SEAHAWKS offseason

[sonic-ben]

NEEDS

Guard
Tackle
Running back... please cut alexander
TE
DT

Need to resign Trufant and Locklear

Cut Alexander and Gray

who is available as a FA all pro lineman .. please replace Hutchison

[jsonic007]

The best lineman available should be Alan Faneca. He's a guy that could take over Hutchinson's spot.

We should resign Hackett, Locklear, Trufant and Josh Brown. One of them should be tagged.

They are probably taking a RB in the 1st round and a TE in the 2nd round. And then SA shoul be cut.

[Ex-hippie]

Anybody know the Hawks' cap situation going into next year? In particular, will there be a hit if they cut Alexander or make him restructure, or will there be savings?

Faneca, Max Starks and Jordan Gross are all good starting offensive linemen who will be free agents. Gross has local connections, too. Of course, they're going to be in for some big paydays.

[jsonic007]

The Seahawks are, right now, about 10 M under the salary cap. If Alexander was cut, we'd cut at least 3 M from the cap, probably more. The salary cap should go up this season a bit slower, I just don't know how much.

[MrNate]

Yeah we have needs at guard and tackle, but it's the fault of the all time #8 Rushing TD running back that our running game sucks.

Why the Alexander hate?

He has played hurt all year, and obviously should have just sat out and got healthy in time for a playoff run. The guy is not the kind of runner who is going to do well in spite of a bad offensive line. If you build a line that blocks well, there are few runners in the NFL better than SA, patience, vision and cutback ability are his greatest skills. Not Tackle Breaking and running straight into the line for 3 yards.

PS I hate advocating for a guy I don't think we should have resigned in the first place, but all the Maurice Morris love makes me sick to my stomach. There is a reason no one had MoMo in for a workout when he was a FA people. He is a decent 3rd down back and a good reciever, but not an every down back to be certain.

[jsonic007]

I don't exactly love Mo Morris. That's why I think they'll use our 1st round pick in a RB. I don't know if Jonathan Stewart is going to fall to the twenties, but if he does, he'd be a very attractive pick, with local ties and coming from a great season.

If we can't pick him, there'll be other guys available, for sure. And if Alexander's contract weren't so awful I'd give him one more chance. He'll have to prove himself in the playoffs.

[Ex-hippie]

If Stewart's not still there when the Hawks pick, I think they wait until the second or third round for a RB. I'd be interested in Mike Hart; he could slip because of his lack of size, but the dude sure knows how to play. Felix Jones might also be an interesting possibility. Steve Slaton could also be worth a look, although I'd want to pair him with a bigger back, not with, say, Mo Morris. Stewart would be the best fit of all and I'd be thrilled to have him in the first round. Especially if we can give him some veteran help on the O-line right away.

Draft Stewart; sign one from the list of Faneca, Gross or Starks; release Alexander (if we can re-sign him cheaper, great, otherwise good-bye); re-sign Trufant, Hackett and hopefully Locklear; and I'm happy. Signing Josh Brown would be nice but not crucial; there are other kickers. If we somehow sign Gross or Starks and also re-sign Locklear, then presumably Locklear moves to LG. The second-round pick can be another lineman to compete with Sims for the RG spot. Presumably Ray Willis has run out of chances (if they give you every opportunity to unseat Chris Gray and you don't take advantage, something is wrong).

Bonus if Marcus Tubbs ever gets healthy.

[jsonic007]

This is a very good plan. But I think this team really needs a big TE that can catch and block. This would help Hasselbeck a lot. The best TE options in the draft should be on the board by the 2nd round, maybe even the 3rd, so they have a good chance to adress that. Marcus Pollard won't be the solution for much time.

[Sweezo]

The team will need to look for a TE somewhere. Pollard plays well enough when he's on the field, but that means very little when he can't even get onto the field because of injuries. At his age, he's just going to break down from time to time.

[Ex-hippie]

The Seahawks are, right now, about 10 M under the salary cap. If Alexander was cut, we'd cut at least 3 M from the cap, probably more. The salary cap should go up this season a bit slower, I just don't know how much.

jsonic, if you're around, can you tell us how you came up with this?

