Danny's Early offseason everything thread (updated)

[Sweezo]

That's just for the pot charge...he's still going to be suspended for his DV case at some point; it's just a matter of which season.

[Danny Darko]

Leiweke is leaving the Blazers and Seahawks for hockey:

Tod Leiweke resigned as CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment on Monday, leaving the arm that oversees ownership of the Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Sounders FC just days before the Seahawks begin training camp.

In a statement released by Vulcan, Leiweke says he's leaving after seven years overseeing the professional sports teams Paul Allen owns to become CEO and part owner of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Paul Allen is the most fan-friendly owner in professional sports. He has built great sports franchises that have always given much back to the community," Leiweke said in the statement. "We have strong management and coaching in place in Seattle and Portland and I know the teams are in good hands."

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_fbn_seahawks_leiweke.html

[Danny Darko]

Golden Tate is on board with a neatly fitting salary:

The former Notre Dame wide receiver is expected to be a large part of the Seahawks' plans this year as a big-play receiver who should challenge for playing time immediately both at receiver and kick returner.

The National Football Post says the deal is for four years at $3.261 million, including $1.471 million in guaranteed money.

That's a lot of Top Pot maple bars, but nothing out of line in the NFL world where Tate -- as the 60th overall pick -- falls neatly in between the amounts agreed to earlier by the 59th and 61st selections

http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/archives/216019.asp

[Danny Darko]

Pitts Signed

RENTON, Wash. -- Free-agent guard Chester Pitts has agreed with the Seattle Seahawks on a $2 million, one-year contract on the eve of training camp.

Pitts started 114 games for Houston, first as a left tackle and then in 2006 as a left guard. A second-round pick for the Texans in 2002, Pitts is rejoining former Houston line coach Alex Gibbs in Seattle.

Pitts will get a chance to start on a revamped Seahawks line. Seattle traded starting guard Rob Sims to Detroit in the offseason for defensive end Robert Henderson and a draft choice.
The Seahawks released Henderson and linebacker Anthony Heygood on Thursday.

Wasn't Henderson our starting end in all the camps? So Does Dexter Davis get the nod or Ricky Foley or movie Curry and start Heater?

[Danny Darko]

word has it Trent Silverback Williams just signed by the Redskins to a 6 year, $60 Million contract. Okung should get about 10-15% less positionally and should probably sign shortly unless there are any weird snags.

[Danny Darko]

Earl Thomas is in (more here), but wtf Okung?

[TTown]

Okung is in. 6 years, 58 mil. 29 guaranteed.

[Danny Darko]

RENTON – According to Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s struggles last season can be summed up succinctly – he was trying too hard.

“It was clear that he was over-trying,” said Carroll after watching film from last season. “Tremendously over-trying. He was trying to make things happen, in classic fashion to try and make a play and that caused him to make decisions where he would throw the ball into trouble.

Hasselbeck agreed with Carroll’s assessment, and said he’s trying to learn from his errors. One way he is doing that is by watching a Kobe Bryant video that discusses how to handle trying to take on too much as one of the leaders on the team.

“I can see myself last year in a lot of the stuff Kobe was talking about,” Hasselbeck said. “And I would have been totally blind to it until it kind of came up the other night in a team meeting. And Gus Bradley had talked about it, and Pete (Carroll) talked about it. And then he showed this Kobe video and it all started to make sense a little bit.”

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/08/1 ... hasselbeck.

Well hopefully Matt looks good this year behind a line that could be vastly better, then.

[Danny Darko]

The offseason is starting to wrap up (thank god).

I chatted with Mike Sando today and asked him this:

Dan

Hi Mike. It seems that Kam Chancellor is looking good in camp. Do you think he could be a dark horse for real minutes this season and do you think that Babineux is the odd man out with Thurmond looking good even on a bum knee?


Mike Sando
(11:44 AM)

Jordan Babineaux does look like an odd man out over the longer term. We'll see if that's the case early in the season. Chancellor has impressed Seattle with his ability to pick up the system quickly. He is also a big guy. I'm just not sure how much the Seahawks will be able to trust him as a rookie. The theory behind your idea seems sound, though. Agreed on Walter Thurmond. Kelly Jennings could be the odd man out, I think. They could start Josh Wilson and have him slide inside in the nickel, as he has done previously, with Thurmond taking over on the outside. Just some thoughts. Earl Thomas' addition is another wild card because he can play cornerback if needed.

I think we're a ton better in our secondary this year. I was thinking Kam would be a lug with no game speed or game IQ, though I was salivating and wanting to hope he was the real deal. It's early, but what he's shown so far is reason for excitement I think. I still remember how Hamlin came in and made a mark (pre fight) and I hope that we get much of the same from Kam, though with many young safeties you worry about them giving up home run plays.

[Danny Darko]

Brandon Jones, Matt Jones, Vincent Jackson all linked to us? Somethings gotta give. Maybe Housh is not long for the team. I'd be into trading Branch/Housh/both to SD more than Matt Jones or Brandon Jones.

[TTown]

I wouldn't want Matt Jones under any circumstance. Brandon Jones is an option, however lackluster. Kid's got speed, anyway.

