Free Agency

[trents]

Speaking of restructuring contracts for salary cap purposes, I wonder if Pete and John have felt out RW in this regard. After all, his mega contract sign a few years ago contributes to this issue.

[NorthHawk]

Player acquisition is just one area where I've had an issue with Pete. This season will represent our 3rd offensive coordinator in the last 4 seasons. It's hard to build an offense with that kind of turnover. I also think he put too much faith into Tom Cable and his system and philosophy.

Pete's 70 now and I'm wondering if he is in some type of cognitive decline. Look at game management mess ups (calling a TO then failing to decide on a play and causing a delay of game) bad trades and personnel mgmt.
It just doesn't seem right. I know JS is the GM, but Pete is the guy who has the final call on players. I don't see the Jamal Adams trade capital we gave up as a typical JS deal. He's usually very thrifty with draft picks, but
if Pete told him to give up 2 firsts and a 3rd for a Safety who wants to be the highest paid Safety in the league Is out of character for Schneider.

[obiken]

Pete's 70 now and I'm wondering if he is in some type of cognitive decline. Look at game management mess ups (calling a TO then failing to decide on a play and causing a delay of game) bad trades and personnel mgmt.
It just doesn't seem right. I know JS is the GM, but Pete is the guy who has the final call on players. I don't see the Jamal Adams trade capital we gave up as a typical JS deal. He's usually very thrifty with draft picks, but
if Pete told him to give up 2 firsts and a 3rd for a Safety who wants to be the highest paid Safety in the league Is out of character for Schneider

I agree! Add to that, its all happening at a time that he and Billichek are the two most powerful coaches in the NFL!

[trents]

Urban Meyer's take on the NFL free agency process: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/jaguars- ... cess-awful

[RiverDog]

Pete's 70 now and I'm wondering if he is in some type of cognitive decline. Look at game management mess ups (calling a TO then failing to decide on a play and causing a delay of game) bad trades and personnel mgmt.
It just doesn't seem right. I know JS is the GM, but Pete is the guy who has the final call on players. I don't see the Jamal Adams trade capital we gave up as a typical JS deal. He's usually very thrifty with draft picks, but
if Pete told him to give up 2 firsts and a 3rd for a Safety who wants to be the highest paid Safety in the league Is out of character for Schneider.

I'd be very surprised if Pete were experiencing some sort of mental decline that's contributing to his coaching performance, but it is possible. Personally I think that it has nothing to do with such a decline, rather speaking as an old man from his generation, we tend to get more stubborn as we grow older, think we know everything.

[NorthHawk]

Possibly. Maybe because he's wearing pretty much 2 hats he's having some problems. Like we saw when Holmgren was GM, his personnel decisions became suspect, maybe because Pete has more control without Paul Allen setting
the expectations that freedom is having an effect.

But there have been some head scratching player decisions and trades (all have to be OK'd by Pete) the last couple of years. I'm not so sure such a big trade for Adams would have been allowed to occur. They may have still traded for him,
but given up much less. It seems like they've lost their way at the draft table the last 6 or 7 years with player selection and passing by possibly great talent for players without the proven production history. Players like Penny over Chubb
and Collier as a 1st round selection, not to mention trading up to get an injured Taylor without knowing how bad the injury was and giving up another draft pick for that chance. And that's just the last few years but it seems to be getting
worse each year so now we are at the point of having almost no Cap space (currently over the Cap by about $1.5 million), only 3 draft picks to restock the team and provide cheap talent, and an unhappy franchise QB who seems to want
out. In the mean time all the other teams in our division have improved and have a much better stock of picks to use to lessen current and future Cap hits while paying their stars to stay or attract others in FA. We are maybe the same
as last year but for the 3rd year in a row we don't have a pass rusher at this point. Two years ago Pete said the priority was pass rush and here we are with the same need after 3 years of letting our top pass rusher go. If that was a
priority 3 years ago, you have to ask why that hasn't been addressed.

[obiken]

I'd be very surprised if Pete were experiencing some sort of mental decline that's contributing to his coaching performance, but it is possible. Personally I think that it has nothing to do with such a decline, rather speaking as an old man from his generation, we tend to get more stubborn as we grow older, think we know everything.

