entropyrulesall
New member
John Schneider has pulled some wizardry the past 96 hours. He let the market settle and then quickly pounced before the Niners, and others, for guys that they would gladly have signed at the price we did.
To a certain degree, Harvin, Avril and Bennett all came to the Hawks for more than the $$. Think about that. Seattle is never a destination. And even if this backfires and all 3 of these pickups don't work out, the team is still ok; it really is. Serious wizardry, I'm telling you.
When you average a modest overpay for Harvin with these bargain FA signings, the Seahawks have quickly and quietly fleeced the market. They have traded for the top WR available, and signed 2 of the 3 top DT/DE free agents/players available on the market. They didn't break the bank and can gladly go BPA come draft time.
LEO/OLB, pass rushing DT, and WR depth were among the top 5 team needs for this off season; WLB, nickel CB, G, backup S being the others.
Solving these needs with top line talent for big FA $ would have been acceptable, but not desirable.
But solving these needs with top line talent for SMALL FA $ instead is gravy.
I didn't consider Harvin, Avril, OR Bennett to be available and that's why no one on this board was that optimistic we would get any of them, let alone all three.
If you told me we had traded for a player, and signed 2 others and they would be WR, DE, DT; I would have said we signed Amendola/Alexander, Freeney/Osi/Abraham for (7M+), and traded for Nick Fairley or some DT. Instead we get the cream of the crop at all 3 of our biggest position needs.
This is the model for FA: young, full of impact, versatile, cheapish, motivated for another contract after us:
Avril: contract covers ages 26-28,2 yr, $15M, $11M guaranteed, plays both DE and OLB, should be huge in nickel 3rd.
Bennett: contract covers ages 27-28, 1 yr, $5M, plays left DE, and 3-tech DT.
Even Harvin's contract is only guaranteed this year and next.
That thread the other day about the most important person in the building... my belated vote is for JS, the Wizard.
To a certain degree, Harvin, Avril and Bennett all came to the Hawks for more than the $$. Think about that. Seattle is never a destination. And even if this backfires and all 3 of these pickups don't work out, the team is still ok; it really is. Serious wizardry, I'm telling you.
When you average a modest overpay for Harvin with these bargain FA signings, the Seahawks have quickly and quietly fleeced the market. They have traded for the top WR available, and signed 2 of the 3 top DT/DE free agents/players available on the market. They didn't break the bank and can gladly go BPA come draft time.
LEO/OLB, pass rushing DT, and WR depth were among the top 5 team needs for this off season; WLB, nickel CB, G, backup S being the others.
Solving these needs with top line talent for big FA $ would have been acceptable, but not desirable.
But solving these needs with top line talent for SMALL FA $ instead is gravy.
I didn't consider Harvin, Avril, OR Bennett to be available and that's why no one on this board was that optimistic we would get any of them, let alone all three.
If you told me we had traded for a player, and signed 2 others and they would be WR, DE, DT; I would have said we signed Amendola/Alexander, Freeney/Osi/Abraham for (7M+), and traded for Nick Fairley or some DT. Instead we get the cream of the crop at all 3 of our biggest position needs.
This is the model for FA: young, full of impact, versatile, cheapish, motivated for another contract after us:
Avril: contract covers ages 26-28,2 yr, $15M, $11M guaranteed, plays both DE and OLB, should be huge in nickel 3rd.
Bennett: contract covers ages 27-28, 1 yr, $5M, plays left DE, and 3-tech DT.
Even Harvin's contract is only guaranteed this year and next.
That thread the other day about the most important person in the building... my belated vote is for JS, the Wizard.
