Free Agency

[NorthHawk]

We've slightly upgraded our pass rush with Hyder but are weaker in the middle by losing Reed.
Other than adding Gabe Jackson to replace Iupati, we haven't really improved the team overall so far.

[Aseahawkfan]

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.

That wasn't a premium contract. It was a 2 year show me contract because he wanted to test free agency and thinks he deserves more money. Premium defensive tackle contracts are much, much higher. He's not a premium DT, which is why we don't want to pay him like Aaron Donald or give him a long-term extension. He has not gotten back to form at all.

[c_hawkbob]

Looks like we're signing Al Woods as well, which will help us out inside. He was with us in 19 but left as a FA to Jax last year but sat out the season over covid, so while he's 34, he should be healthy at least. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... -al-woods/

[NorthHawk]

They know what they are getting with Woods provided he has some gas left in the tank.
A depth signing at this point in his career.
We need to find a way to get some pressure up the middle that Reed provided when he had some help.

[NorthHawk]

KJ Wright says he always wanted to play for the Cowboys and coincidentally they need LBs.
We will have to replace his production somehow.

[Aseahawkfan]

We have that young LB from last year's draft we picked to replace KJ. Hopefully he is ready for action. Be nice to get Bruce back for SLB if he is recovered.

[jshawaii22]

KJ Wright says he always wanted to play for the Cowboys and coincidentally they need LBs.
We will have to replace his production somehow.

A couple of years ago ET begged to be a Cowboy and they did need safety help, but it didn't matter to GM Jerry.

I hope the Seahawks come to terms with KJ even on a one-year deal. He played his ass off last year at a off-position of strong side LB.
Replacing him, would be with our 2nd round pick last year, J. Brooks, who played pretty good and got better as the year went on. I think i read he played strong LB in college and I assume would move back if KJ goes.

[NorthHawk]

Last year it was KJ, Wagner, and Brooks. If KJ signs with Dallas we will need to replace his productivity.
Barton hasn’t shown much and is a big step down from Wright, or we go with him and just suffer with
poorer LB play.

[RiverDog]

IMO KJ had one of his best seasons as a Hawk last year, so I wouldn't mind seeing him signed up for another couple years at a salary similar to what he received last season. I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about Bobby, but he's still worth keeping around for his experience if nothing else, just not at $13M.

[NorthHawk]

IMO KJ had one of his best seasons as a Hawk last year, so I wouldn't mind seeing him signed up for another couple years at a salary similar to what he received last season. I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about Bobby, but he's still worth keeping around for his experience if nothing else, just not at $13M.

I doubt he will get the $13M you quoted, but it wouldn't surprise me if he got a much better offer from another team.
We just don't have the money to pay him as much as other teams unless we cut another player with a good salary.

[RiverDog]

IMO KJ had one of his best seasons as a Hawk last year, so I wouldn't mind seeing him signed up for another couple years at a salary similar to what he received last season. I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about Bobby, but he's still worth keeping around for his experience if nothing else, just not at $13M.

I doubt he will get the $13M you quoted, but it wouldn't surprise me if he got a much better offer from another team.
We just don't have the money to pay him as much as other teams unless we cut another player with a good salary.

The $13M was in reference to Bobby's salary. KJ was making something like $6M, which IMO would be a reasonable number to bring him back for a couple more years.

[c_hawkbob]

Even in a one off year like this one KJ is going to command more than that on the open market.

[NorthHawk]

I don't mind paying Wagner $13M. He's that good.
Last year the DL in front of him couldn't keep him clean and he had to keep an eye on Brooks early in the year.
As the year went on, and we got a pass rush and Brooks started to play well, Wagner played a lot better.
At least that's what I remember happening.

[mykc14]

The $13M was in reference to Bobby's salary. KJ was making something like $6M, which IMO would be a reasonable number to bring him back for a couple more years.

