K9. Saddle up and pay or not?

[SoulfishHawk]

Insert popular back up here..............

Yeah, that rarely works.

 

[glenwo2]

I am in the minority and don't want to make a big commitment to K9 neither in terms of contract length or $.
Reasons.
1) Though he is talented, because of injuries & sharing carries he has not put up the #'s or consistency for a big contract.
2) I favor drafting a young RB to stay cheap, healthy & for fresh legs.
3) I prefer a young work worse RB who stays ahead of the chains, has size & power, breaks tackles, runs angry, spells Barner from his short yardage duties and who wears down defenses.

I would be fine with one year prove it deal or 3 years with no guaranteed $ in year 3. I wouldn't go double digit per year.
In today's NFL RB's are kind of a dime a dozen, only the top 3 make the big $ for the position.

I say let the market determine Walkers value, it may give us better bargaining power or he might be gone, let it play out.

Martinez 25' R7 #223
Holani undrafted 24'
Charbs 23' R2 #52
McIntosh 23' R7 # 237
KWlll 22' R2 #41
Penny 18' R1 #27

With a #32 draft slating, I think we should draft a RB in the 1st or 2nd round and believe this draft will hold multiple great prospects in that range. Also don't rule out a cheap FA RB.
Ideally with our current RB injuries, K9 would sign a team friendly shorter term deal with incentives and we would draft our workhorse of the future in April

Wasn't Martinez released early in the season and is now a Packer?

 

[Spin Doctor]

Would prefer we keep him.

It's not just what he did in the playoffs.

It's about chemistry with the team, especially the QB.

It's about continuity.

We lose him, we lose all that and have to somehow bring someone else in from outside (Etienne? Breece Hall?) and start over. (am I being a bit too melodramatic here?)

RB is one of the easiest roles to plug and play. Some of the posters saying that K9 is irreplaceable are the same people that were gnashing teeth he would bounce the ball outside and miss obvious holes.

We aren’t going to have the same offense either, so the continuity argument doesn’t hold much weight either.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Famous last words.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Famous last words.

K9 isn’t even the best guy on the market right now.

 

[GemCity]

Dang, gonna' add to my quote like it's something I actually said? That's cold

You act like he's missed half the games possible.
He has played 15, 15, 12 and 17 in his 4 years. Plus he has played in all 4 playoff games they've been to during his career.
Not exactly the "injury prone" player that you and many make him out to be.
I might suck at math. But that's a TOTAL OF 7 GAMES MISSED IN 4 YEARS (16 game season his first 2 seasons) I have a feeling if you looked at MANY backs in the NFL, that's on par with #1 backs over the last 4 seasons.

But I've been down this path for years. Believe what you want. I'd probably have better luck clapping with one hand.
And that's ok, we all see him how we see him.

 

[GemCity]

Count me in the K9 is elite crowd.

I just don’t want that to be Saquon numbers…

$13-14M….lets do it

 

[Trackhawk]

I don't understand how the transition tag for a RB is $11.7 million, while a CB is $17.95 million. The RB is touching the ball 20+ times a game.

… The players also need to feel like they get rewarded when they play at the highest level. You don't get much higher than Super Bowl MVP. I think it would hurt morale to just let him walk without really trying to keep him here. I hope we keep him.

And the transition tag for an o-lineman, who never touches the ball is over $25 million. Value is what the market says it is.

Did Malcolm Smith deserve to get a Wagner-esque 11 mil APY, from the Seahawks, after his NFCCG clinching interception and Super Bowl MVP, instead of the 3 he got from the Raiders?

Difference between having a stretch of good games, and consistently doing it year, after year, after year.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Or, you just don't like the guy and you're digging in. I can respect your dedication.

 

[glenwo2]

I look at it this way :

Opposing defenses had to respect the run when we had K9/Charbs.

Now after K9 won the friggin' SB MVP Award (and teams saw how big of an impact player he is), their defenses will respect the run even MORESO going forward.

Teams aren't going to be quaking in their boots if George Holani is back there...or Jacardia Wright...or Velus Jones...or Macintosh....

