It may be that he is not.

Freeney made more than $14 million in base salary last season and that begins a list of reasons not to sign him. The Seahawks don't seem to be in the mood to pay even half of his 2012 salary. But there's hope. According to The Professor, John Clayton, the word is that Freeney may be willing to sign a contract more in the $1 million-$3 million range in order to play on a team with the playoffs in its future. As you may have guessed, a contract in that range for a superstar like Freeney may need to be heavily loaded with incentives. But if you're the Seahawks, you'd gladly pay a player like Freeney performance bonuses – especially when those bonuses are quarterback sacks.

http://mynorthwest.com/275/2211066/If-p ... r-Seahawks

Not sure we need him now...if he was a DT/DE hybrid like Bennett? Perhaps.

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@SeahawkGreg

Can't really imagine him here with the Avril and Bennett signings.

If he's got a contract that has incentives built in, he's not going to want to lose snaps to Avril, for example.

I agree that the money may not be the primary factor, but if he has a list of contending teams, then I imagine he'll go to the one that will likely net him the most playing time. And with Dumervil's recent departure from Denver, I'd have to say the Broncos would be a more attractive destination for him.

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

I don't think the amount of snaps matter to him, he wants to win, and quite frankly, a loaded gun is dangerous. The more we can arm ourselves with, the better off we are.

Money better spent elsewhere tbh. Extensions etc.

Although it would be disgusting to have him aboard. Yet another pass rush vet who could potentially share a few things with Bruce.

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Our secondary is gonna be like the Bermuda Triangle this year boys!

GO HAWKS!

Honestly, you only need so many players on the team of a certain Ilk, and although I think Freeney can make a difference on the right team, unfortunately we are not that team any longer. We are full up on that type of player at the moment

He would be dangerous is a limited role. Imagine him coming off the bench fully rested a few times a game. If he wants to sign for cheap, I'm sure they could find a spot for him. But likely it would come at the expense of a young D-lineman who could also play special teams.

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Imagine a FRESH rotation of super high quality pass rushers. I don't see that as a certain ilk, but a strength. Getting Bennet and Avril is huge, but is NOT a guarantee of an instant pass rush. If we have to sacrifice a youngster to win the SB, I want it done.

What if we don't have to?

I'm not against signing Freeney, but at some point, that's going to take depth away elsewhere.

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

Sure, you as a fan want it done, but look at what John and Pete have done. They target younger, hungry veterans in free agency and use the draft and undrafted free agent pool to hunt for developmental talent. Right now we have cap space left to do some things, but from everything I've read and heard, we are using that to focus on our own guys now. I'm betting if Freeney was in their sights, we'd have already signed him up.

Feel like the roster spot would be better served going to a rookie they like out of the draft, even if it was another DE. Spots are going to be limited as it is. I'd also rather spend on the money on resigning Branch. Marginal value of signing another vet DE seems pretty minimal at this point.

I'd rather resign Branch

If we knew Clem wasn't going to make it back, then ya I'm all for it. But as of right now with Irvin, Clemons, Avril, Bryant and Bennet, we have our fair share of ends. And that's before the draft.

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Team Hansen

If we do sign Freeney for cheap...does that mean for 3rd and long obvious passing situations we could run something like the Giant's NASCAR package?

Irvin, Clemons, Bennett, Freeney on the line and Avril blitzing from the Will position?!

We would obviously be weakened in run defense, but I mean for obvious passing situations. If our secondary hangs with their receivers, I don't see HOW any O-Line + TE or RB/FB could stop that ferocious pass rush for longer than 4-5 seconds...

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THAT, is orgasmic to think about. Especially with no pass rush for how many years now?

Seems like another move that ignores the hard to solve problem: Interior pass rush.

We ignored the hard to solve offensive problem (QB) for years. When we finally solved that problem, a lot of other ancillary ills just went away. A true 3 tech has that same kind of effect.

We need to stop tiptoeing around the core issue and start making moves to solve it. Outside rush is half as effective without interior push.

If it were possible to work some cap magic and manage to resign Branch AND sign Freeney, would you be happy with that? I wouldn't think it hurts.

We would use Branch more often on early/running downs and against power running teams (SF, HOU, MIN, etc.), while using Freeney on passing 3rd & long downs or against prominent passing teams (NE, GB, DET, etc.).

I really salivate at the prospect of using something like the Giant's NASCAR package where for years they would stockpile a lot of DE talent, and on obvious passing plays put 4 DE on the line and have them rush the QB. It was thanks to their ferocious and unstoppable pass rush that helped them take down the Patriots both times in the Super Bowl and cover for the Giant's linebacker/secondary deficiencies.

Now imagine if we had a similar line to the NY Giants, but a better, FASTER linebacking corps and secondary sticking to their receivers to make the opposing QB hold onto the ball an extra 2-3 seconds? The pass rush would have the potential to be LEGEND...wait for it...wait for it...ARY!!!

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Bennett and Mebane in the middle. THAT is the inside pass rush, that would leave us with Red, Irvin, Freeney, Clem (when he returns) and Avril from LB.

Clem may be put on PUP, meaning the first 6 games he is out. People are counting him in the rotation right now and I am saying, you had better rethink that.

Yeah it's been a while. I believe in '05 on our SB team we led the league in sacks? But after that each season we seemed to tail off in terms of pressuring the QB, even when we brought in guys like Julian Peterson and Patrick Kerney. They would be among the league leaders, but as a team, we didn't really get to the level of the '05 team.

I think some posters here think that getting Freeney and an interior pressure generating DT are mutually exclusive, but that's not necessarily true. I think with how smart we manage the cap and how savvy we are in free agency and through the draft, we could pick up Freeney in FA and a pocket-collapsing DT through the draft. Freeney would provide insane speed rush on 3rd and longs in a NASCAR package, while this hypothetical pocket-collapsing DT would provide steady, consistent pass rush on early downs.

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