Seahawkers UK podcast & Barnwell’s trade scenarios

Firstly, I was invited onto the Seahawkers UK podcast this week. We had a good, long discussion about the Minnesota game and the season so far. Please check it out and have a listen below:

ESPN published an article today by Bill Barnwell running through 13 different trade scenarios before the deadline later this month.

I thought it was interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the Seahawks are included in one of Barnwell’s proposals. Secondly, it gives us an idea of who might be available.

It’s pretty clear the Seahawks could use someone to rush off the edge, provide some wins 1v1 and try to increase their ugly 3.6% sack rate.

Barnwell mentions something we’ve been talking about for a few weeks. Many teams face massive cap problems in 2021. We could see some big names cut or dealt this year as a consequence. However, it’s still difficult to project who might be available. Especially with the teams in the biggest trouble — New Orleans and Philadelphia — both seeing a reasonable pathway to the playoffs.

The two defensive ends listed are Takk McKinley (who Barnwell has going to Seattle) and Ryan Kerrigan (who goes to the 49ers).

Let’s start with Seattle’s deal:

Seattle Seahawks get: C Alex Mack, DE Takkarist McKinley (from Falcons)
Atlanta Falcons get: C B.J. Finney, 2021 sixth-round pick (from Seahawks), 2021 seventh-round pick (from Ravens)
Baltimore Ravens get: TE Jacob Hollister

Always good to mix a three-team trade into the picture. The 0-5 Falcons are out of the playoff picture, and while they’re not going to rebuild, I don’t think either Mack or McKinley figure into their future. Mack is 34 and in the final year of a five-year, $45 million deal, while McKinley is in the last year of his rookie deal after having his fifth-year option declined. The cap-strapped Falcons will likely be moving on from both Mack and McKinley after the season, giving them some motivation to make a move now.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, are candidates for the top spot in the NFC after starting 5-0. Ethan Pocic has impressed at center after an inconsistent start to his career, but Mack would give the Seahawks a top-tier pivot as they try to win a Super Bowl. Pocic would move back into a utility lineman role, and the Seahawks would move on from Finney, who didn’t impress in camp after signing as a free agent and hasn’t played an offensive snap so far this season. Finney would be a low-cost option for the Falcons at center in 2020.

Seattle badly needs bodies along the defensive line; McKinley has struggled with a groin injury this season, but he racked up a sack and six knockdowns of Russell Wilson during the opening-week loss to these very Seahawks. We’re not likely to see a star edge rusher come available at the trade deadline, so the Seahawks will probably look to add multiple players up front and try to win with depth.

For the Seahawks, moving on from Hollister is more about cap space than anything else, given that the 2019 contributor has played just 48 offensive snaps this season and has a cap hold of $3.3 million. The Ravens have disappointed a bit on offense this season, and while trading away Hayden Hurst probably wasn’t the difference between what we’ve seen in 2020 and what we saw in 2019, they are down to two tight ends in Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle. Hollister would fill the Hurst role from a year ago and give Baltimore some insurance if Andrews gets banged up in an expanded role. Baltimore would need to free up some short-term cap space to get the deal done.

Obviously a three-way trade is pretty unlikely in the NFL but the purpose of Barnwell’s piece isn’t to predict the future it’s to propose some interesting talking points. There is a thought process that makes sense within this deal.

For starters, the Seahawks would be best to write-off the B.J. Finney signing. It hasn’t worked and he’s been a fairly expensive flop. He’s not even getting snaps at backup guard. It seems fairly inevitable he’ll be cut at the end of the season anyway to save $3.5m so they might as well make that $4.5m and eat his salary for 2020.

However, that only works if your depth is bolstered at center. Alex Mack has been a blog favourite ever since the 2009 draft. He’s still one of the top centers in the league. The problem is he’s still due about $6m in salary for this season. It’d also be harsh on Ethan Pocic to shove him out of the line-up given the way he’s played so far. I suppose the question is — how much is it worth to have Mack/Pocic as your center depth instead of Pocic/Finney? At the moment things are fine but a Pocic injury could cause problems.