 

[Aircrew]

I said in a similar post a few days ago that we should basically play hardball with K9 and not break the bank and that if he walks we should let him. After ruminating on this topic ever since, I'm having a slight change of heart. While I still don't want JS to set the market for running backs, I do think K9 is gelling with our o-line and coaching and he may be just hitting the power stroke of his prime years. If I'm right in that observation/gut feeling, I think Schneider should get a 3-4 year deal done that is a good compromise between rewarding Ken while still being team friendly-ish.

 

[Silver Hawk]

Famous last words.

It’s almost comical. The responses that just assume we can get “somebody” and it’s all good. Just like Madden.

“We’ll just draft a stud, tackle breaking rb, no problem”. With one of our 4 late round draft picks. Nobody else would be looking for that guy.

“We’ll just sign some other free agent back”. For peanuts, apparently.

Those aren’t necessarily bad ideas in a different situation. However, the fact is that the Seahawks are in a bad position at rb right now, with less than 6 months before training camp starts.

The sure route is to sign K9 or tag him. Figure it out in a year if necessary. Any other route has the potential to seriously hobble repeat chances in 2026. I’m getting old, give me K9 this year.

 

[Bobblehead]

Don't see anyone raving over anyone in the draft, other then the one that will be picked way before us. Only FA guy seems to be the Jets RB who isn't in the same class as K9.

Our offense is based off of running, Well it was before Kubiak left, and K9 deserves to be given that chance.. we have a lot of CAP, lets don't be cheap with our bread and butter.

K9 is a factor, opponents cannot ignore him, they have to have a plan for him. He's the catalyst that makes this offense so affective.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I wish it was that easy. It just isn't. No matter how much people want to convince themselves of it........

I'll proudly crow up if some random RB has the same production. I just won't spend even 5 minutes looking up recipes.
Sadly, if they let K9 go, I'll end up just being right, again.

 

[Silver Hawk]

Don't see anyone raving over anyone in the draft, other then the one that will be picked way before us. Only FA guy seems to be the Jets RB who isn't in the same class as K9.

Our offense is based off of running, Well it was before Kubiak left, and K9 deserves to be given that chance.. we have a lot of CAP, lets don't be cheap with our bread and butter.

It’s a good point - Mike Mac wants a run based team, right?

 

[chris98251]

If you are a passing oreinted team then yes you can have a average back with good hands, but if your a run team that compliments with the pass then you need a stud or two very good guys, they don't fall off trees. A great line can make a good back look great, Alexander for me falls into this, a great back can overcome a mediocore or bad O line Lynch falls into this catagory. K9 isn't a real power runner, he has strength but isn't physical. Charbs is more so but I don't consider him a power back either, he runs too high. I seen him improve as the season went on, but justy doesn't move the pile much. Kinda of why we did the Barner thing I beleive as well.

 

[ivotuk]

Pay him. We don't want to teach another RB this system. Draft a bruising to pair with him, then let him compete with Charbonett once he's healthy.

Per most draft analysts, this is a poor year for running backs, so your not going to get a stud in this draft.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

This is a running team, can't just let your best back go and expect it to be the same.

 

[Trackhawk]

Posted this in another thread. Meant to post it in this one.

It’s kind of funny. Whatever our differing opinions of him, from average to elite, it seems like we all pretty much agree on his monetary value to the team.

 

[Jegpeg]

I like K9 and want to keep him but paying top dollar particularly at RB where injuries are more common than most other positions is a risk.

As SB champs other teams will be willing to overpay our free agents, the Cap rise just means other teams as well as the Hawks can afford to pay more. I would like us to also keep Shaheed, Mafe, Jobe and Bryant paying whatever they all demand will very quickly go through that cap space.

Whether we keep K9 depends on what he depands and what we have to pay in other positions. We might be able to persuade some players to stay with a successful team rather than earn a bit more with a team like the Jets. As an owner of Walker in fantasy I was frustrated with the number of Rushing TDs that went to Charbs, I am not sure whether K9 feels the same way, if he does it might be hard to get him at a discount. What the ceiing is also depends on the length on contract and guaranteed money, there is a big difference between $14m pa for 2 years and 4 years (mostly guaranteed).