Championship Offseason Begins

burgers_59

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Missoula, MT/ Snohomish, WA
Due to a low salary cap number and the emergence of young underpaid players, the Seahawks will a have a lot of tough calls to make this championship offseason.

The list of Seahawks that are ready to hit the free agent market are: Doug Baldwin (RFA), Michael Bennett (UFA), Brandon Browner (UFA), Kellen Davis (UFA), Breno Giacomini (UFA), Steven Hauschka (UFA), Tarvaris Jackson (UFA), Lemuel Jean-Pierre (UFA), Jeron Johnson (RFA), Chris Maragos (UFA), Anthony McCoy (UFA), Tony McDaniel (UFA), Clinton McDonald (UFA), Paul McQuistan (UFA), Mike Morgan (UFA), Michael Robinson (UFA), O'Brien Schofield (UFA), Golden Tate (UFA) and Walter Thurmond III (UFA).

The Seahawks are currently 8.7 million dollars under the cap for the 2014 season, which is not enough if they are going to stick to their top two offseason priorities: re-signing Michael Bennett and extending Earl Thomas.

These priorities and current restrictions mean that there will likely be "cap casualties" so that the Seahawks will have more cap money to spend. Chris Clemons has a cap hit of 9.6 million dollars; if he is cut the Seahawks would save 7.5 million dollars in cap room, while cutting him would put the Seahawks under the cap by 16.2 million dollars. Sidney Rice's cap hit is 9.7 million dollars, if he is cut the Seahawks will have an extra 7.5 million dollars. This puts them a healthy 23.7 million dollars under the cap. Red Bryant has a cap hit of 9.25 million against the 2014 cap, if released he would free 5.5 million dollars in cap space. The Seahawks would then be 29.2 million dollars under the cap.

These big cuts are the only ones I see the Seahawks realistically making. However, that doesn't mean I think they shouldn't make pay cuts and perhaps even cut a big name or two. Zach Miller is a player that I can see taking a pay cut in order to create salary cap room. He has a 7 million dollar cap hit, I believe the Seahawks lowering his pay by 2 million dollars is very realistic. It would then put them 31.2 million dollars under the cap.

The two surprise cuts I have for the Seahawks are Max Unger and James Carpenter. Unger has a cap hit of 6.1 million, if cut he saves the Seahawks 2.8 million dollars. Their cap room would then be an even 34 million dollars. James Carpenter has a cap hit of 2.4 million dollars, if cut he would save the Seahawks 1.4 million dollars, putting the Seahawks 35.4 million dollars under the cap.

These cuts would benefit the Seahawks not only financially but in player productivity.

Chris Clemons has been a great player for the Seattle Seahawks since being traded to them by the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2009. However, his playing time as well as production is starting to decline. His first step as a pass rusher is not nearly as fast as it once was, which can probably be traced to his ACL injury back in the 2012 playoffs against the Washington Redskins. Clemons had an impact in Super Bowl 48 and is one of the poster boys for the Pete Carroll, John Schneider era, but I just don't see the Seahawks keeping him for the money he is due.

Sidney Rice was one of the first big free agents that Carroll and Schneider signed. Rice had steady numbers his first two seasons as a Seahawk. His 2012 campaign was his best, snagging seven touchdown passes. Rice's 2013 season had hot and cold moments, his best game was against the Jacksonville Jaguars; he had two touchdown catches. Five weeks later Rice suffered a torn ACL against the St. Louis Rams. Injuries have unfortunately been a part of Rice's career whilst with the Seahawks and before. Because of his many lingering injuries and a healing ACL, the Seahawks will most likely only keep him if Golden Tate walks and they do not sign or draft a receiver to fill his place. Even then Rice will most likely take a pay cut.

Red Bryant has become a fan favorite in Seattle since he was drafted from Texas A&M in 2008. He is a run defense specialist and is actually one of the best in the entire NFL. Bryant received a big pay raise after the 2011 season, where he had two interceptions and 32 tackles. Since then Bryant has had a few nagging injuries but none serious enough to keep him from missing or starting a game. Bryant is great at being a run stuffer and line disruptor, unfortunately he is paid a little too much for what he offers.