Jacob Hollister has been a big talking point for many months. The Seahawks clearly value him and gave him a second round tender worth $3.25m for this season. I’m not sure anyone would’ve pushed to sign him on the original round tender which would’ve saved Seattle $1.1m but they seemingly didn’t want to take that chance.

Aside from scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion against Dallas — he’s been anonymous. The Seahawks haven’t done a particularly good job getting their tight ends involved which is a big surprise given the massive outlay on the position.

The Seahawks are over a quarter of the season in now and 48 snaps for his sizeable salary is just not making best use of your cap. Clearly Seattle is cautious of being caught out at the position (as they were last season) and maybe Hollister will show his worth in future weeks?

Although it’s a creative idea from Barnwell, the most likely aspect of the deal might simply be McKinley to the Seahawks.

The Falcons insist they won’t blow things up and will let a new GM decide who stays and goes. However, they face a $37.5m black hole for the cap next year and need to make savings. Any cost cutting done now will help.

Atlanta’s new regime deserves the chance to decide on the future of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Grady Jarrett. Other players who are set to be free agents anyway — such as McKinley and Keanu Neal — could be traded for draft compensation they otherwise might not get.

And let’s be right here — they don’t need to worry too much about weakening the team. They’re 0-5 and fired their coach and GM. The best thing for the Falcons right now is to gain a top-five draft pick in order to make it a really attractive proposition for the new front office.

Barnwell makes a good point — if the Seahawks can’t acquire a top edge rusher, they might have to collect players and roll with it. They started the 2020 season without even a proper rotation. Adding McKinley to go with Jonathan Bullard and presumably Snacks Harrison means greater depth.

McKinley fits a lot of what Seattle likes at the position. He has nearly 35-inch arms and he ran a 1.60 10-yard split. His 40-yard dash was an excellent 4.59. He’s quick and explosive — something they badly lack.

He never put it together in Atlanta. He had 13 sacks in his first two years but only has 4.5 since. Can he come to Seattle and replace the production they were banking on from Bruce Irvin? Perhaps.

A three-team trade might be unrealistic but a straight trade for a day-three pick could be reasonable for a rental. The cost in terms of cap hit is minimal.

I’d also be pushing for the Seahawks to pursue Keanu Neal too — one of my favourite players to cover in the draft over the last 12 years. However, the Falcons wouldn’t save any money from trading him on his fifth year option. Quandre Diggs has not played well so far but I can’t imagine the Seahawks moving on from him. He simply has to play better — although I’m not sure all the shifting between blitzing/not blitzing has done much for players like Diggs.

The other defensive end Barnwell suggests could be moved is Ryan Kerrigan, who he has going to San Francisco in exchange for Dante Pettis. Given that Pettis has practically no value currently, this would be another deal the Seahawks could and should pursue.

After registering two sacks in week one, Kerrigan has been very quiet since. However, he has a proven ability to get after the quarterback and rush the edge. That is what the Seahawks need right now — and he’s much more proven than McKinley. You know what you’re going to get. He’d also be a lot more expensive and the Seahawks would need to create some space to bring him in. Perhaps they could send a couple of players Washington’s way?

There seems to be some growing momentum around the trade deadline this year. In previous seasons there’s been an increase in activity. We’re seeing big trades completed mid-season. We’ve seen surprise trades. With such an uncertain economic future for the NFL in 2021, things could get pretty interesting in the next 7-10 days.

The Seahawks, surely, have to be active. They’ve never gone quietly into the night. The cost of the Jamal Adams trade has hampered their ability to make further deals but now isn’t the time to be conservative. Not at 5-0 with a big opportunity to finally launch a serious Super Bowl run.

They created the need to be aggressive with a confusing off-season where they failed to address the D-line properly. As a consequence the defense is struggling. The deadline is coming and it’ll be the last possible opportunity to make an upgrade.

