Wash ... Rinse ... Repeat Again Next Year?

This is obviously getting way ahead of ourselves, but with the way this team is positioned, you'd have to think that there is a strong possibility that Seattle finds itself in a position to repeat again next season. Yes, I know that the Seahawks face a lot of critical decisions when it comes to free agency ... and especially this team's salary cap. Golden Tate, Michael Bennett, Walter Thurmond, Tony McDaniel, and Clinton McDonald are all UFA's. Doug Baldwin is a RFA. The paydays of key stars like Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, and Russell Wilson are on the horizon. In all reality the Hawks will undoubtedly lose a piece or 2 along the way in the offseason ... but Seattle has in short order become one of THE most attractive landing spots for FA's. Even if they do lose key pieces though, there are will be no shortage of FA's willing and able to That said, there is a LONG list of guys like JerMichael Finley out there who would die for the chance to be part of this team, as they know the Seahawks are among a handful of teams that have a legit shot of doing this once again next year. Unlike in years past when the Seahawks had to BEG players to come to Seattle ... Guys are going to be coming to the Seahawks, banging on their door and literally begging to be a part of this.

Unlike a lot of teams that make the Super Bowl (including the 2005 Hawks) these Seahawks are YOUNG people (average age of 26.4 years old) -- the youngest team to ever win the Super Bowl.

The scary thing people ... is that this team ... is only going to get better.

Russell Wilson is going to get better ... the team will have Percy Harvin from the beginning ... and Schneider is going to reload, re-tool, and fix those few weak spots that the Seahawks still have. Even with the 32nd Pick (and shelling out our 3rd Rounder to the Vikings for Percy Harvin), John Schneider has shown time and time again that he finds quality talent (amazing talent) under those rocks that most other GM's have no idea even exist.

Looking around the rest of the NFC, it appears as if Seattle's greatest threats would be the Panthers, the Saints, the Packers, the Eagles and the rest of the NFC West. All of those teams have flaws at this point in time that the Seahawks have shown they have and can exploit.

Though I expect the rest of the NFC West to get better next year (especially the Rams), the 49ers could in all reality take a step back, as they are an aging team -- Frank Gore is 30, Anquan Boldin is 33, Vernon Davis is 30, Jonathan Goodwin is 35, Carlos Rogers is 32, and Justin Smith is 34 just to name a few ... and will be likely be without Novorro Bowman for the first few games of the regular season with the severity of that injury.

With the 12th Man an ever present force, the Seahawks are a real threat to sweep their home games (including Denver and Green Bay) next season ... and likely be favored in most of their road games (with the exception of perhaps San Francisco, Carolina, and Kansas City).

I know that A LOT is going to happen between now and then that will undoubtedly change the scene quite a bit ... BUT it is also very possible that we could find ourselves sitting here 1 year from today with our SECOND Lombardi Trophy in hand.

Just a happy thought as I sit here with our FIRST championship in hand today. :179417:

You know, it took so long to get here and was obviously grueling for everyone involved that I cannot imagine it right now.

Give me a month and let me start thinking about the draft, and I can start to consider the utter grinder that will be the NFCW and the NFC playoffs next year.

But man, gotta play Denver, Carolina, Green Bay, and six NFCW games? That is BRUTAL. Of course, playing a schedule like that is what gets a team ready to win a championship.

I have the feeling that most of this team (Wilson, Carroll, Schneider, etc.) are already looking to next year.

Maybe not TOO far... but its already on their radar. before the flight home, before the parade. i dont know, maybe just me.

Pete and John will have to tear off a few band aids in the coming months. If that means parting ways with some of the guys who got us here then it will hurt, but I grudgingly accept that as part of the business. I think that they will shortly be sitting down and doing a post-mortem on the season and taking a long look at what we did right and need to reinforce, or what we did wrong and need to replace/rehabilitate. My wish list would be some help on the offensive line. If they make the kind of sweeping changes to the O-line that they did to the D-line this season I will have reason to smile!

Outside of the NFC West, we'll probably have an easier schedule with the East and the AFC West.

If we lose an edge it may be on defense. Can't keep all this talent with $$ coming due.

I have faith in John's drafting and free agency talent evaluation.

