Russell Okung Out 5 Months with shoulder surgery

Seahawks4life · Jan 27, 2016

Seattle Seahawks left tackle Russell Okung injured his shoulder in the team's playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers, and according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, he emailed all 32 teams to let them know he has to have surgery.

Per the report, Okung also said he faces a five-month recovery period and that interested teams should respond as soon as possible. Okung plans on representing himself in free agency this offseason.

"I’ve been very intentional about my research," he said the day after the season ended. "I’ve been very intentional about understanding my situation and looking at it from a factual standpoint. So once I’ve been able to do that, it’s been pretty smooth. ... Because I’ve been willing to study, I think I’ll be fine."

http://espn.go.com/blog/seattle-sea...tedly-emails-teams-about-his-shoulder-surgery

Hes still a Seahawk till march 9th, but wonder if this will affect his free agency at all? Prolly not.

harryjohnson · Jan 27, 2016

He's representing himself. Wow. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Mojambo · Jan 27, 2016

I know everyone is going to take their fragile potshots, but I respect big Russ. For as many games as he's missed with injury, I guarantee he's played through injury more. I hope things work out for him. It's nice to see someone want to take control of their life and career the way he has.

Scottemojo · Jan 27, 2016

I would say it shows his very clear intent to test the market. Emailed all 32 teams.

Laloosh · Jan 27, 2016

How much of a toll will his injury history take on his market value? Seems like his body has been all screwed up.

Toe, calf, shoulder.. Didn't he have a torn pec at one point?

DavidSeven · Jan 27, 2016

He's definitely going to test the waters. The surgery news should depress his value though.

Wisniewski had a similar issue last year and had to settle for a one-year deal.

Largent80 · Jan 27, 2016

Buh-Bye.

Seafan · Jan 27, 2016

Time for the Hawks to move on. Too expensive for someone made of glass.

kidhawk · Jan 27, 2016

With him missing 5 months, teams may well wait until after the draft to make any offers to him. He won't be healthy until june/july, so will miss mini camps. Also, this may get him fewer guaranteed dollars in his contract. His injury issues will be a large factor in his negotiations and his not being healthy will likely mean fewer guarantees, even if he's able to get the APY he's looking for.

As for representing himself, it can be a wise move if he knows his worth and knows the ins and outs. Why pay someone 5% (or whatever the going rate is) of a $20 million contract if you can keep that money for yourself?

onanygivensunday · Jan 27, 2016

FA starts in early March and prior to his injury, I believe that Okung would have been signed in the initial wave.

Now?, I doubt that he does. Teams will be leery of his health, if they weren't already.

His market will soften and he'll not be able to command the $9-10M APY that he was likely looking to score.

twisted_steel2 · Jan 27, 2016

He's taking an interesting approach.

Instead of an agent taking their 2.5% cut off his new contract, he'll do the negotiations, then hire a sports attorney to go over the contract for him, and pay them a flat fee.

From what I've read about Okung in the past, apparently he has a reputation of being very financially smart and savy.

I don't think this is a smart move for a majority of football players, but for the sharper players like Okung, might work out for him and save him a million or 2.

Popeyejones · Jan 27, 2016

harryjohnson":1j0ytyl1 said:
He's representing himself. Wow. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

It's a red flag for teams IMO, even if the extensive injury history wasn't already one.

He's going to end up stuck with a prove it deal, IMO.

BullHawk33 · Jan 27, 2016

So, all of those saying good bye should understand what the Seahawks do. Our front office just might be able to negotiate a good, team friendly, one year deal with Okung to keep him around, allow him to prove himself in a system he already knows in order to get a bigger contract next year. We take advantage of exactly these kinds of situations.

I'm sure John will be in conversations with Okung all the way until he signs with someone. I expect our front office will stay on top of it until the final decision is made.

Popeyejones · Jan 27, 2016

BullHawk33":24ebjwkf said:
So, all of those saying good bye should understand what the Seahawks do. Our front office just might be able to negotiate a good, team friendly, one year deal with Okung to keep him around, allow him to prove himself in a system he already knows in order to get a bigger contract next year. We take advantage of exactly these kinds of situations.

Dashon Goldson signed a 1 year prove it deal with the 9ers two years in a row (a team he already played for) and it worked out for him, but generally that's a pretty terrible idea to even do once, IMO. (TBF both of the 1 year deals were for more money than he would have and did end up getting in year 1 of his big deal).

That Okung doesn't have an agent advising him against it increases the chances of it happening though, IMO.

The general logic is that it doesn't make much sense to sign a "prove it" deal in a place that you've already had the chance to prove it and haven't gotten what you wanted.

Fade · Jan 27, 2016

This is actually good news believe it or not. He is looking at a 1 yr prove it deal now. The best place for him to prove it, would be with the Seahawks for obvious reasons. So Seattle will offer something along the lines of 1 yr $4M with an additional $4M in incentive bonuses for a total of $8M. I wouldn't mind having him back on a 1 year deal. My fear was matching a big multi-year contract. That goes out the window now.

Hasselbeck · Jan 27, 2016

Draft his replacement. We just can't rely on this guy to stay healthy.

TDOTSEAHAWK · Jan 27, 2016

Dude already made $50 million. The next contract is gonna be fairly big and it is all gravy for him.

Happypuppy · Jan 27, 2016

@ProFootballTalk
Teams who received the email from Russell Okung have an obligation to immediately alert the Seahawks http://wp.me/p14QSB-9YqU

IndyHawk · Jan 27, 2016

Not very smart that he broke FA rules since he's still a Hawk till FA starts..Let him go,I'm sick of the bs

Happypuppy · Jan 27, 2016

False Start .... 5 yard penalty LOL

Russell Okung Out 5 Months with shoulder surgery

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