River, I agree with you, but at the end the day, I dont think any of that matters. I dont think even IF there had been no drama at all--due the moves the other teams have made--I dont think we will not make the playoffs, and Pete may be gone anyway.

[c_hawkbob]

Every year you seem to think we're not going to make it to the playoffs Obi. The only way we don't make it to the playoffs this year is if we actually do trade Russ.

[NorthHawk]

I'm having my doubts about a winning season, or making the playoffs, too.
Every team in the NFC West has improved this year so far except us and we have no Cap space and only 3 draft picks to restock the talent.
At this point we don't have a pass rusher which we desperately need and have very little depth throughout the team. We need another WR
and are shallow in the defensive backfield. We signed Gabe Jackson to replace Iupati at LG, but Jackson has been a RG all his career so
either he or Lewis will have to switch. Lewis has only played RG in his college and pro career, too other than a game at Center. We also need
a starting LB to replace KJ but again we don't have any Cap room. So the options are to trade away talent we can't afford to lose or try to extend
some players that we might trade and eat the cost the next year or two to create Cap room or stand pat the way we are.

In the mean time the Rams have improved their QB play and have pretty much a full set of draft picks to re-stock or fill holes. They also signed a rush LB.
The 49ers will be healthy again and also have a full slate of picks. They also added a very good Center in Alex Mack.
The Cards have improved their DL and OL and added AJ Green who if healthy can contribute.
We, on the other hand are at this point down a LB (KJ Wright), Pass Rusher (Dunlap), and still need a 3rd WR and solid RB. That's a net loss of talent.

So I can see us being the weak sisters of the NFC West this year. With no Cap space and few quality draft picks we are in a bit of a bind.

[TriCitySam]

We're keeping Chris Carson: https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sea ... -seahawks/

...for about 1/2 what GB signed Aaron Jones for. With dropping prices, things are looking up to keep Dunlap and KJ. With teams cutting and losing starters due to the reduced salary cap, keeping a base intact is probably a win.

The resigning of Pocic is not bad either...at a good price ($3MM), and there's some value in having 4 of 5 OL returning. The best performing OL's are the ones that have stayed together several years, something we haven't had for a while.

[c_hawkbob]

We're keeping Chris Carson: https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sea ... -seahawks/

...for about 1/2 what GB signed Aaron Jones for. With dropping prices, things are looking up to keep Dunlap and KJ. With teams cutting and losing starters due to the reduced salary cap, keeping a base intact is probably a win.

The resigning of Pocic is not bad either...at a good price ($3MM), and there's some value in having 4 of 5 OL returning. The best performing OL's are the ones that have stayed together several years, something we haven't had for a while.

Keeping Dunlap (technically re-signing him as we've already released him) and KJ would be huge for our defense and I agree about continuity along the O-line, although I was hoping for an upgrade at Center.

[NorthHawk]

How do we pay for them? Who's contract can be restructured? Probably not Wilson as he's said to be on the trading block thus costing us much more in future years.
Same with Wagner, but if they drafted Brooks to take his place Wags might be trade bait. Jarran Reed can be extended, but that would mean adding years and he may not want to do that if he could become a FA next year.
We could trade away players, but that would leave holes to fill.
It's going to be interesting to see what they do to try to fill out the roster in areas of need.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm sure at some point those predicting we'll miss the playoffs will be right.

But I've been hearing about what other teams are going to do for ages. Fact is we have the best QB in the division with some amazing WRs only getting better. We just re-signed our RB. It's a weak draft class after college football being ravaged by COVID. The salary cap shrunk, which means we can be patient and see who falls through the cracks we can pick up cheap.

We're not as far as other teams from a real run. We'll see where we are the start of the season. You don't win nothing in March.

[NorthHawk]

We re-signed Mayowa and signed from the 49ers DE Kerry Hyder.
It’ll be interesting how they get them under the Cap.

[TriCitySam]

We re-signed Mayowa and signed from the 49ers DE Kerry Hyder.
It’ll be interesting how they get them under the Cap.

