Seahawks GM knows you, hears you, feels you...

[glenwo2]

I wish Mina would hear me. Know me. Feel me.

 

[glenwo2]

The #Seahawks effective cap space is now $31,978,080 with a cap space of $36,082,982 both 5th in the league.

Seattle has 68 players under contract and teams can have up to 90 players in the offseason.

This leaves 10 draft picks and 12 spots for UDFAs or other free agents that the team decides to sign.

The team also carries a $67,066,247 in deadcap, 2nd in the #NFL.

They also have a cap spending of $182,336,133, lowest in the league.

 

[Short n Swift]

Schneider’s comments that interior offensive lineman are overvalued and over payed was an extremely stupid thing for him to say publicly, especially since our OL has been sub par for years. Can’t really sugar coat this one

I know that comment is pretty strange but I feel that was just a time when Pete Carroll was still in charge of the roster and didn't value the offensive line. With Schneider on his own, I can at least tell he's starting to address the line more through the draft, so I highly doubt he really believes this.

I will say though, that there certainly are IOL getting overdrafted and overpaid left and right. Take Kenyon Green on the Texans, drafted #15th overall in 2022, who has been absolutely horrendous and a generational bust; Zion Johnson on LAC, drafted two spots later, who has been mediocre at best and will never live up to his draft stock; or one of our targets Will Fries, whom Minnesota dumped a massive 5-year contract over such a small sample size. Throwing shit at the wall and hoping it sticks is not something that solves the problem, and I think that's what he was trying to say.

 

[Rat]

NFL approves allowing direct contact between teams, impending free agents during negotiating window

The Steelers' proposal to allow for communication between impending free agents and interested teams during the two-day negotiating period before the start of free agency has passed.

www.nbcsports.com

I guess we won't have to worry about that again. Now, he'll need a different excuse for the next Will Fries he won't sign.

 

[Wsumatt1982]

NFL approves allowing direct contact between teams, impending free agents during negotiating window

The Steelers' proposal to allow for communication between impending free agents and interested teams during the two-day negotiating period before the start of free agency has passed.

www.nbcsports.com

I guess we won't have to worry about that again. Now, he'll need a different excuse for the next Will Fries he won't sign.

If you were going to give someone $14 million/year you'd probably want to do your due diligence too, especially if you had a salary cap to work with.

 

[Rat]

Yet, nobody in recent years has made that request of a player to wait out the negotiation period. Why was "due diligence" not important before?

Maybe I'm not getting something, but this seems weird to me.

 

[Wsumatt1982]

Yet, nobody in recent years has made that request of a player to wait out the negotiation period. Why was "due diligence" not important before?

Maybe I'm not getting something, but this seems weird to me.

I can’t speak to that but it’s a league wide thing I’d think if the Steelers proposed a rule change to be able to do at least do zoom calls. I don’t know if it passed or not but it has some traction among a number of teams.

 

[Natethegreat]

Yet, nobody in recent years has made that request of a player to wait out the negotiation period. Why was "due diligence" not important before?

Maybe I'm not getting something, but this seems weird to me.

Vikings offered a contract no one else in the league was willing to match. He was the lone free agent out of hundreds of contracts to get a 5 year contract. Coming off a broken leg no less.
teams require physicals almost every time. I'm blown away how aggressively the Vikings approached free agency this year.
Probably because they have very little draft capital and they know they have to get it right after letting Darnold walk.
If JJ comes in and struggles their fans will be asking why Darnold was left to walk away.

 

[Rat]

Vikings offered a contract no one else in the league was willing to match. He was the lone free agent out of hundreds of contracts to get a 5 year contract. Coming off a broken leg no less.
teams require physicals almost every time. I'm blown away how aggressively the Vikings approached free agency this year.
Probably because they have very little draft capital and they know they have to get it right after letting Darnold walk.
If JJ comes in and struggles there fans will be asking why Darnold was left to walk away.

Teams do require physicals. Hell, he probably did end up taking one with the Vikings. I just don't recall cases where a team asked a free agent to wait out the negotiation period to come in and take a physical. That was a big ask of a player who had a big offer on the table that they weren't willing to match the years and total value of the contract.

