Tag Archives: Shaquill Griffin

Comp picks no longer a priority for Seattle

May 7, 2021 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider has stopped playing the comp game.

As the deadline for compensatory signings passed this week, the Seahawks once again ended up with a zero in the comp column. The 2022 draft will be the fourth time in five years that the Seahawks won’t have any comp picks – quite a reversal for a team that used to play that game as much as anyone.

As we wrote last year, Schneider wasn’t getting much out of those picks anyway. But why has his strategy changed?

The quick answer: Seattle has lost few quality UFAs and largely has decided signing veterans to replace departing players is better than angling for a fourth-round pick the next year.

Let’s delve deeper into it though.

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Coaches, Contracts

Offseason prios: Changes at the top before new deals?

January 11, 2021 cc 1 Comment

It came earlier than expected, thanks to an inexcusably bad offense, but the Seahawks’ offseason is here. And it could – perhaps should – be a transformative one, with significant change at the top possibly trumping any personnel moves they make.

The frustration we’ve had with the Seahawks the past couple of years has been over John Schneider’s inability to solve defensive personnel issues (mainly pass rush, which he finally fixed with the trades for Jamal Adams and Carlos Dunlap). As they enter this offseason earlier than expected, the concern has switched to Pete Carroll’s side after coaching cost them yet another playoff game.

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Injury report, Week 12: At Philadelphia

Three starters return, Shell ‘still hobbling’

November 24, 2020 cc Leave a comment

Chris Carson, Shaquill Griffin and Ethan Pocic were back at practice as the Seahawks prepare to travel to Philadelphia for “Monday Night Football.”

Pete Carroll said RT Brandon Shell (ankle) is “still hobbling” and will be a “close call” for Monday’s game.

Carroll said rookie Colby Parkinson will jump right into the tight end rotation to replace Greg Olsen, who suffered a torn plantar fascia last Thursday against Arizona.

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Contracts, The roster, Trades

‘This is just the start’: Dunlap is a keeper, extensions expected

November 23, 2020 cc 2 Comments

It took almost two years, but it looks like John Schneider finally found Seattle’s next star pass rusher. And he had better plan to keep him beyond 2021.

In three short games, veteran star Carlos Dunlap has proven to be everything we expected — a grand steal of a deal from the Bengals – and he clearly should be in Seattle’s plans next year and beyond.

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Contracts, The roster

Is this the last hurrah for Carson & Griffin?

October 7, 2020 cc Leave a comment

Chris Carson and Shaquill Griffin are doing what they can to make their cases for new contracts in 2021.

Both were big parts of the Seahawks’ win in Miami, Carson scoring twice and tallying 100 total yards and Griffin picking off a pass and preventing a late touchdown as they helped Seattle improve to 4-0.

But fans need to steel themselves to the idea that this season could be the last hurrah for the best draft picks from Seattle’s 2017 class. Even more reason – like we need more than one — for the Hawks to win another Super Bowl now.

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Week 4: At Miami

Wilson finally wins in Florida as Hawks hit 4-0 for second time ever

October 4, 2020 cc Leave a comment

It wasn’t easy, but Russell Wilson finally won in Florida and the Seahawks improved to 4-0 for the second time in franchise history with a 31-23 win in 88-degree weather in Miami.

K.J. Wright and the Seattle defense held Miami to five field goals and a late TD, giving a struggling Seattle offense time to finally put the game away in the fourth quarter after Miami had held time of possession and stymied Wilson and company in the red zone a couple of times.

Wilson threw two TD passes to reach 16, which ties Peyton Manning for most through four games in NFL history. Manning set that record in 2013, when Seattle opened 4-0 for the first time on its way to beating Manning’s Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.

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Contracts, Free agency, The roster

D-line drama over, contract focus turns to star-stacked secondary

September 8, 2020 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ defensive line soap opera, which had dragged on for a year and a half (from Frank Clark to Ziggy Ansah to Jadeveon Clowney), finally ended when Clowney signed with Tennessee the other day.

Short of another trade, the Seahawks are going with the pedestrian pass-rush crew they assembled without Clowney. And we move on with fingers crossed and eyes closed.

We can only hope there is not as much drama – or failure — around extensions for Seattle’s now star-studded secondary next offseason.

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The roster, X's & O's

Carroll goes back to roots on defense

August 20, 2020 cc Leave a comment

Like it or not, Seattle seems to be standing pat with the pass rushers it has.

You can hold out all you want for the Seahawks to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney or trade for Yannick Ngakoue. But, if they were not interested in signing Everson Griffen for $6 million (what Dallas paid him), they are obviously content to go with what they have: Bruce Irvin, Benson Mayowa, Rasheem Green, L.J. Collier, Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson.

Instead, Pete Carroll is going back to his roots and building his defense from the back. And he would rather pay All-Pro safety Jamal Adams than Ngakoue or Clowney or even the cheap Griffen — perhaps partly because he expects Adams to sack the quarterback.

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The roster

Waiting for new core to emerge, Schneider won’t invest beyond two years

April 12, 2020 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider had around $35 million in 2020 salary cap space to spend on free agents when the league year began, and everyone expected a chunk of that to go toward a pass rusher on a long-term deal.

That has not happened, and it would be a surprise now if it did — because Schneider has spent about $34 million on 13 veterans (including four RFAs). And he has followed his SOP of not giving out long-term deals to outside players — just three of his signings (Jarran Reed, B.J. Finney, Brandon Shell) have been for two years. Even his reported offers to Jadeveon Clowney have been for just one or two years.

Other than guys on rookie deals, the Seahawks have just three players signed for the next three seasons: Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner and shaky kicker Jason Myers.

Basically, this team is built — you might say patched together — through only 2021. And that includes Schneider and Pete Carroll, whose contracts expire after that season as well.

Why are they being so shortsighted? Because they generally give long-term deals only to players who have proven themselves in Carroll’s system — and few of their recent draft picks have earned the right to be considered part of the core.

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Contracts, The roster

Escalators shrink projected cap space

January 31, 2020 cc 2 Comments

The Seahawks lost a chunk of cap space this week as a few players got 2020 pay hikes.

Per OverTheCap.com, instead of a projected $63 million, the Hawks now are forecast to have $54 million (counting cap savings for Ed Dickson’s expected release). That would give Seattle more like $47 million for veterans between now and the start of the season.

The players whose cap numbers all went up include Tyler Lockett ($2 million), K.J. Wright ($1.5 million), Chris Carson ($1.4 million), Shaquill Griffin ($1.4 million), Tedric Thompson ($1.4 million), D.J. Fluker ($750,000) and Duane Brown ($250,000) — for a total of close to $9 million.

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