal worth $150 million, with $100 million guaranteed. So there’s the new bar for quarterbacks; Aaron Rodgers and Wilson (and maybe another QB or two) will surpass it in the next year.
Wilson is signed through 2019, so the Seahawks will need to extend him next offseason. However, it sounds like Wilson’s camp is expecting to get the franchise tag in 2020, which would mean Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, does not think the Seahawks will meet his asking price next year.
Continue reading Hawks will pay Wilson $30M APY in 2020, but in what form?
Quarterbacks were the topic of the day for Pete Carroll and John Schneider on Thursday. The gist of their individual messages: Colin Kaepernick still could be an option (don’t count on it), Russell Wilson’s contract is not a problem (it really isn’t) and Schneider feels like he has done a poor job of acquiring quarterbacks behind Wilson (he has).
In separate interviews, Carroll and Schneider were asked about the recent Kaepernick brouhaha, and both waved off the protest topic and gave lip-service answers about their level of interest.
This is the level of paranoia John Schneider has created with his surprisingly explosive offseason: Russell Wilson’s agent apparently is concerned Schneider is looking to replace the quarterback.
In a very speculative segment for NFL Network, Jim Trotter passed on this tidbit: When Schneider checked out Wyoming QB Josh Allen’s pro day, Wilson’s reps asked Schneider, “Is there anything we need to know here?”
If this report is true, it really just speaks to the uncertainty, even among the team’s leading player, over the Seahawks’ long-term plan. Wilson has watched one of the NFL’s legendary defenses get almost completely blown up this offseason (trading Earl Thomas would finish off the demolition). So perhaps it is natural for the QB to wonder what his future is.
Continue reading Apparently even Wilson is paranoid about his roster status
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 