Max Unger has had back to back pro bowl seasons, but they are somewhat of a smokescreen over his actual production. While Unger is an above average center, he has suffered from hand and ankle injuries over the past two seasons and his ability to block one on one has gone down substantially in that amount of time. The latest example of this was in Super Bowl XLVIII against Terrence Knighton, but even before that game Unger seemed to have similar issues. Backup Lemuel Jean-Pierre looked much better and more nimble than Unger when he played in his place throughout the season. Jean-Pierre will most likely be re-signed and will make a push for Unger's starting spot. Practice squad center Jared "Fat Rabbit" Smith was signed to a future contract. He will also be a part of the competition for the starting center role. I don't think that Unger will be cut until the Seahawks are well into training camp.



James Carpenter is a player most Seahawks fans are unsure of. He was the first, first round pick Pete Carroll and John Schneider made. Carpenter has since seen time at right tackle and left guard. He has sustained knee injuries and often has conditioning issues throughout training camp and the regular season, which is why he is often used in doses with Paul McQuistan. Since McQuistan is likely walking out the door, Carpenter has to show that he can be a full-time starting left guard. While there have been flashes of that, they are often then overlooked by poor play or less playing time. Expect to see second year offensive lineman, Michael Bowie, compete for Carpenter's job and perhaps roster spot. Bowie started in the divisional round of the 2013 NFL Playoffs against the New Orleans Saints. He had a stellar game, showing he can be a very effective guard in both run and pass block situations. Carpenter is a better run blocker than pass blocker, but is still fine tuning his abilities. Just like Unger, I don't see Carpenter getting cut until training camp, if he is cut at all.

All that being said the Seahawks would have 35.4 million dollars in salary cap room. Which would make extending Earl Thomas an easy task. Thomas will probably earn between 7.5-11 million dollars per season. Michael Bennett would be the next priority for the Seahawks; his contract would probably have him paid between 7 and 9 million dollars per season. Assuming these two are signed to their highest cap hit numbers, 20 million combined. The Seahawks would have 15.4 million dollars to spend on the rest of the free agents that they want to keep.

Doug Baldwin and Steven Hauschka would most likely be the next in line to pay. Hauschka would make around 2-4 million if re-signed. Baldwin would make between 3-5 million. Those two signings would put the cap above 10 million. Leaving cheaper re-signings such as Jeron Johnson and Lemuel Jean-Pierre as the next easiest signings.

Michael Robinson is a wild card on being re-signed. He is beloved by fans for the "Real Robinson Report" and was signed midway through the season after being cut in the preseason due to an illness. Robinson will not be an expensive contract, however that does not make his re-signing a sure thing. Derrick Coleman and Spencer Ware are waiting for their opportunities at his spot.

Clinton McDonald and Tony McDaniel are both going to be free agents this offseason. The Seahawks will most likely only re-sign one of the two. Both had very big roles in the Seahawks defense. McDonald is the more explosive and better pass rusher of the two, which is why he will most likely require more money. Making McDaniel the likely candidate to being re-signed. Don't forget Jesse Williams and Jordan Hill will be back for the Seahawks next season. Both looked great in training camp and the preseason but suffered injuries. Hill was used sparingly through the season, and Williams was placed on IR. Williams got the opportunity to get his knee fully healed and his strength up (hard to believe considering he benched 600lbs) in his home country of Australia. Expect big things from these men.

Walter Thurmond III was playing his way to a pretty big pay day before his four game suspension for using a banned league substance. It was said that Thurmond was close to signing an extension with 5 million per year, but after the incident the offer was lowered to 1 or 2 million. After a stellar performance throughout the playoffs Thurmond might see a bigger payday elsewhere. San Diego, Denver and Jacksonville are most likely c to sign Thurmond to a bigger deal than the Seahawks. Jeremy Lane, Tharold Simon, Deshawn Shead and potentially Jeron Johnson (if re-signed) are prime candidates to take over Thurmond's spot.

