Good discussion going on 710 right now about all the "cheap" contracts that we are lucky to have on the books right now, and how the front office is going to have it's hands full managing the cap and trying to keep the core intact. Interestingly, when I got to chat with John Schneider at camp last summer I mentioned this and he kind of sighed and smiled and acknolwedged.

Look at this list of players that will be looking for FAT new deals in the next few seasons:

Earl Thomas
Richard Sherman
Kam Chancellor
KJ Wright
Brandon Browner
Golden Tate
Jason Jones
Doug Baldwin
Alan Branch

Some tough decisions coming down range.... for my two cents, Sherman and Thomas are the most critical. The upside is, this front office has proven their worth in finding diamonds in the rough.

Good bye week discussion, I think.

What do you fanatics think?

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@SeahawkGreg

I agree - Thomas, Sherman anything they want they'll get. Everyone else you kind of hope you can sign early before the contract ends. I really hope they work something out with Kam sooner than later. I think he can get a quality contract w/o the Seahawks breaking the bank.

Otherwise, you roll the dice and let them go the market. I'd let Tate walk. I know he's the flavor of the week now but I've never been high on him.

The first 5, to me, are the identity of the team and are critical to keep. The last three I like, but I don't see them as critical in growing the team. Golden is coming into his own, but I think there are rookies in the draft that can be had to replicate what he gives us, and the same with Branch and Jones. Does that mean I want to jettison them? No, I would love to have long-term relationships for them here. I just know I won't lose sleep if we can't keep them. I don't feel that way about the Legion of Boom, however.

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Yep. Plus we need to consider that we are most likely going to add a WR/TE in the 1st round come April.

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@SeahawkGreg

Jones will be taken care of during this off season, if PCJS want him back. That guy can be scratched off that list. To be honest Browner is a bit older, and shouldn't demand much of a price tag (I don't know how long he has on his current contract). Branch is replaceable, but would be nice to keep around. IMHO of course.

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Go Hawks.

The only thing that's scary about Sherm is - just how good is he going to be considered "by the league" by the time his contract is up? Shoot, based on the way he's playing he could easily be in the discussion for best CB in the league, and top CB's get CRAZY contracts. Not that I wouldn't love to keep him, or that he doesn't deserve it - but would you do it at the cost of dismantling the D? Probably. Tough decisions though.

Sort of on topic - I'm attached to the players on this team, in particular the defense more than any Seahawks team I can remember. I know it's borderline impossible for them to keep that group together, but I sure hope so.

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I think Browner falls in that bottom category as well. Yes he's doing well, but he is getting near 30 years old. WIth the way this front office likes to draft corners I see him as most replaceable in the secondary. Scruggs and Howard can take over for Jones. Branch is limited so I'd hope we'd for a young buc in the draft to take his spot.

I don't think Baldwin or Tate will command huge contracts. We will have to see what happens next year too with those guys. The secondary is going to be pricey as hell. Don't expect much in the way of hometown discounts from those guys, considering only one of them was a high draft pick. I am sure all of them are ready to get PAID. Browner especially, considering he is older. I sure as hell hope we can keep them all though.

Would you be in favor of offering him a new contract this offseason, in hopes of getting him on the cheap, knowing a few years down the road he may be the top CB in the league. I think that's a option that needs looking at. Perhaps sign a guy or two with a few years left on their original contract if it means saving money down the road. If we wait until their contract year it will most likely cost us significantly more.

I thought FieldGulls or HawkBlogger wrote a pretty detailed description of the state of contracts for each player on the team and the years they come due. Branch is probably gone. Jones is a tough call. He hasn't been healthy since training camp but makes an impact when he is on the field. I think the Seahawks will pass on re-signing him. Fans are calling for his re-signing but his health seems a red-flag.

Leroy Hill and Trufant are most likely not to return. Browner seems the odd man out and possibly Chancellor, though this would be a tough one to swallow for the DBs that remain.

EDIT: It was HawkBlogger who did a 5 year look. Check it out for reference if you will:

http://www.hawkblogger.com/2012/11/five-year-seahawks-roster-outlook.html

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"The Seahawks are now known league wide as the team sooooooo badass and smashmouth and hard hitting that they couldn't even go thru their own practices without laying smack down on fools." - JSeahawks

Somewhere there was an article with the contract numbers of the players but I couldn't find it.

