The writing is on the wall for Chris Carson

[Basis4day]

So you create speculation out of thin air (i.e. talking up players on the trade block)....and based on THAT speculation, you conclude that Carson will not be re-signed???

Yup, I think I made it pretty clear that this is my speculation. Seeing that we're stacked up on RB's all of a sudden, and the unusual rotation that they've been used in the last few weeks.

As for talking up the players, I may have used the wrong examples, but they do seem to have a history of doing that. I never realized that until I saw that one segment where someone was talking about it. That was just a sidenote on my opinion that they might be letting Hyde go as well. But I definitely think they're either letting Carson go, or being prepared to let him go after this season. His position might have weakened a little, since he got hurt again... but I remember hearing him say (before the season started) that he wanted to get paid, what he felt like he deserved, and that was top-5 RB money. He also said his goal was to play all 16 games, plus playoffs too.

Who are you talking about when you refer to featuring players to help their trade status?

The trade deadline has passed. Hyde is only signed for this year. Collins and Bo aren’t on the active roster. Plus Bo is hurt.

 

[kf3339]

All pending FA's are going to have a tough time with the cap dropping a significant amount.

I don't see Carson getting anything close to probable contract demands. It doesn't matter how good a player is if always injured.

His best bet this off-season is a short term contract until the Covid issue is behind us.

Personally I think a combination of Penny and Hyde with the young backs in reserve is plenty. I just think Carson is going to want more than we can offer to him.

 

[AROS]

I love Carson, for everything he brings on the field. Sadly, the dude has proven he just can't stay healthy. Whether that's bad luck or running style or a combo doesn't really matter in the end. The truth is, we can't sign him to a massive deal based on his injury history, period. Now if he can swallow a bit of ego and pride and re-sign at a reasonable price, I would love, love, love to see him in a Seahawks uniform next season.

I just don't know if he will do that, and while I get it, it would be a shame for both sides. But in the end? You can't reward perpetual injury history, no matter how productive on the field they are.

 

[Tusc2000]

I love Carson and would like to hang on to him -- for as long as it's financially feasible. That said, many NFL RBs have a short shelf life, but ours tend to get nicked up more than most. Some team out there will likely offer more than we can when Carson enters free agency. Given his injury history, I don't think we'd get a ton for him in a trade, so I'd like to get as much mileage from him for as long as we can.

 

[TreeRon]

Deciding to make Penny the Hawks feature back going forward would be a huge gamble. I don't see it happening. More likely he's let go.

 

[capncrunch]

I love Carson, for everything he brings on the field. Sadly, the dude has proven he just can't stay healthy. Whether that's bad luck or running style or a combo doesn't really matter in the end. The truth is, we can't sign him to a massive deal based on his injury history, period. Now if he can swallow a bit of ego and pride and re-sign at a reasonable price, I would love, love, love to see him in a Seahawks uniform next season.

I just don't know if he will do that, and while I get it, it would be a shame for both sides. But in the end? You can't reward perpetual injury history, no matter how productive on the field they are.

Yeah. He won't het his asking price, but he may get slightly more than we will offer. I'd say there is a 40% likelihood of CC playing for us next year. Penny is more of an unknown. Be very interesting to see how each of them performs down the stretch and revisit this thread at season's end.

 

[Elemas]

If Penny returns to the form he showed in his last two games, I can see him competing for the #1 slot. He definitely does not have the ground and pound, hard nose Lynch and Carson running mode but, he has many other attributes which make him an attractive option.

Ultimately. I'd like to see CC resigned. I just don't think it will happen. There seems to always be a team willing to pick up the price tag on good FA RBs. CC has earned it for sure. I think it'll be one of those last minute "he looks like he'll be a Hawk again...wait, ______ just gave him $30M for xxxxx years" kind of thing.

It would be great to have the "1-2 punch" Pete Carroll mentioned long ago. When he made that statement, I thought it sounded crazy as hell. Then, Penny started to flash.

Rewind a bit...besides not liking first round RB picks...I was intrigued. Watched highlight films and thought "ok...this could be good". Then found out about his conditioning and minor injuries...got down on him even more for a few games where, in hindsight, he wasn't utilized properly. At the time though, "he sucks" came to mind.

Then he started killing it.

I see us drafting another RB next year. As crazy as that sounds. You need insurance. Particularly at that position. Having a stable of injury prone or just coming off a major injury does not bid you well. Hoping for pass rush, at least one corner, and o-line but...we'll see.

Maybe we'll get comfortable with DJ Dallas as our "insurance"...time will tell.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Based on this, I'm thinking that Penny will be our feature back, with a plethora of young, inexpensive backs to back him up. For what it's worth, I don't mind this plan at all.

Penny is even less dependable right now than Carson, so I can't imagine Pete and John would be OK going into 2021 with him as our featured back.

He hasn't proven it on the field, or with being dependable to stay healthy.

I could see us signing Carson to a reasonable one year deal, because you have to remember like Clowney there aren't going to be any other teams willing to give Carson a massive new contract either. He's a great RB when healthy, but he's never been healthy for an entire season.