Uncle Si":3pfva9sf said:

I have the feeling that most of this team (Wilson, Carroll, Schneider, etc.) are already looking to next year.

Maybe not TOO far... but its already on their radar. before the flight home, before the parade. i dont know, maybe just me.

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Wilson is probably going to be watching film on the plane ride back haha. I would bet money on it

Listening to ESPN right now and they say the odds of Denver getting back to the SB are better than ours. That could be true. The NFC is so much better than the AFC right now. I still like our odds if we can get HFA again, but we obviously have a tougher schedule than anyone in the AFC. As many said before the NFC championship, that was the super bowl. Although SF wouldn't have beat Denver like we did with some of their injuries. If Arizona gets a real QB, they could be very dangerous next year too.

Russ Willstrong":1pggziho said:

If we lose an edge it may be on defense. Can't keep all this talent with $$ coming due.

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Not yet.

Only players we will lose on defense is Clemons and Thurmond.

Who knows who will fall off and rise up next year. Lots of parody in the NFL, which is one of the reasons pro football is so exciting to me.

The NFC looks brutal at this point, especially in the West. Seattle has to be the favorite, but it will be a tough road for sure. Getting the 1 seed out of the west is going to be difficult. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Packers have a better record with an easier schedule and a healthy Rodgers, for instance.

I will be very interested to see what Carolina and the Niners are able to do this offseason, as they appear to be the main obstacles. As pointed out, the Niners are an older team, but they should be able to retool and stay competitive. Carolina really needs to get some receiving help and could be elite.

The Broncos probably have a better chance at getting back to the Bowl with the weaker AFC competition, but only if Manning returns. Patriots will likely be better and maybe Indy if they can assemble something resembling a defense.

Gonna be a fun ride!

The Pack is a carbon copy of Denver. 49ers long in the tooth. The real danger could be Arizona.

Statistically, we have to be favored. The Clink is going to be bonkers next year. I honestly expect things to get more intense, not less. This city tasted greatness and wants more.

p.s. shortest post ever by Hawkscanner? I kid, I kid. You are a treasure for this site.

For me it was Kearse's touchdown - I've never seen him engage beast mode like that. Spinning off dudes and somehow knowing where north was to keep going toward the end-zone. It was beautiful.

Niners have a lot of Free Agency issues to deal with.

http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...e-Agents/51eda343-e8b6-4edd-ad92-42ccae17e376

I would love it if we could poach Jonathan Goodwin off of them.


Cardinals have salary cap issues. Rumors have Fitzgerald either restructuring or going to New England. Arians is a phenomenal coach and earned my vote for coach of the year, but he has numerous offseason issues to deal with.

The NFC West will be brutal again, and I fully expect the next SB winner to come out of our conference. Luckily, the offseason should be kinder to us than to our major competition leaving us pretty for next year. Our problems come in 2015.

-bsd

bigskydoc":24tn2gtb said:

Niners have a lot of Free Agency issues to deal with.

http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...e-Agents/51eda343-e8b6-4edd-ad92-42ccae17e376

I would love it if we could poach Jonathan Goodwin off of them.


Cardinals have salary cap issues. Rumors have Fitzgerald either restructuring or going to New England. Arians is a phenomenal coach and earned my vote for coach of the year, but he has numerous offseason issues to deal with.

The NFC West will be brutal again, and I fully expect the next SB winner to come out of our conference. Luckily, the offseason should be kinder to us than to our major competition leaving us pretty for next year. Our problems come in 2015.

-bsd

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Goodwin just might retire.

Kilgore probably the new starter there.

bigskydoc":26624612 said:

Niners have a lot of Free Agency issues to deal with.

http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...e-Agents/51eda343-e8b6-4edd-ad92-42ccae17e376

I would love it if we could poach Jonathan Goodwin off of them.


Cardinals have salary cap issues. Rumors have Fitzgerald either restructuring or going to New England. Arians is a phenomenal coach and earned my vote for coach of the year, but he has numerous offseason issues to deal with.

The NFC West will be brutal again, and I fully expect the next SB winner to come out of our conference. Luckily, the offseason should be kinder to us than to our major competition leaving us pretty for next year. Our problems come in 2015.

-bsd

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We are paying Unger a good amount of money. I doubt we would tie that much money up into center.