I'm trying to figure out just what the ramifications of cutting Alexander would be. His original deal was eight years, $62m, including $15m guaranteed. The guaranteed money was his signing bonus and first-year salary, presumably. If the salaries are level each year (maybe a dubious assumption), it would mean he received a signing bonus of $8.29m and an annual salary of $6.71m. (This is just based on a little algebra: if B+S=15 and B+8S=62, then B=8.29 and S=6.71.) After two years, just over $2 million of bonus will have been amortized, and the rest, just over $6 million, would be a cap hit right now. That means that the net effect of cutting him on the 2008 cap figure would be less than a million dollars.

I ask because, obviously, some of the free agents are due for big paydays, notably Trufant and, to a lesser extent, Locklear. Plus we need to pursue one or more free agents on the offensive line. We can save a few bucks by shedding some other contracts like Chris Gray and Tom Ashworth, but my guess is we need to do more. The assumption is that we're not going to get any of the pricey veterans to restructure their deals (obviously that would be a big boost, but let's not count on it).

Also, this might be heresy, but I recommend letting D.J. Hackett walk, and hoping for Ben Obomanu and Courtney Taylor to pick up the slack. Hackett is still all potential and has never been able to stay healthy. It's going to be a tight cap situation and we have to be careful.

[Sweezo]

Hackett has trouble staying healthy, but Branch seems to be the bigger injury risk at this point, and while Engram was healthy this year because of his age and his health problems in the past I'm thinking we need to have a contingency plan. I'm hoping Hackett's injury problems will drive his pricetag down and allow us to keep him around.

Tru's going to be tagged. I don't see any other solution to that problem.

[jsonic007]

I just read the salary cap will probably go up to 116M this offseason. USAToday.com has some good information about salaries, I think.

[Bulltalk]

Does anybody know what the best site is for compiling all the contract statuses for the players on a team?

[Bulltalk]

It seems to me that the Seahawks will be able to fill their top 2 needs in the first two rounds of the draft, RB and TE. It seems that the TE position would be a stretch in the first round in terms of talent, but probably not at running back. Assuming McFadden is gone in the top 10 picks, anyone of these backs could fall to us:

--Jonathon Stewart
--Rashard Mendenhall
--Felix Jones

Do people all think that these backs warrant our first round draft position? I feel certain that Stewart does, but he may not be around for us. Would we be willing to make a deal with a team to ensure that we get him? Is he worth it? Are Mendenhall and Jones a noticeable dropoff after McFadden and Stewart?

In the second round, it seems that there will be a small handful of TE's who might warrant our draft position there if they are still available:

--Fred Davis
--Martin Rucker
--Martellus Bennet
--John Carlson

Who of these TE's would warrant our 2nd round draft position?

I would consider it a solid draft if we got the likes of Stewart and Davis with our two first picks, but that's probably not happening. Stewart, I'm getting the feeling, will be gone by our pick. Will either a Mendenhall or Jones 1st round pick, and, say, a Davis or Bennett, or Rucker, etc..., 2nd round pick do it for you?

How nice it would be to draft for both need and talent with our first two picks, and then be able to address best-available-player at the offensive and defensive line positions with our 3-4-5 picks.

It seems that there will be some OL men available in FAcy this offseason that might be worth considering. It seems we will have 23 million in CAP space this year, enough to sign our own FA's and make a move on a few others.

Should be an interesting offseason.

[Sweezo]

I don't think there's a TE good enough to justify using a 2nd pick on. I'd rather the team use that 2nd pick to grab a guard...I wouldn't mind moving Sims to the right side if they could.

[Ex-hippie]

Problem with the tight ends is that Davis and probably Carlson and Bennett rate as first- or at least early second-round picks. Late in the second, none are likely to be available, and I think Rucker would be a reach there. So the Hawks would have to trade up or use their first-rounder on one of them. That might not be a bad move anyway, but obviously many of us are hoping for the team to take a RB.

The more I think about Mendenhall, the more I like him...

[Bulltalk]

Problem with the tight ends is that Davis and probably Carlson and Bennett rate as first- or at least early second-round picks. Late in the second, none are likely to be available, and I think Rucker would be a reach there. So the Hawks would have to trade up or use their first-rounder on one of them. That might not be a bad move anyway, but obviously many of us are hoping for the team to take a RB.

The more I think about Mendenhall, the more I like him...

So it sounds like you'd be happy with a draft of either Stewart or Mendenhall in the first round, and either Jones, Carlson, or Bennett in the 2nd round.