Yeah Bobby’s salary is 13 mil but his cap hit is 17 mil which is obviously too high, but I don’t see them doing anything with that this year. If they do adjust his salary to free up cap space look for him as a highly likely to be cut or completely restructured next year as he currently has a 20 mil cap hit with only 3 mil in dead money if they cut him. Last year KJ had a 10 mil cap hit. Obviously you can structure his contract anyway you want but having almost 30 mil in cap hits go to two non-pass rushing LB is out of wack.

[RiverDog]

The $13M was in reference to Bobby's salary. KJ was making something like $6M, which IMO would be a reasonable number to bring him back for a couple more years.

Yeah Bobby’s salary is 13 mil but his cap hit is 17 mil which is obviously too high, but I don’t see them doing anything with that this year. If they do adjust his salary to free up cap space look for him as a highly likely to be cut or completely restructured next year as he currently has a 20 mil cap hit with only 3 mil in dead money if they cut him. Last year KJ had a 10 mil cap hit. Obviously you can structure his contract anyway you want but having almost 30 mil in cap hits go to two non-pass rushing LB is out of wack.

Agreed. Something has to give, especially as you mentioned that neither one of them are a pass rushing threat, an area that we're in dire need of improvement.

[NorthHawk]

In the mean time Jarran Reed signed with KC for up to $7M with $5M guaranteed.
That’s what good drafting and proper Cap management allows teams to do. Improve the overall talent
when the opportunity arises.

[Aseahawkfan]

In the mean time Jarran Reed signed with KC for up to $7M with $5M guaranteed.
That’s what good drafting and proper Cap management allows teams to do. Improve the overall talent
when the opportunity arises.

Not even sure what this is meant to imply. KC picking up had more to do with a disgruntled player not wanting to take a pay cut in Seattle finding out his market value isn't so high and taking a forced pay cut as he dealt with reality.

We signed a much more talented player named Dunlap for a great contract price.

Reed is ok, but not great. I never heard of Reed taking over games. I haven't read any articles of him taking over games. Even when he was having his great season, it was opportunities created by other better players.

Reed going to KC doesn't affect us at all. I doubt it will do much more KC.

[NorthHawk]

What I mean is that KC has control of their Cap and have a lot of draft choices unlike us who have neither.
We lost our best interior DL to a team that is already stacked and has managed their Cap so well that they can pick up someone that can help them.
We, on the other hand are looking at losing our franchise QB, have to shed salary, and lose players at positions that we are already thin at.
In all this year we are at best staying the same while other teams are improving and it's all because of bad drafting, trading and poor Cap management.

[mykc14]

What I mean is that KC has control of their Cap and have a lot of draft choices unlike us who have neither.
We lost our best interior DL to a team that is already stacked and has managed their Cap so well that they can pick up someone that can help them.
We, on the other hand are looking at losing our franchise QB, have to shed salary, and lose players at positions that we are already thin at.
In all this year we are at best staying the same while other teams are improving and it's all because of bad drafting, trading and poor Cap management.

I wouldn't say that they have managed their cap any better than the Seahawks. The Hawks actually have done a very good job of managing their cap, almost to the point of frustration. There is one difference between KC and the Hawks. After signing Reed KC has about 15 mil in cap space while the Hawks have around 5 mil. The cap hit for our QB is 32 million while the cap hit for their QB is 7 mil. The Chiefs are actually the ones who have somewhat mismanaged their cap, but they have done it in an attempt to win championships. They have put themselves into a situation this year where Frank Clark has a ridiculously high cap hit of almost 26 million. Next year they have put themselves in tough situations with many of their players as well. Mahomes cap hit jumps to 35 (then it goes into the 40's which is pretty crazy), Chris Jones jumps to 29 million Tyreek Hill to 20 million, and Joe Thuney to 14 million. Those cap hits will account for almost 100 million in cap hits next year. This year those same players are accounting for only 34 million. Next year The Chiefs have the least amount of players signed to contract and only have a projected 29 mil in cap space while the Hawks have the 7th most players signed and have a projected 73 million in cap space. Obviously a lot can change in a year and money can be moved or manipulated (although not really in the Chiefs contracts that I have highlighted only Hill really has much wiggle room the others have already had their money moved back). The point is the Hawks haven't really mismanaged their cap, the Chiefs are in a much worse situation than the Hawks after this year. Personally I don't mind what the Chiefs have done as they have put themsleves in a better situation to win a SB, but most of that has to do with the fact that they are paying their QB way less than us. You could argue that the dumb contract for Frank Clark kept them from winning a SB last year.

