Tag Archives: Russell Wilson

March 28, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks got four comp picks for the first time, giving them 11 picks in the draft.

The Seahawks added three defensive coaches — including former Seattle assistant Dwaine Board and one of Pete Carroll’s former USC defensive backs.

John Schneider talked about Russell Wilson, Michael Bennett and Brandon Mebane at the owners meetings.

Carroll said he is “fueled” by the Super Bowl loss and doesn’t want to let it go because he wants to learn from it.

He also said, “I’m confident that this team is going to come back and fricking roar. We are going to roar back into this offseason. These guys are working hard for it.’’

Carroll said all reports on Wilson’s contract so far were incorrect, and he talked about many of the players along the defensive line.

Carroll also said the Hawks are working on re-signing several of their remaining free agents.

Schneider said the Seahawks chose Michael Bennett over Golden Tate last year because the draft had a better class of receivers than pass rushers. (The Hawks ended up drafting receivers Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood.)

The NFL is going to change the PAT in some fashion. Here’s Carroll’s idea:

Our idea for the extra point: -Automatic 7pts for a TD -Mandatory try from the 2 for 1pt -Defense can score 1pt by returning a fumble or INT

— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) March 25, 2015

The Saints reportedly talked to the Dolphins about Jimmy Graham, too.

The Kingdome was imploded 15 years ago this week. And the debt for that structure was finally paid off this week as well.

Carroll helped Mike Williams, former USC star and one-time Seahawk, get a gig coaching high school football in Los Angeles.

Marshawn Lynch will appear in a Ludacris video for the rapper’s riff called — what else? — “Beast Mode.” (Did he have to pay Lynch royalties for using that title?)

Lynch has a strain of pot named after him, but he doesn’t smoke, according to Snoop Dogg, who said, “My homeboy got a career to play. He’s still in the NFL. He’s got a commissioner to deal with.”

Clare Farnsworth, who had covered the Seahawks for nearly their entire existence, retired this week.

Contracts

Carroll: No reports on Wilson deal are correct

March 26, 2015 cc Leave a comment

If Pete Carroll is to be taken at his absolute word, we can infer three things about Russell Wilson’s contract extension:

1 — It is not close to being finished.

2 — Wilson will not play out his rookie contract.

3 — His deal will not be fully guaranteed.

At the owners meetings on Wednesday, Carroll basically shot down all reports about Wilson talks, saying, “There are no big claims about what we are doing that have been made that are accurate.’’

That clearly was directed at ESPN, which reported last week that the sides were close to a deal, and at CBS, which reported this week that talks “have gone nowhere” and Wilson probably would play out the final year of his rookie contract. It also might have been a refutation of speculation that the Hawks will guarantee all of Wilson’s contract.

Continue reading Carroll: No reports on Wilson deal are correct →

Contracts, Free agency, NFL draft, The roster

Schneider talks Wilson, Mebane & more

March 24, 2015 cc Leave a comment

At the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix on Monday, John Schneider shed some light on a few Seahawk mysteries, courtesy of Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. A quick review:

With Phase 2 of free agency nearly complete, the Hawks will pick up negotiations with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner soon.

“Things are calming down a little bit, if you will, on the unrestricted front,” Schneider said, “so we are hoping to get with those guys and their representatives fairly soon.”

That basically shoots down the ESPN radio report from Friday that the Hawks are close to a deal with Wilson and is more in line with the report by Jason La Canfora of CBS that “talks between Wilson and the Seahawks have gone nowhere.”

According to La Canfora, “no real progress” has been made and sources say the quarterback is preparing as if he might have to play out his rookie contract, which will pay him $1.54 million in 2015.

La Canfora has suggested that Wilson might play out his rookie deal and potentially end up getting the franchise tag in 2016. That seems highly doubtful. Much more likely is the Hawks aim for a draft-week deadline, as they did with Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman last year.

Continue reading Schneider talks Wilson, Mebane & more →

Contracts

Wilson deal is coming: What will it look like?

March 20, 2015 cc Leave a comment

If scuttlebutt is to be believed, the Seahawks are closing in on their much-anticipated contract extension for Russell Wilson.

The Hawks are almost sure to have it nailed down in the next month. Last year, they finished up big extensions for Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman the week before the draft.

Both of those deals were market-setting, and Wilson figures to get a very lucrative deal as well. The question everyone wants answered: What might it look like?

General manager John Schneider has given some clues over the past month or so.

Continue reading Wilson deal is coming: What will it look like? →

Free agency, The roster

If Jackson leaves, is Daniels the backup QB?

March 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks want Tarvaris Jackson back as Russell Wilson’s backup and he reportedly would like to come back, but the Hawks apparently are not offering him enough to return.

That explains why Jackson is visiting the Miami Dolphins, who are exploring options to replace free agent Matt Moore.

If Jackson ends up signing with Miami, what would the Seahawks do?

