Scottemojo":1qdtcaen said:
Not only possible, I'd say it's pretty obvious now.
My thought is that KJ is not only a solid player, despite lacking the speed we see from all the other LBs that come through Seattle, he might be one of those that lives Pete's All In mantra to the extent that he teaches new draftees. An extension of Pete and Norton. Which would explain his ID as a core guy despite playing a fairly easily replaced position.
Scotte "quietly" nailed the essence of the KJ deal, and the big WHY, several pages ago. I confess that several years ago, when Kamtrack got his big (at the time) deal, my (uninformed) reaction was "huh? Kam? Is he really that good?" A couple years later, the Kam signing is now a huge bargain as he consistently outperforms his deal. But, back to the real reason...
Who gets the deals? The team-first "player-coaches". In Pete's world, it's not enough to just play lights out. Not that it hurts. You must TEACH and MODEL and MENTOR the way to approach the game, the way to prepare, for the incoming draft picks, UDFAs, and free agent signings. That's exactly what Kam, Earl, Sherm, Bennett, and now we've learned, KJ, do. Pete is all about "Win Forever" and that means building the strength and self-renewal into the organization itself. Bill Walsh was a primary mentor here. Plus John Wooden, who Pete studies and admires greatly, who had one of the great self-renewing sports organizations of all time.
Now we know that in Pete's eyes, KJ isn't just a slower-running, but massively quicker-thinking and smarter version of Aaron Curry. Pete sees KJ as a terrific teacher, model, student of the game, transmitter of organizational and professional values. Those values and habits get passed on to up and comers like KPL, who I just love and is going to do some great things in a Seahawks uniform. I wouldn't be surprised if KJ has been a LB mentor to Bruce Irvin as well.
Pete and John learned massively from the Harvin fiasco, especially Pete. That one was on Pete thinking he could work yet another Father Flanagan miracle.
The KJ Wright signing is likely to just be yet another terrific bargain Pete and John have pulled off. I also have no doubt that if KJ isn't producing in year 3, he will work with the team in the same way Zach Miller did.
The entire success of Pete and John's Seahawks system is in the Moneyball aspect of players outperforming their contracts. Russell Wilson outperformed his contract by $20 million last year. KJ will EARN his contract, but his real value would appear to be helping other cheap players vastly outperform their contracts. If KJ, over the next 4 years, helps 3 other drafted/UDFA linebackers who make $1M-2M develop and play at a $5M level for 3 years each, he's a hellaciously great investment for the team.
Others have pointed out the statement that signing a guy like KJ makes in terms of taking care of your own, and the motivational effect that has on younger players, for when their turn comes. To quote Marshawn, "Yeah."