[NorthHawk]

A large part of managing the Cap is effective drafting. Those players on first contracts and start replace higher priced veterans or lesser talented veterans.
How have we done the last 5 years or so? Pretty bad I would suggest. Trading away 2 firsts, a 3rd and a player for a good Safety, not a QB, LT, DE, or shutdown corner.
Adams has said he wants to be the highest paid S in the league which is currently around $15M or more. So will we pay that or will we try to trade him for much less than
what we paid? Unlike other teams in our division, we are not currently better than last year. We are at best the same.
KC has 2 $100M players and a lot of other higher priced players on their roster and still have $10M more in Cap space than Seattle. They may pay for it next year or maybe
not as they can again extend contracts or convert to cash to get more Cap space. So their situation isn't as bad as it seems on the surface. Our situation is different
as there are more than 4 starters who are on the last year of their contracts. The big ones are Lockett, Adams, Brown and Diggs. Brown might not want to continue after
this year but we don't have enough draft capital or Cap room to get a replacement LT. As said before, Adams wants a big contract, Lockett deserves a new contract as well.
Last year we had at one time about $60M in Cap room. We gave Mayowa a 100% raise, Irvin about the same from their previous contracts. Ogbuehi made about $900,000
in 2019. We signed him for $2,3750 last year as a backup. That's not good Cap management. Add in the wasted money on the Center from Pittsburgh who we traded as
part of the Dunlap deal ($2M) and we are looking at about $4-5M that could have been used to keep Reed or maybe get another player that can contribute.
The bottom line is if we had managed our Cap space better we would have added more talent in FA than we have. Instead we lost talent along the interior of the DL where
we can't really afford to do.

[mykc14]

The bottom line is if we had managed our Cap space better we would have added more talent in FA than we have. Instead we lost talent along the interior of the DL where
we can't really afford to do.

I guess that is where we differ. I think we used our cap space poorly last year, but I don't think we have mismanaged it at all. To me mismanaging would be to give stupid long-term contracts to inferior players putting us in a bad place cap wise. If you look at us and KC we have a similar number of *star* players but they are paying their QB on his rookie deal still. We'll see what their roster looks like next year. I agree things can be manipulated to free up cap space but of the players I mentioned there is no room to free much up. If and when they do they will be extending already very high cap numbers even further down the line (which puts them in a situation where they have a DT at almost a 30 mil cap hit), but they did it going for a SB which I can respect. I would say without a doubt the Hawks have managed the cap better than almost every other team. I think that is frustrating given how we were in a position to possibly win a SB and we refused to spend money to save the cap for the future. To me mismanaging the cap to win a SB is well worth it. I would take a SB win now to be in a bad cap situation in 3 years. At the end of the day it doesn't really work to compare the cap of teams paying their QB vs. those paying their QB on his rookie deal.

[Aseahawkfan]

What I mean is that KC has control of their Cap and have a lot of draft choices unlike us who have neither.
We lost our best interior DL to a team that is already stacked and has managed their Cap so well that they can pick up someone that can help them.
We, on the other hand are looking at losing our franchise QB, have to shed salary, and lose players at positions that we are already thin at.
In all this year we are at best staying the same while other teams are improving and it's all because of bad drafting, trading and poor Cap management.

This isn't true at all. Nots sure why you think that. You're engaging in flavor of the month thinking. KC is currently good, so you're giving them more credit than they are due.