What about Golden Tate? Tate is the biggest name that has the greatest chance of leaving. With money caught up in Thomas, Bennett, Hauschka and Baldwin. Tate would have to take a serious hometown discount. Tate will get some much bigger offers from other teams; the Carolina Panthers are the team that I believe will make a strong push for him. Hakeem Nicks is also on the Panthers radar, but they will be able to afford both giving Nicks less money than Tate due to Nicks' past two down seasons.

If the Seahawks lose Tate and let guys like McQuistan and Giacomini go there is no need to be concerned. Michael Bowie will make a strong push for McQuistan's old spot and Alvin Bailey will make a push for Giacomini's. Bailey saw more and more time as the season progressed. He started with spot duty at left and right tackle in the regular season and spent time as an eligible tackle in the NFC Championship game and Super Bowl. In both of those games he was a big part of a Marshawn Lynch touchdown run. Jermaine Kearse showed flashes of brilliance throughout the season and post season and could make Seahawks fans not miss Tate at all if he walked away. The Seahawks will also address their needs through the draft and free agency.


This offseason will be full of excitement and expectations, but look for the Seahawks to get even better with their developing young talent. The future is bright and one to be excited about. Go Hawks!
 

McGruff

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Messages
5,424
Reaction score
173
Location
Tri-Cities, WA
Extending Earl will lkkely cost us nothing his season in terms of salary cap since his salary is already on he high side.

Extending Okung would actually free upmcap by lowering his salary number this year.

Those two moves are easy ones to make with limited cap impact for 2014.
 

drdiags

New member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
10,682
Reaction score
1
Location
Kent, Washington
Was following along nicely until you stated that Carpenter was Pete and John's FIRST first round draft choice. You missed a year. Okung was their FIRST first rounder. Good job laying out the details up to that point and I am going back to reading it since you have put a lot of work into summarizing things.
 
OP
OP
burgers_59

burgers_59

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Missoula, MT/ Snohomish, WA
drdiags":3ck0qdlx said:
Was following along nicely until you stated that Carpenter was Pete and John's FIRST first round draft choice. You missed a year. Okung was their FIRST first rounder. Good job laying out the details up to that point and I am going back to reading it since you have put a lot of work into summarizing things.

Damn lol almost got it all. Thanks for the input!
 

drdiags

New member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
10,682
Reaction score
1
Location
Kent, Washington
Interesting rumor on the Thurmond extension. I tend to follow a lot of the local bloggers and national guys and hadn't caught wind of that. Do you have insider info or was it an article posted by folks in the know? Just wondering. I know La Confora was speculating Browner and Thurmond were going to get paid a month or so before the suspensions, but he was saying more on the open market vs by the Seahawks.

Unger and Carpenter are some insightful possibilities. I see McQ walking, not sure about Breno anymore. I could see the team bringing McCoy back on an affordable contract. Hope they can re-negotiate with Miller, but I am not sure he takes a pay cut. Bryant is another mystery. I am anxious to see how the team wants to play this off-season.
 

Hawkboi

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Messages
912
Reaction score
7
Location
Boise, Idaho
All I can say is I'm glad John and Pete are in the Front Office making these decisions, and Paul Allen is there to back them... Glad it's not up to me or most on this board...
 

Meeker

New member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
426
Reaction score
0
Unger's 2012 All Pro was not a smokescreen at all. I wouldn't want to cut a guy who is one year removed from a true All Pro season to save a measly $2m at our biggest problem area.
 

QuahHawk

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
5,650
Reaction score
126
Location
Issaquah, WA
I'd be surprised to see Unger cut but I do think he is kinda overrated and can get manhandeled sometimes.

I the drop of to LJP is not that much but we can get younger and save 2-3 million it just might be worth it.


It seems like a no brainer to extend ET and Okung I think we can structure the contracts to give us even more cap space.

We can forgett about Greg Scruggs, he can fill McDonalds shoes. I think we are best trying to resign the big 335 McDaniels and letting McDonald walk. we did cut him and bring him back. Hill can also penetrate and Jesse Williams can replace Red at DE in some situations.