So why not sign him to a 7-8M one year deal? Again, it'd make me VERY nervous if we went into 2021 counting on Penny, health wise, or effectiveness wise. He hasn't proven either.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

I personally don’t think Seattle has a star running back currently,

I think Carson is gone after this season and they try to fix the defense and a they’ll draft another running back.

Penny has been a wasted first rounder and will not be extended.

 

[ZagHawk]

I'm curious how Seattle compares to other teams in the last decade regarding how often they've drafted a RB in the first few rounds.

 

[justafan]

It would be be sad to see CC go but it would be a gamble to sign him to a huge contact. If Hyde continues running like he did last week he might earn a contract here. Hyde,Penny,Dallas and a another development back wouldnt be bad

 

[Spin Doctor]

I don't get where you're thinking that we're stacked at RB. Dallas and Homer are role players, they are both decidedly mediocre as runners. Dallas is really good catching the ball and running routes, and Homer is a good pass blocking specialist. As pure runners they are nothing special, if not a liability at times. They are NOT the future.

Penny on the other hand is an enigma. He's been consistently inconsistent, and he still seemed to have a hard time with the basic procedural stuff. He had a few really good games, but it seems with Penny that often times it's one step forward, one step back. To add to this, Penny has an even worse track record of staying healthy than even Carson has. I don't think this guy can be relied on, and he has yet to show that he is a complete runner.

Carson is really the only guy that can do it all. He is decisive and he makes the players around him better. I suspect we'll be able to get Carson for pennies on the dollar due to his health history.

Even so, I don't think that our backfield is in a good spot even with Carson, just due to none of our players being able to stay healthy. I think we're probably looking at the possibility of another back in the draft.

 

[AgentDib]

The major factor that suggests Carson may be gone is that he is going to be an unrestricted free agent. Look back over the last few years and you'll see all of our valuable UFAs have left.

- 2020 Clowney 13m AAV to TEN
- 2020 Fant 10m to NYJ
- 2020 QJeff 7m to BUF
- 2019 ET3 14m to BAL
- 2019 JC 9m to DET
- 2019 Sweezy 5m to ARI
- 2018 PRich 8m to WAS
- 2018 Jimmy 10m to GB
- 2018 Sherman 9m to SF (released by us)
- 2018 Richardson 8m to MIN
- 2017 we had no pricey UFAs

When a good player has been headed for UFA we have either extended them early, or lost them once they hit free agency. The lone exception was KJ Wright in 2019, who was coming off a knee injury and re-signed with us despite being an unrestricted free agent.

I suspect we valued KJ more highly than most other teams did, knew more about his injury history, and then KJ really wanted to be here instead of elsewhere. If all three of those things are also true about Carson then there's a chance he may follow in KJ's footsteps, but otherwise it is very likely that he'll get a better offer from at least one other team and take it.

 

[Atradees]

The Hawks have a history of great running backs that are durable. I would like to see us get back to that. Way to many injuries have left us rotating a bunch of meh players. I have no desire to see Homer play. We dont really think about show casing players for trade. We cannot fool ourselves about values of a player (Clowney).

 

[TypeSly]

Based on this, I'm thinking that Penny will be our feature back, with a plethora of young, inexpensive backs to back him up. For what it's worth, I don't mind this plan at all.

Penny is even less dependable right now than Carson, so I can't imagine Pete and John would be OK going into 2021 with him as our featured back.

He hasn't proven it on the field, or with being dependable to stay healthy.

I could see us signing Carson to a reasonable one year deal, because you have to remember like Clowney there aren't going to be any other teams willing to give Carson a massive new contract either. He's a great RB when healthy, but he's never been healthy for an entire season.

So why not sign him to a 7-8M one year deal? Again, it'd make me VERY nervous if we went into 2021 counting on Penny, health wise, or effectiveness wise. He hasn't proven either.

I think all of the Seahawks' fanbase would agree with you, in being nervous with Penny as our feature back going into next season. Also, I'm sure everyone would be over the moon to see Carson back next year in a Seattle uniform, especially if it's on a short term contract. I just don't think he's going to accept a one-year contract, because he'll be essentially putting himself back in a position of auditioning for the big contract, that he thinks he deserves now.

It just seems to me, the way they've used multiple backs (since the CC injury), even while the others were healthy, that they're taking a look at what the options are, if they can't come to terms with CC going forward.

 

[TypeSly]

I don't get where you're thinking that we're stacked at RB. Dallas and Homer are role players, they are both decidedly mediocre as runners. Dallas is really good catching the ball and running routes, and Homer is a good pass blocking specialist. As pure runners they are nothing special, if not a liability at times. They are NOT the future.

Penny on the other hand is an enigma. He's been consistently inconsistent, and he still seemed to have a hard time with the basic procedural stuff. He had a few really good games, but it seems with Penny that often times it's one step forward, one step back. To add to this, Penny has an even worse track record of staying healthy than even Carson has. I don't think this guy can be relied on, and he has yet to show that he is a complete runner.