A lot of Seattle fans are engaged in flavor of the month thinking.

We've managed our cap quite well. Jarran Reed wasn't worth a long-term contract. We cut him and retained a more valuable player. It's as simple as that.

[NorthHawk]

So you are happy our team hasn't improved? Our depth is less while the other teams in our division have improved?
I'm not. I don't like the fact we have only won 1 playoff game in 5 or 6 years, I don't like that our DL is weak and our
franchise QB wants out. I don't like that our depth is pretty thin and along the interior DL is thinner than it has been with lesser talent
now that we couldn't afford to extend Reed.
I'm happy you're content in the "Green Bay Zone" where we win just enough to make the playoffs but are 1 and done each year and last
year really didn't even compete against the Rams who fielded a backup QB and put in their starter who played with a broken thumb on
his throwing hand.
I'm not happy with that at all as the team gets thinner and weaker relative to other teams each year. This will probably be our last year
with Wilson so we will see next year how badly our talent level is. It used to be other teams waited for Seahawk cuts and pounced on
them, but now with only a few exceptions it rarely happens. That's a result of poor drafting and consequent Cap mismanagement.

[c_hawkbob]

You're exaggerating the negative (if you're going back 5 seasons you gotta count the win against Minnihaha in 16) and I actually think our pass rush could be better this year than last.

[NorthHawk]

We lucked out at Minnesota with the missed FG, but a win is a win.
We haven't had more than 1 playoff win in a playoff year since we last made the Super Bowl. 3 wins total and 5 losses.
That's only good enough to get lesser draft picks and continue in mediocrity, but with bad drafting, we have now scrambled to sign
players as temporary plug-ins instead of drafting better players and developing them. We developed players early in the PC/JS era,
but the last 5 years or so we haven't drafted well enough to be able to replace lesser talents and veterans who want to move on.
We have to draft better as that's the way to manage the Cap properly. As it is, we only have 3 picks this year so it probably won't
start this year in a big way unless they trade away more starting talent or borrow from next years draft. JS will try to trade down,
but there's no guarantee that a team will want our pick in the 2nd.

[mykc14]

So you are happy our team hasn't improved? Our depth is less while the other teams in our division have improved?
I'm not. I don't like the fact we have only won 1 playoff game in 5 or 6 years, I don't like that our DL is weak and our
franchise QB wants out. I don't like that our depth is pretty thin and along the interior DL is thinner than it has been with lesser talent
now that we couldn't afford to extend Reed.
I'm happy you're content in the "Green Bay Zone" where we win just enough to make the playoffs but are 1 and done each year and last
year really didn't even compete against the Rams who fielded a backup QB and put in their starter who played with a broken thumb on
his throwing hand.
I'm not happy with that at all as the team gets thinner and weaker relative to other teams each year. This will probably be our last year
with Wilson so we will see next year how badly our talent level is. It used to be other teams waited for Seahawk cuts and pounced on
them, but now with only a few exceptions it rarely happens. That's a result of poor drafting and consequent Cap mismanagement.

No I am not happy with where we are at. I complained all season about how badly we screwed up last year's off-season. Last off-season was huge. They had money to spend and obvious needs and they totally whiffed. Overall we have not made good decisions with the draft for a very long time and we are seeing the effect of those draft miscues. While we are on the topic of what I don't like about the organization I really don't like Peteball with the makeup of our team. I think the idea of paying a QB 35 mil a year and then handcuffing him is about as stupid as it gets. If you pay a QB 35 mil you better make him the center of your offense, don't handcuff him for 3 quarters and then expect him to bail you out in the 4th. If we are going to treat our 35 mil/year QB like a rookie on his initial contract than I would rather use the difference in capital elsewhere. My only contention is your assertion that we have mis-managed the cap. That is the one area that the Hawks have actually done an outstanding job. They have kept their cap free of long-term albatrosses. They have not handcuffed themselves despite paying RW 35 mil/year. Last off-season they actually had a ton to spend and where paying RW/BW/Lockette/etc. They created a cap situation last year in which they should have set themselves up to make a run at the SB. Instead they pissed it away on backups instead of risking their cap future making impact signings. Last year was the year to make a move and they totally missed. They are set up again to do something next off-season, but will have to make some important decisions on key guys as well. Screw up Free Agency and the Draft, absolutely, but they have actually managed the cap quite well.