I would cut Clemons and Bryant if we were able to lock up Bennett long term. I think with Avril, Irvin, Mayeoa, Schofield, Bennett and Scruggs we will have enough pass rush.
 
OP
OP
burgers_59

burgers_59

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Missoula, MT/ Snohomish, WA
drdiags":3f898kwq said:
Interesting rumor on the Thurmond extension. I tend to follow a lot of the local bloggers and national guys and hadn't caught wind of that. Do you have insider info or was it an article posted by folks in the know? Just wondering. I know La Confora was speculating Browner and Thurmond were going to get paid a month or so before the suspensions, but he was saying more on the open market vs by the Seahawks.

Unger and Carpenter are some insightful possibilities. I see McQ walking, not sure about Breno anymore. I could see the team bringing McCoy back on an affordable contract. Hope they can re-negotiate with Miller, but I am not sure he takes a pay cut. Bryant is another mystery. I am anxious to see how the team wants to play this off-season.

I got the Thurmond number from a Silver article back in December. I feel like Breno might not have a big market so he could come back at a discount price. I love what Bailey and Bowie bring though, can see them easily taking any open spots on the o-line. Miller seems like a realistic re-structure even if he does have two more mouths to feed. As for Red, his talents will be missed if we do cut him. He just has so much money against the cap, could see a healthy Jesse Williams taking his spot. Hopefully Williams gets there though, hard to not root for the guy.
 
OP
OP
burgers_59

burgers_59

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Missoula, MT/ Snohomish, WA
Wenhawk":353yfdg4 said:
I'd be surprised to see Unger cut but I do think he is kinda overrated and can get manhandeled sometimes.

I the drop of to LJP is not that much but we can get younger and save 2-3 million it just might be worth it.


It seems like a no brainer to extend ET and Okung I think we can structure the contracts to give us even more cap space.

We can forgett about Greg Scruggs, he can fill McDonalds shoes. I think we are best trying to resign the big 335 McDaniels and letting McDonald walk. we did cut him and bring him back. Hill can also penetrate and Jesse Williams can replace Red at DE in some situations.

I would cut Clemons and Bryant if we were able to lock up Bennett long term. I think with Avril, Irvin, Mayeoa, Schofield, Bennett and Scruggs we will have enough pass rush.

I could see Scruggs making an impact after getting his knee right. I agree with the Williams and Hill situation, hopefully those guys are healthy when they're back for training camp. I really like Mayowa, was sad seeing him ride the pine after having such a good game against Carolina. He's gonna be the next guy where people have to look him up after he gets his snaps and makes an impact. He is the the dark-horse to steal Clemons spot.
 

amill87

New member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
1,374
Reaction score
0
Meeker":5mom05ev said:
Unger's 2012 All Pro was not a smokescreen at all. I wouldn't want to cut a guy who is one year removed from a true All Pro season to save a measly $2m at our biggest problem area.

Yeah a center doesn't not become an all pro by not being really good.

This team is built around the best players playing. If there was any player capable of playing center better than Unger, than Unger wouldn't have started after coming back from injury.

The scenario you painted has us losing 4 offensive lineman that each played significantly at one point or another this season. We would be heading into next season with 3 new starters on the o-line and complete unknowns for our depth. The o-line would be incredibly inexperienced and stretched thin.

Carroll is gonna want to improve the o-line and protect Wilson better. It's just not worth the potential risk to Wilson to save 4 million.
 

SalishHawkFan

New member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
5,872
Reaction score
0
I think you underestimate Red Bryant's value to that defensive line. He's asked to take on two linemen. We have a hybrid defensive line with guys playing the gaps and Red anchoring his side. He's not at all overpaid for his position. There are few, if any, players who can do what he does. If the Seahawks can find not only a replacement, but have depth at his position then yes, they might go for someone cheaper. But they don't have that person on this team and anyone they draft will have to prove it this season. So no, I don't see Red Bryant being one of the cuts this year.
 
Top