Carson is really the only guy that can do it all. He is decisive and he makes the players around him better. I suspect we'll be able to get Carson for pennies on the dollar due to his health history.

Even so, I don't think that our backfield is in a good spot even with Carson, just due to none of our players being able to stay healthy. I think we're probably looking at the possibility of another back in the draft.

I'm not saying we're stacked in the RB department, in terms of talent (especially without CC). But they've certainly been stacking them up for usage these past 4 games. The reason why I'm speculating that the usage seems to be more like auditoning, because if they were just filling in the hole that CC's and Hyde's injuries cause, I feel like they would have just went with DJ Dallas and Homer. Here's how it went:

vs SF: Dallas.
vs Buffalo: Dallas, and Homer.
vs LA Rams: Collins
vs AZ: Hyde and Scarborough

There doesn't seem to be any talk of re-signing Hyde after this season. So if CC doesn't get re-signed, Penny is really the only one who is in the position to be a feature back, unless we get one through free agency, or draft one. Penny could and should be a star, if he can stay healthy. Everyone including the staff would love to have Carson back, but it sure seems like they're taking a serious look at the possibility of not having him for next season.

 

[Grahamhawker]

I say a RB will be again drafted fairly high next year whether Carson is resigned or not. If he is resigned it better be a team friendly deal. Dallas and Homer are role players and it's obvious. Penny ...? Collins and Scarborough were emergency stop-gaps. Cripes, last year they brought back Marshawn freakin' Lynch. Hyde has helped, but can't be a multi-year solution. It's a weird mishmash right now. If Pete wants to really run the ball, there ain't enough there to get it done.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Based on this, I'm thinking that Penny will be our feature back, with a plethora of young, inexpensive backs to back him up. For what it's worth, I don't mind this plan at all.

Penny is even less dependable right now than Carson, so I can't imagine Pete and John would be OK going into 2021 with him as our featured back.

He hasn't proven it on the field, or with being dependable to stay healthy.

I could see us signing Carson to a reasonable one year deal, because you have to remember like Clowney there aren't going to be any other teams willing to give Carson a massive new contract either. He's a great RB when healthy, but he's never been healthy for an entire season.

So why not sign him to a 7-8M one year deal? Again, it'd make me VERY nervous if we went into 2021 counting on Penny, health wise, or effectiveness wise. He hasn't proven either.

I think all of the Seahawks' fanbase would agree with you, in being nervous with Penny as our feature back going into next season. Also, I'm sure everyone would be over the moon to see Carson back next year in a Seattle uniform, especially if it's on a short term contract. I just don't think he's going to accept a one-year contract, because he'll be essentially putting himself back in a position of auditioning for the big contract, that he thinks he deserves now.

It just seems to me, the way they've used multiple backs (since the CC injury), even while the others were healthy, that they're taking a look at what the options are, if they can't come to terms with CC going forward.

That's OK if he's not happy accepting one year deal, but that will be the reality of his free agency.

RB's are already the most devalued position group, for the very reason we're discussing, they break down and are no longer the feature offensive weapon in the large majority of offenses.

So Carson can be mad all he wants, no team is going to give an often injured top 10 RB a monster extension. It's just not going to happen. Now maybe someone else will give him a bigger one year deal? Or a two year incentive laden deal? Idk. But that won't be us. Too many other guys to extend and holes to fill next off season.

 

[chris98251]

Based on this, I'm thinking that Penny will be our feature back, with a plethora of young, inexpensive backs to back him up. For what it's worth, I don't mind this plan at all.

Penny is even less dependable right now than Carson, so I can't imagine Pete and John would be OK going into 2021 with him as our featured back.

He hasn't proven it on the field, or with being dependable to stay healthy.

I could see us signing Carson to a reasonable one year deal, because you have to remember like Clowney there aren't going to be any other teams willing to give Carson a massive new contract either. He's a great RB when healthy, but he's never been healthy for an entire season.

So why not sign him to a 7-8M one year deal? Again, it'd make me VERY nervous if we went into 2021 counting on Penny, health wise, or effectiveness wise. He hasn't proven either.

I think all of the Seahawks' fanbase would agree with you, in being nervous with Penny as our feature back going into next season. Also, I'm sure everyone would be over the moon to see Carson back next year in a Seattle uniform, especially if it's on a short term contract. I just don't think he's going to accept a one-year contract, because he'll be essentially putting himself back in a position of auditioning for the big contract, that he thinks he deserves now.

It just seems to me, the way they've used multiple backs (since the CC injury), even while the others were healthy, that they're taking a look at what the options are, if they can't come to terms with CC going forward.

Disagree, with Covid next years Cap is going to be a lot lower and a lot of contracts will need to be less, best option for all marquee players that are UDFA is to sign a reasonable one and wait for the Cap to pop back up with Fans and revenue back to normal levels.

 

[Own The West]

Such a weird month of March-type thread...

Who is going to give Carson big money? He's never been a bell cow. He's never played a full season. And his numbers have come on one of the most run-heavy teams in the league. Someone might give him a prove it deal, but why wouldn't that someone be us?