[TriCitySam]

I think they have managed the cap and drafted as well as any of the top 10 teams, and last year's draft was well above a average. You can pick apart EVERYBODY's drafting. They all make mistakes. On the FA side, the Reed deal was properly managed. It was a "show me" deal, he reverted to an earlier "meh" performance and is now off the books. Not every deal works to perfection - they all mis-fire - but JS didn't stay locked into Reed, we moved on. That's much better than hanging on an hoping they turn around. Anybody who feels the FO should not make mistakes is living in a dream world.

[Aseahawkfan]

So you are happy our team hasn't improved? Our depth is less while the other teams in our division have improved?
I'm not. I don't like the fact we have only won 1 playoff game in 5 or 6 years, I don't like that our DL is weak and our
franchise QB wants out. I don't like that our depth is pretty thin and along the interior DL is thinner than it has been with lesser talent
now that we couldn't afford to extend Reed.
I'm happy you're content in the "Green Bay Zone" where we win just enough to make the playoffs but are 1 and done each year and last
year really didn't even compete against the Rams who fielded a backup QB and put in their starter who played with a broken thumb on
his throwing hand.
I'm not happy with that at all as the team gets thinner and weaker relative to other teams each year. This will probably be our last year
with Wilson so we will see next year how badly our talent level is. It used to be other teams waited for Seahawk cuts and pounced on
them, but now with only a few exceptions it rarely happens. That's a result of poor drafting and consequent Cap mismanagement.

What do you mean hasn't improved?

We were 12-4. Won the division as in had a better win-loss record than every other team in the division. Our defense steadily improved over the season. Our QB set a franchise record for TDs by a QB. Our WR group looks great. The only downside is the Rams, who seem to have our number, beating us in the playoffs. Probably the worst team to pull in the playoffs for us. Then they soundly lost in the next round. We still have the best QB in the division. If our defense keeps improving, we can make a real run.

I guess we have a different idea of what it means for the team not to get better.

I see you and a bunch of others as not in touch with reality. What you're posting versus what we're doing on the field are not congruent. I guess you plan to keep posting until you're right, whenever that is. It certainly wasn't 2020. Probably won't be right in 2021 unless Russell gets hurt. If you want to see things as going down, then have at it. You'll be right some year.

Sure, we all want to go back to the Super Bowl. But it's not easy. Never has been easy. The only team to do better than us over the past ten years is the Patriots. They did better than everyone and are unlikely to be matched because they had the greatest QB in NFL history, which you even refuse to acknowledge like winning 7 Super Bowls is common no matter how good your team is.

Sorry, you don't have an opinion based on what is occurring in the real world. You have your own opinion which you'll keep on stating until you're right and then claim you were right the whole time even when you were wrong most years. Posting fears and anxiety on a forum doesn't change that the current Seattle Seahawks are a pretty great team, have been a great team, and will continue to be a great team in the playoffs mix for likely quite a few years to come. I'm not worried about a one off year with a reduced cap, truncated college football season, and a time when teams cutting cap space will release a lot of quality veteran talent to get under the cap we can probably pick up. We have all the key pieces we need to get it done.

It's the NFL. Every team is a few players and a franchise QB away from a run. No one is dominant, especially now that Brady is gone from New England.

Wring your hands if it makes you feel better. I like where we're at right now. We've kept the core of this 12-4 team. I consider us moving in the right direction. This weak draft is not likely to produce a player as good as Jamal Adams, especially where we pick.