If that's "due diligence" for Schneider, then whatever, but it doesnt appear to be a common practice, and I don't think it's honest in this case to go "well, we tried to sign an offensive lineman" when it was contingent on a demand they had to have known wasn't going to be met. That's like offering a sixth rounder for Jayden Daniels and then claiming you tried to make a big move at quarterback, but the other party just wasn't willing to do business.

 

[Natethegreat]

Teams do require physicals. Hell, he probably did end up taking one with the Vikings. I just don't recall cases where a team asked a free agent to wait out the negotiation period to come in and take a physical. That was a big ask of a player who had a big offer on the table that they weren't willing to match the years and total value of the contract.

If that's "due diligence" for Schneider, then whatever, but it doesnt appear to be a common practice, and I don't think it's honest in this case to go "well, we tried to sign an offensive lineman" when it was contingent on a demand they had to have known wasn't going to be met. That's like offering a sixth rounder for Jayden Daniels and then claiming you tried to make a big move at quarterback, but the other party just wasn't willing to do business.

He had to wait exactly one day to take the physical. He chose the 5 year contract. He was a 7th round pick with one good complete year of playing.
We offered 18 mill per year for 3 years and wanted a physical.
Hardly a groundbreaking requirement. Get over Will Fries already.

 

[Rat]

He had to wait exactly one day to take the physical. He chose the 5 year contract. He was a 7th round pick with one good complete year of playing.
We offered 18 mill per year for 3 years and wanted a physical.
Hardly a groundbreaking requirement. Get over Will Fries already.

It was two days, and if it's "hardly groundbreaking", what are the other times you've heard of it happening?

And regardless of how long it was, he had an offer for generational wealth on the table. The Vikings could have easily just moved on to their next guy if Fries was waiting to come and take a physical here. Is that advisable? Things move very fast at the beginning of free agency.

 

[Natethegreat]

He had a better offer from the vikings. That's all there is to it. The vikings went all in on free agency. They didn't just outbid us they outbid several teams. They were so committed they offered what no one else was offering in terms of money, length of contract, and all of that before a physical. Good for them but the no one else was willing to do that. Including us. I find it perfectly reasonable to want a physical. You find it unfathomable.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Seems like a lot of red flags when a guy can't wait one day to take a physical in Seattle. Clearly, it was just about $ and getting 5 years instead of 3. But if the report is accurate, the Hawks offered a hell of a deal. You can't make somebody sign with you.
Also, since when is it a bad thing to be thorough and want to conduct your own physical? Esp. for a team that has had issues with injuries to Free Agents, along with Lucas and all his.

 

[GemCity]

Sean Payton had a plan…rookie QB with PFFs #1 ranked O-line.

Regardless of what metric you use, and who’s metric, it’s obscenely obvious that a dominant O-line predicates success in today’s NFL.

There’s not a lot of “ooohs and aaahs” when you draft them. You’re left not marveling about 4.3 speed. You don’t get as many highlight reels as you’d see with a receiver tip-toeing in the red zone. You don’t see a RB breaking 4326 tackles on a single play.

You just see an often massive chunk of meat standing his ground. You see that the defense can’t get into the backfield to even begin to think about touching the QB or RB.

You see average QBs look like All-Pros. You see receivers breaking free from DBs because they have a QB that has TIME. Time to make reads. Time to go with the best option. RBs that average a minimum of 4.5 yards a carry. From your first string RB down to your 3rd…all looking like starters.

I understand value picks. I know how it’s hard to pass up on guys that are projected much earlier and are still available when it’s your time to pick during the draft. With the amount of ‘holes’ we have, BPA can and will look similar to ‘need’ during this upcoming draft.

There are three non-offensive linemen that I’d consider at pick 18. Two receivers and a safety that I think will be an All-Pro someday.

But, I wouldn’t be mad if this team drafts five or more O-linemen…roll the dice…

 

[Rat]

He had a better offer from the vikings. That's all there is to it. The vikings went all in on free agency. They didn't just outbid us they outbid several teams. They were so committed they offered what no one else was offering in terms of money, length of contract, and all of that before a physical. Good for them but the no one else was willing to do that. Including us. I find it perfectly reasonable to want a physical. You find it unfathomable.