Three options: (1) Save a roster spot by using B.J. Daniels as a utility QB/KR/WR, (2) sign a veteran, (3) draft a quarterback.

Continue reading If Jackson leaves, is Daniels the backup QB? →

Contracts, Free agency, Injury report, NFL draft, State of the team

Carroll discusses his roster & Hawks watch comp picks add up

March 13, 2015 cc Leave a comment

As the New Orleans Saints continued to revamp their roster Friday with yet another trade, the Seahawks — still basking in the glow of the deal that brought tight end Jimmy Graham from the Saints — simply looked within.

The news that impacted them was of players signing elsewhere, but they don’t care. No one will miss Bryan “Wave It Off” Walters, who signed with Jacksonville, and the Hawks didn’t need Shelley Smith, who got $5.65 million over two years from Denver or Stefen Wisniewski, who is a possibility but not a pressing need.

Pete Carroll has said several times this week, including on KJR Radio on Friday, that the Seahawks feel comfortable with some of their young linemen (Alvin Bailey, Patrick Lewis, Garry Gilliam, Keavon Milton, et al.) and think the draft is full of good linemen. Expect the Hawks to use at least two of their 11 picks on big guys.

They can only hope to come up with another J.R. Sweezy, the 2012 seventh-rounder who has played so much that he received $260,000 in performance bonuses from 2014 and got a CBA-mandated bump to a $1.54 million salary this year (as did Russell Wilson).

Continue reading Carroll discusses his roster & Hawks watch comp picks add up →

CHAWK LINES, Trades

March 13, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Lots of reaction from the principals in the Jimmy
Graham-Max Unger deal:

Graham said he will follow Russell Wilson anywhere to make sure they establish the same kind of rapport he had with Drew Brees. He also said he will help open up more running lanes for Marshawn Lynch, making safeties play honest — or else make big plays against Cover Zero.

As excited as Graham is to be coming to Seattle, Unger is understandably as sad to be leaving.

Pete Carroll and John Schneider talked about the trade the day it happened. Said Carroll: “Your best players always help your other guys play well and be productive. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Schneider elaborated on the deal the next day, telling 710 ESPN that the Saints asked about Unger, which led to Schneider asking about Graham.

Carroll talked about Graham’s toughness, how the Hawks will use him and how the tight end clearly fits the mold of a Seahawk in so many ways.

Bob Condotta gives a nice look at the Seahawks’ thinking along the offensive line in the wake of Unger and James Carpenter leaving.

Contracts, Free agency, The roster

What will Hawks do in free agency? Check out the last three years

March 5, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Over the past three years, we have gotten a good idea of how John Schneider leads the Seahawks in free agency.

Outside of the big blockbuster deal for Percy Harvin in 2013, Schneider typically has moved at a measured pace in March — making as many roster deletions as additions and signing only mid-priced free agents.

It should be more of the same this month.

Schneider said it himself at the Combine last month: “We are going to keep doing things the way we started here: Just keep drafting people and playing young people and trying to keep the players that we can keep, try to identify the players that we have to reward and make those tough decisions about players that are under contract that you may have to let go to create some cap room. Those are just tough decisions as you go. We are not going to change anything we do.”

So what have they done the last three years?

Continue reading What will Hawks do in free agency? Check out the last three years →

CHAWK LINES

February 21, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks reportedly have offered Marshawn Lynch about $21 million over the next two seasons. Does he want to play though?

John Schneider and Pete Carroll both spoke at the Combine, about Lynch, the Super Bowl and the future.

Schneider revealed that Jeremy Lane suffered a torn ACL on the same interception play on which he also broke his wrist in the Super Bowl.

Among many topics, Carroll said they were working on hiring some assistant coaches at the Combine.

Speaking of Lynch, he had a good message for a crowd at an underground concert in Oakland on Thursday.

Russell Wilson also did some talking this week, taking the blame for the goal-line interception in the Super Bowl but reminding everyone that he is moving forward and thinking ahead, as always.

Continue reading →

NFL draft, State of the team, The roster

Lynch is a study in sentimentality: Hawks don’t really need him

February 17, 2015 cc 2 Comments

A major myth has been propagated across the Pacific Northwest and the NFL in recent months. You know, the one that says the Seahawks need Marshawn Lynch in order to win a Super Bowl.

(This is completely separate from the idea that the Seahawks would have won Super Bowl XLIX if they had run Lynch one last time.)

The Hawks have been partly guilty themselves of spreading the nasty rumor, with Pete Carroll and John Schneider talking him up as a core player. They consider him such a key piece that they have offered the soon-to-be 29-year-old a pay raise and extension.

There is nothing wrong with that — they can fit it under the cap nicely and not lose much even if he does walk away after 2015 — but the fact is the Hawks don’t really need Lynch.

Continue reading Lynch is a study in sentimentality: Hawks don’t really need him →