Two nice signings....go JS!

[c_hawkbob]

we haven't done any of the things a team typically does to create cap space yet, we'll be fine.

The Hyder deal is actually only $6.5M, the third year is voidable.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... -seahawks/

[Agent 86]

I don't recall seeing as many contracts being signed with "voidable" years. I actually had no clue as to what that means exactly. So if you are like me, hope the linked article explains it, I learned something from it. It seems like with the pandemic and cap being effected by it, these "voidable" year contracts are a new trend.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/3/16/22334000/nfl-free-agency-tom-brady-taysom-hill-voidable-years

[NorthHawk]

I don't recall seeing as many contracts being signed with "voidable" years. I actually had no clue as to what that means exactly. So if you are like me, hope the linked article explains it, I learned something from it. It seems like with the pandemic and cap being effected by it, these "voidable" year contracts are a new trend.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/3/16/22334000/nfl-free-agency-tom-brady-taysom-hill-voidable-years

Salary Cap shenanigans. Fake years to lower the Cap hit.

[NorthHawk]

we haven't done any of the things a team typically does to create cap space yet, we'll be fine.

The Hyder deal is actually only $6.5M, the third year is voidable.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... -seahawks/

The numbers look OK although I don't know what they are going to do to get under the Cap.
In looking at his stats, he's a downgrade from Dunlap but if they manage to re-sign Dunlap then it's a big step up.
Dunlap last year in 8 games with us had 5 sacks, 6 Tackles for loss and 14 QB hits.
Hyder in 16 games had 8.5 sacks, 10 Tackles for loss, and 16 QB hits.
Dunlap though is 32 and Hyder is 30 so there's that to consider.

But maybe Hyder can become this teams version of Chris Clemons and be a real dependable DE in our Defense.

[c_hawkbob]

The numbers look OK although I don't know what they are going to do to get under the Cap.
In looking at his stats, he's a downgrade from Dunlap but if they manage to re-sign Dunlap then it's a big step up.
Dunlap last year in 8 games with us had 5 sacks, 6 Tackles for loss and 14 QB hits.
Hyder in 16 games had 8.5 sacks, 10 Tackles for loss, and 16 QB hits.
Dunlap though is 32 and Hyder is 30 so there's that to consider.

But maybe Hyder can become this teams version of Chris Clemons and be a real dependable DE in our Defense.

My hope is that we're still making an effort to re-sign Dunlap and use Hyder at the 5 tech.

[NorthHawk]

I’d like that too, Bob but it doesn’t seem to be the way things are done here lately.
Dunlap wanted to test the FA market and I get the feeling that he’s hoping for a multi year deal. It remains to be seen
if teams are willing to offer that for a 32 yr old player. But he could really help us if we can re-sign him.

[c_hawkbob]

This is a one off year though in which the cap has gone down, there are a whole lot of FA hoping for more than they're finding out there right now. Hopefully his relatively small sample size with us will lend to his reconsidering a return here on another one year 'prove it' deal or something.

[jshawaii22]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/03/24/could-richard-sherman-seattle-seahawks-reunite/

Now that is dreamers dreaming up nonsense. Must of run out of any real news.

On a scale of 1-100, The only signing below Richard's signing would be to bring in E.T.
Oh, yeah, with what is happening with Russell, I'm sure he'd love to have Sherman back.

[RiverDog]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/03/24/could-richard-sherman-seattle-seahawks-reunite

Now that is dreamers dreaming up nonsense. Must of run out of any real news.

On a scale of 1-100, The only signing below Richard's signing would be to bring in E.T.
Oh, yeah, with what is happening with Russell, I'm sure he'd love to have Sherman back.

I agree. This is one possible acquisition that I would think that Russell, along with other vets, should be given a large degree of input on. One of the positives of bring back an older player is that they can help out younger teammates, be like another coach to them. I'm not sure if Sherman has that capability.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

If the locker room is on board, I think Sherman, like River said, could be a boon to developing younger DBs which the Seahawks will no doubt have to lean on.

I also wonder if they'll make any play for Aldon Smith. Not sure how his game fits with Seattle, but he may help.