I don't recall anyone else asking him to take a physical first. Maybe he had other suitors initially that couldn't match Minnesota's money. It may be "reasonable" to want the physical first, but it's not how the system works with the nature of the negotiation window. The top free agents sign during that period every year, and I don't doubt that teams would like to check those guys out physically before committing that money, whether they're coming off an injury or not. You have to take a gamble somewhere though, and this was another case where Schneider was just not willing to do that. And this was not some complex injury like an Alex Smith situation. It wasn't a blown Achilles or a neck/back problem, it was a broken tibia, which has a lengthy recovery period, but is not considered high risk for healing incorrectly or re-injury, especially for a 26-year-old with access to world-class medical care. If that was too much of a gamble at a critical position that has held the team back for years, that seems like a problem. I'm also just assuming Fries isn't authorized to release his medical records to other teams for some reason. If he is, that should have sufficed.

Maybe I have some of the facts incorrect, as I could easily be conflating what Schneider has actually said with fan rationalizations, but it looks to me like either he or the team ownership wouldn't match the Vikings' offer, so they threw the whole physical thing out there for damage control.

 

[Natethegreat]

I don't recall anyone else asking him to take a physical first. Maybe he had other suitors initially that couldn't match Minnesota's money. It may be "reasonable" to want the physical first, but it's not how the system works with the nature of the negotiation window. The top free agents sign during that period every year, and I don't doubt that teams would like to check those guys out physically before committing that money, whether they're coming off an injury or not. You have to take a gamble somewhere though, and this was another case where Schneider was just not willing to do that. And this was not some complex injury like an Alex Smith situation. It wasn't a blown Achilles or a neck/back problem, it was a broken tibia, which has a lengthy recovery period, but is not considered high risk for healing incorrectly or re-injury, especially for a 26-year-old with access to world-class medical care. If that was too much of a gamble at a critical position that has held the team back for years, that seems like a problem. I'm also just assuming Fries isn't authorized to release his medical records to other teams for some reason. If he is, that should have sufficed.

Maybe I have some of the facts incorrect, as I could easily be conflating what Schneider has actually said with fan rationalizations, but it looks to me like either he or the team ownership wouldn't match the Vikings' offer, so they threw the whole physical thing out there for damage control.

As far as my understanding goes teams require physicals before they sign contracts all the time.
I agree that this was an issue more about length and money than it was about physicals.
I don't personally have a problem that JS drew a line at 3 years 18 mill per for a seventh rounder with one full year of good football under his belt.
Why your so hung up on the physical I don't know. I find it perfectly reasonable and normal.

 

[Rat]

As far as my understanding goes teams require physicals before they sign contracts all the time.
I agree that this was an issue more about length and money than it was about physicals.
I don't personally have a problem that JS drew a line at 3 years 18 mill per for a seventh rounder with one full year of good football under his belt.
Why your so hung up on the physical I don't know. I find it perfectly reasonable and normal.

I don't have a problem with Schneider setting a price limit. That's admirable to stick to, if anything. I'm only "hung up" on the physical thing, because I don't believe it was an honest request in this circumstance, and I don't respect dishonesty. This wasnt as serious obviously, so not apples to apples comparison, but it's kind of like when Russ forced his way out, I would have respected if he had just come out and said "I've given my all for this franchise for years, and my heart will ultimately always be in Seattle, but I believe my life and career have hit a point where it would be best for myself, and the team, if I were to move on, and I have thus informed Pete Carroll and John Schneider, two men I have the upmost respect for, of my desire for a trade". We know, however, that is not the route he took.

Be transparent and be honest. There are legitimate reasons why not matching that Fries offer might not have been in the team's best interests.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

So you wanted them to give a massive deal to a guy coming off a significant lower leg injury? All without even doing a medical check or physical?

No thanks.

 

[Rat]

So you wanted them to give a massive deal to a guy coming off a significant lower leg injury? All without even doing a medical check or physical?

No thanks.

That's not really what I said. If Schneider thought Fries was worthy of a "massive" deal based on his play and potential alone, I believe he should have gambled on him checking out physically. The top free agents almost always sign during that negotiation window, so there's always going to be an element of risk. You have to gamble somewhere, and his injury is not one that we see truncating careers. He's young and has access to top notch health care. Was there anything preventing him from sending the team x-rays or something?

I'm ok with Schneider not getting in a bidding war with the Vikings over him though.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'm hoping they trade for that cat in Cleveland, might not take much to get him.