Jackson would be quite the get. What did Denver get for Brandon Marshall, a 2nd round pick? I imagine Jackson's price would be about the same?

Jackson's got to sit the first 3 games, but a Jackson/Housh/Tate (Branch/Butler) 1-2-3 would be pretty legit. Housh is a #2 through and through.

[Sweezo]

Matt Jones is a Bengal, anyway...and was never a 49er to my knowledge. I think they meant "Brandon" in the article.

Yes, if we can get Jackson for a 2nd round pick, I say take it. Dump Branch, and suddenly we can run trips with Jackson/Housh/M. Williams. Or two TE sets with Carlson and Morrah, both big targets with nice hands.

[Ex-hippie]

Yes, if we can get Jackson for a 2nd round pick, I say take it.

But therein lies the rub. This FO wouldn't know a value proposition or an opportunistic trading strategy if it bit them in the ass. When they want something, their approach is "eff it, whatever it takes, we're going to go get it." I just can't conceive of this front office trading the same value for Vincent Jackson as it traded for Charlie Whitehurst, with the same counterparty no less.

A glimmer of hope? Someone did outbid them for Brandon Marshall, so there's that.

[Bulltalk]

I don't know about trading away another high pick for Vincent J. I don't know about giving such a guy a rich contract when he's got 2 DUI's and now being a whiner. I'd just as soon wait for the draft and get a receiver. I'm still perturbed about giving up a 2nd round pick for a 3rd string QB.

We need to build through the draft at this point, not give our draft picks away. We're not going to go much anywhere this year or next anyway.

[Danny Darko]

Well we signed B Jones. I don't really understand the 49ers initial signing of him before he was cut. Is his speed that tantalizing?

[Danny Darko]

The Seahawks say they have no news yet on the status of rookie left tackle Russell Okung, but Jason La Canfora of NFL.com is reporting that the first-round draft pick will miss 2-4 weeks with his sprained ankle.

Okung got injured on the Seahawks' first offensive snap of Saturday's preseason game, but stayed in the game two more plays before being taken to the locker room after Seattle punted.

Okung was scheduled for an MRI test on Sunday and La Canfora said on his Twitter account that the rookie will attempt to be ready for the season opener in three weeks on Sept. 12.

That report has not been confirmed by the team. Coach Pete Carroll acknowledged after Saturday's loss that Okung's absence would be "pretty significant" if he's out for any length of time.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/archives/218972.asp

Crap, here we go again. I guess we should be glad it doesn't sound like a high sprain anymore, but this type of stuff pisses me off.

[Sweezo]

Hopefully he can recover in time for the season opener. He played through a worse leg injury in college last year [not that he SHOULD play just to prove he can], and on the bright side he looked pretty good in the first game despite not having a ton of practice time logged.

I'm hoping the team gets Tatupu back in action soon enough because I'm hoping pairing him with Curry gets Curry playing better. I'd also like to see Dexter Davis get some first team reps because the first team pass rush doesn't look all that great.

[Danny Darko]

I think Curry has really like 4 more games to get my attention again before I start wondering if some of our backups are better.

[Bulltalk]

I agree. Curry's on a short time leash with me to prove his beastliness. LB is not a position where you should have to wait long for a player's talent to emerge at the NFL level. I was thinking TERROR for where we drafted him and for his pedigree coming into the draft, and will be disappointed with anything less. I was for drafting Sanchez at that spot at the time. I went along with the Curry thing, but only if he became the terror he was supposed to be.

[Sweezo]

I agree. Curry's on a short time leash with me to prove his beastliness. LB is not a position where you should have to wait long for a player's talent to emerge at the NFL level. I was thinking TERROR for where we drafted him and for his pedigree coming into the draft, and will be disappointed with anything less. I was for drafting Sanchez at that spot at the time. I went along with the Curry thing, but only if he became the terror he was supposed to be.

Curry will always be a bit of a gambler, a bit overaggressive...susceptible to penalties and overreacting. But he's still got a lot of talent. He looked alot better in the Vikings game. I don't know if it's Tatupu being a better communicator and getting Curry in the right spot, or Curry simply feeling less pressure to "lead" the LB corps, but he's better with Tatupu in there [as is the rest of the 'Hawks defense].

The Vikings game was pretty interesting, as the first team defense looked very shaky in the first two games yet stout and aggressive against the Vikings. They generated a pass rush up front against a very good offensive line and made Favre look old. Finally.

A defensive backfield of Wilson/Thomas/Milloy/Trufant is a vast improvement of what we had last year, and generating turnovers now looks to be a strongpoint instead of a weakness.

The offense? No idea. The team did a good job protecting Hass against a terrifying D-Line, but had to keep the TEs in to do it. The O-Line created some running lanes early but Washington had trouble with his footing a couple times and couldn't take advantage. When Okung gets back, those TE can run free and I think the offense will be pretty effective.

All I wanted to see this preseason was a reason to believe the team would be worth watching this year. Not a reason to covinced this team is Super Bowl bound...or playoffs bound. Just something to tell me this team was headed in the right direction. Last year was far from entertaining. This year? Both top QBs have completed some long passes downfield, and the defense seems opportunistic. Definitely enough reason to plop my ass on the couch for 16 Sundays and see what happens.