I didn't see much of Mendenhall this year, whereas I saw plenty of Stewart. I like Stewart a lot from what my eyes saw, and I'd have to trust the brass a lot more about Mendenhall or Jones.

Davis just seems like he knows how to play the game. If he was available in the 2nd round, it would be almost impossible for me to not be disappointed if we didn't take him. But he probably won't be. More likely, it seems to me, we'd be looking at drafting the raw talent of Bennett, or the safe pick in Carlson.

We'll see how things go.

There's been talk that the Hawks will be taking a long look at Faneca to shore up their OL. That might be interesting, but he might cost more than they'd be willing to spend, and Seattle always seems to have to pay up to get FA's to come here.

[Ex-hippie]

-= original quote snipped =-

So it sounds like you'd be happy with a draft of either Stewart or Mendenhall in the first round, and either Jones, Carlson, or Bennett in the 2nd round.

Yes, that's an accurate statement. I'd be real happy if that happened. I touted Mendenhall but it's mainly because I'm assuming Stewart won't be there; either Stewart or Mendenhall will make me happy in the first round. I'm just not sure if we can count on the second rounder being there. Might have to trade up 15-20 slots for that.

[Bulltalk]

I'm convinced now after checking out tape.

Plan A

1st Round

--Stewart
--Mendenhall

2nd Round

--Davis
--Carlson
--Bennett

If you get a chance to grab one from these RB's in the 1st round, and one of these TE's in the second round, we would have then accomplished all we could have hoped for on day one; we would have filled in our two most glaring needs.

Rounds 3-4-5

Try to find a sleeper of a lineman, or a lineman who falls for some such reason, or BLA, or two, preferably on the offensive side of the ball, but not exclusively so.

Definite resignings

--Trufant
--Locklear
--Brown
--Hackett (possibly have to consider this with Branch's injury)

FA signings

--best interior OL we can afford
--best DE/DT we can afford (depends on Tubbs)
--another OL to shore us up
--another DL to shore us up
--another DB to shore us up

It's going to be something like this, it seems to me.

PS>I'm getting a bit worried about the QB position. We were lucky that Hasselbeck was healthy for the most part all year. Is Wallace really our #2 guy in the event...is Frye?

[HeavyP]

Ah, the NFL draft talk is finally here, I like this almost more than the actual season. I believe Mcfadden, Stewart, and Mendenhall will all be gone by the time the Hawks pick. There's zero chance Mcfadden passes New England at 7 (most likely gone to Atlanta at 3 or NYJ at 6). Arizona fans all think the pick is a lock to be Jonathan Stewart, they're not pleased with Edge and his contract inflates in the next year. Texas desperately needs a RB at pick 18 and they'll take the best one that's there.

So what does that leave us with? Well, we can hope that Fred Davis may have an incredible combine like Vernon Davis did (when he rose from a late first rounder to a top 10 pick.) And Fred establishes himself as a legitimate first round talent, or a fourth running back enters the first round (Probably Felix Jones).

According to the Draft value chart, we could trade our first round pick #25 (720), and our second round pick (330) and move us up to #15 exactly. However, that pick belongs to the lions, and they always try to rip people off so we'd probably have to add our 4th rounder. This is what would be necessary to get our hands on a Jonathan Stewart as we'd be picking right above Arizona.

Now, things get interesting. Lets say we trade up to #15, new England comes calling saying they want to trade down and it will cost us our pick and our first rounder next year, but Mcfadden is available at #7, this essentially costs us our first rounder, second rounder, fourth rounder, and next years first. This means our 3rd round pick will probably end up being TE, which means there should be a few good prospects still left.

Ruskell has said on more than one occasion that you don't fix consistency issues by replacing them with more youth. I believe this means that your offensive line is going to stay 100% in tact. I don't think we're going to sign anyone from FA, the dreams of Faneca aren't likely. We need to focus on resigning Locklear, Hackett, Trufant, and Brown.

Now here's worst case scenario, we can't trade up to get one of the RB's, Fred Davis measures out as a 2nd round talent what do we do? Reach for a RB? Reach for the TE? Take the best Linemen (OL or DL) available? Do we trade down to Baltimore's pick #40 and #72 for our first round pick? I don't know, this is the first year in awhile where the draft has a shortage at the position we need badly. When we drafted Kelly Jennings there were 7 or 8 CB's in the first round, so we could just take the best one that fell, this year we don't have that luxury.