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"The Seahawks are now known league wide as the team sooooooo badass and smashmouth and hard hitting that they couldn't even go thru their own practices without laying smack down on fools." - JSeahawks

I like Browner a lot, but I'd switch him and Jones. And I'd think real hard about putting Tate into that top category if he can continue showing the progress he has this season.

If Schneider has learned how to stagger contracts and manage the roster like they have for years in Green Bay, then I imagine we'll be in decent shape cap-wise for the foreseeable future. Obviously, we'll have some guys leave for greener ($) pastures, but I think we should be able to keep our core/crucial players and continue to bring new guys along that can step in and contribute when our Branches, Giacominis, etc. move on to other teams.

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Okay, so maybe that pass rush is still an issue. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Ultimus Prime, ET and Jones. We've all seen how critical Jones is to the defense when they lost him for a few weeks. His presence is felt immediately in ways that are not obvious on his stat sheet.

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Richard Sherman doesn't just wanna get in your head, he wants to build a vacation home there.

I think Sherman might be willing to give us a hometown discount. He seems like the kind of person to repay Seattle's faith in him, particularly as I don't see Schneider lowballing him with an offer.

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My single greatest contribution to the board: "42-13" (formerly 24-14)

We have to break the bank to keep Sherman. You typically need a top 5-10 pick to find a CB of his calibre (and then cross your fingers that he doesn't bust). His personal character and personality only enhance that. He's one of the NFL's biggest steals in recent memory.

I find myself wondering if there might be the possibility of small discounts from several of the key guys who have been buildings blocks for this team as it enters its window of contention. I'm not naive enough to expect it by any stretch, but wouldn't it be cool if Earl Thomas, for example, was willing to take a slightly-less-than-top-dollar extension as the leader of a defense becoming the elite D of a yearly SB contender... that he helped make happen?

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Okay, so maybe that pass rush is still an issue. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Interesting angle. I know they would all love to stay together, you can see how close they are all...

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@SeahawkGreg

Yeah, that was part of my thinking as well. It's why I could see John Schneider staying even if the Green Bay GM job opened up. Granted, this is just speculation, but seeing how the players have bonded with each other and how dedicated JS/PC and all the players seem to be to the team, I could see them all wanting to stick around to accomplish that goal of winning a championship. If the dollars aren't really all that different (i.e., if Schneider doesn't try to completely lowball a guy), then I could see our core staying intact for a really long time.

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Okay, so maybe that pass rush is still an issue. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I would love it too.

And I know he's older and maybe not as good as Sherm but I love me some Browner. He gets a small holding penalty or two a game but he's our very own Ike Taylor.

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For all that I loooove me some LoB, I think Kam might be the most "replaceable" in the group (even though he am mann as hitter tackler). And when I say "replaceable", I'm not trying to imply that Kam Chancellors grow on trees, but I mean "replaceable" as in terms of offers the smallest potential drop off in production of the secondary as a unit (and there would be a drop off cuz Kam is dope, but not as much as losing Sherm or ET). For the hard hitting in the box SS, I think our FO guys will be able to find one of those `tweener guys who's not quite a LB and not quite a safety somewhere in the later rounds same way we found Kam in the first place (maybe we already have one being groomed in Winson Guy). If Kam doesn't come cheap on the re-up, I can see him being a cap casualty.

I can definately see us freeing up some cap room by getting out of the contracts for Matt Flynn (d'uh) and Leon Washington early (it's not Leon's contract that's big, but the dead cap space dedicated to his likely to be earned performance incentives that are no longer likely to be earned due to the kickoff change). Leon would likely restructure to a cap freindlier deal given his age, but Flynn would probably be released outright before the big money years of his $20m contract kick in next year.

Browner........... I dunno. He's such a big part of what we do, but he's also going to be 30 by the time his contract is up in 2014. To be honest, out of the whole lot of em, Browner's the one I can see being the most likely to hold out next year (he's only set to make $550k next year). I think dude absolutely deserves to get paid, but I also don't necessarily know if he'll be worth the cap hit (especially with guys like T3, Byron Maxwell and Jeremy Lane waiting in the wings).

Yeah... juggling the cap is definately going to be difficult over the coming years. But it'll be interesting to see how they do it.Hey, if it looks like we're really close to being a super bowl team, guys might very well give a bit of a hometown discount in the interest of keeping the band together and getting a ring (not everyone's all about the money after all).

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