[NorthHawk]

Sherman is another coach on the field as shown by his time in SF. With our defensive secondary suspect, someone like Sherman could hold the players
accountable and teach them the details of the position as designed by Pete. Sherman's leaving wasn't acrimonious like ET, so I think there would be less
resistance to him coming back. But I don't know if he can still contribute on the field enough to warrant re-signing him.

[NorthHawk]

The Seahawks have apparently re-signed Cedric Ogbuehi.
Last year they almost tripled his salary from the previous year in Jacksonville so I hope it's for a lesser amount this year.
This means the OL is almost the same as last year with Iupati being the only change. Who plays LG has yet to be decided.

[jshawaii22]

[b]https://www.seahawks.com/news/seahawks-sign-de-kerry-hyder-jr[/b]

Here's that hmmmm signing. This kid started the year as a backup at SF last year and ended up leading the 49ers in sacks (a career-high 8.5), tackles for loss (10), and quarterback hits (17), while also recording a career-high 49 tackles. He's probably 10m less then Clowney to sign.

I think this is the 3rd - 49'er so far this off-season and the I-5 North highway is open for business. Is Sherman next? (not!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFDSZsmc1Q

Here's a video that at least sounds like the presenter, Grant Cohn, knows a little about him as the SI blog master for the 49ers.

[NorthHawk]

Sounds like Jarran Reed is going to be cut tomorrow.
If so it’s par for the course with our mismanagement of the Cap that we will have to cut one
of our best DLinemen at a position we are very thin at.

[RiverDog]

Sounds like Jarran Reed is going to be cut tomorrow. If so it’s par for the course with our mismanagement of the Cap that we will have to cut one of our best DLinemen at a position we are very thin at.

Yea, I saw that. We've really had a helluva time with our defensive line. It's one of the reasons why I'm beginning to feel that Pete has lost his way.

[jshawaii22]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/03/25/seahawks-bring-back-carlos-dunlap/

Looks like Jarron was cut so Carlos Dunlop (among others) can be signed to a 2 year deal at a lot less then what he wanted last year. This year really is a one-shot crappy deal for the players that hit FA this year. (except for Shaquill being overpaid by the Jags.. lucky him) We have had a pretty good day on the D-End of the line.
Word has it that EJ Collier is moving inside. Not sure if that's real, but it's on the street.

I think KJ is the last of the 'old gang' not yet to be resigned. And it wouldn't surprise me to see us try to sign Jarron, at a much more club favorable contract. He has not had a 'great' year since before he got hurt.

[NorthHawk]

Sounds like the pass rush is being addressed. We couldn’t really start the season like we did last year.
I hate to lose Jarran though as he is tough inside and can get a pass rush if he’s not the only one Offenses
have to be concerned about.

[Aseahawkfan]

Sounds like we have a deal working for Dunlap. That would be awesome.

[mykc14]

Sounds like we have a deal working for Dunlap. That would be awesome.

Yeah great work by Hawks bringing him back. Hmmm sucks to lose Reed but if it’s Dunlap or Reed I’m taking Dunlap. It is unlikely Reed has a huge market either.

[NorthHawk]

PFT reports it’s a 2 year deal worth $16.6 million and $8.5 million guaranteed.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah great work by Hawks bringing him back. Hmmm sucks to lose Reed but if it’s Dunlap or Reed I’m taking Dunlap. It is unlikely Reed has a huge market either.

Be nice to trade him for a pick or two, even late round. I doubt anyone wants him.

[c_hawkbob]

Sorry to lose Reed, but not half as much as I am happy to bring Dunlap back.

[Aseahawkfan]

I like Dunlap with the guy from Frisco. Smells like an Avril and Bennett pairing.

[RiverDog]

I don't mind losing Reed, either. I just don't know WTF we were doing by signing to a premium contract then releasing him after just one year.

I, too, like Dunlap and hope we can sign him to a multi year deal.

[Agent 86]

FYI, if they release Reed, it will save $8.9 million against the cap while absorbing a $5 million dead cap hit for this season (his total cap hit was due to be $13.9 million).