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151 Comments

  1. Volume12

    If they could fit Mack in, cap wise, I’d think you gotta pull the trigger. This is where I wish the NFL was more like the NBA. Get Takk, flip Mack for some assets.

  2. CaptainJack

    Takk makes too much sense. Moving Hollister would be great considering they reportedly like what they have in Sullivan. Anything to get Finney out of town would be fantastic.

    All these ideas sound good, I just worry the front office doesn’t see the pass rush as much of a problem, like we do.

  3. Rob Staton

    FYI — There won’t be any more PFF grade articles on the blog. They sent me an email today saying we’re not allowed to post the data.

    So no more articles discussing PFF. Shame.

    • CaptainJack

      Wow… who snitched.

    • Chase

      Will the weekly podcast now include a discussion of the grades? It was nice while it lasted.

      • Rob Staton

        Nope, done with them.

        If they expect people to pay $200 to read their weekly grades, good luck to them.

        • Sea Mode

          ^this^

          and don’t even want writers of a free blog to actually use their grades, which you would think help their credibility…

    • TomLPDX

      Dang! Those were starting to be my favorite weekly breakdown articles by you.

    • Volume12

      Don’t know if you’d have the time or even be willing to do it, but can you get ahold of the ALL-22 tape and break it down yourself?

      • Rob Staton

        I doubt I’d be able to do it justice.

    • Aaron

      Can’t post or talk about PFF grades on SDB while I see those same stats talked about on local radio and other Hawks blogs or vlogs…smdh!!! I guess the next best thing is looking at the all 22 via Gamepass, but that’s about $100 here in the U.S. per season. Or perhaps a link to the PFF grades on PFFs site for the folks that can afford to shell out $200 during a pandemic.

      • Rob Staton

        It’s no loss — I’m sure the people who want those grades will be able to find them on reddit and twitter. We’ll just not write about PFF any more.

    • DougM

      So we are not allowed to post or just you in the article?

      • Rob Staton

        If they get posted, I’ll have to delete it.

    • TomLPDX

      I guess you can always “allude” to the rankings in an article since the data will still probably be available on reddit. Just don’t post the numbers but you can still talk about who was graded well vs. those that didn’t.

    • Elmer

      Can you discuss them qualitatively (good, ok, not ok), without mentioning any numerical scores? The information provides an interesting perspective.

      • Rob Staton

        Can’t be bothered.

        To be honest $200 is a stunning price for seeing week to week grades. If people want to pay that, that’s your choice. I just won’t talk about them from now on.

        • Elmer

          Sounds good, thanks. It might all be guano anyway. We’ll trust our eyes.

  4. L80

    I’m not advocating or anything just reporting that Marsh was cut today by Jax.

    • TomLPDX

      Hey, he’s a warm body that can fill in the rotation, seeing that we don’t really have a rotation…just sayin’

      • Chris Alexander

        And he has some familiarity with the system. Could double up and also poach Jabaal Sheard off the Jaguars’ practice squad. I mean, they’re supposed to be tanking for the #1 pick, right? We’d be doing them a favor.

      • BobbyK

        No. He’s terrible. I guess that means he’d fit right in, but I don’t want someone to fit in. Although McKinley isn’t a stud and Kerrigan isn’t as young as he used to be… at least those to guys would actually be good for the Seahawks.

        • TomLPDX

          Beggars can’t be choosers…

  5. cha

    It hasn’t worked and it’s been a fairly expensive flop. He’s not even getting snaps at backup guard.

    I imagine that has as much to do with Finney being the only backup center active as it does with his play.

    Look what you made me do, Rob. I’m defending BJ Finney.

    I’ll leave now.

    • CaptainJack

      A scenario exists where Pocic goes out late in the season with an injury and Finney leads the oline to a Super Bowl victory.

      • Volume12

        Man, don’t put that out into the universe.

      • Volume12

        NM, I thought u said ‘cost us a SB.’

      • Sea Mode

        They’d probably just bring back Joey Hunt…

      • cha

        That’s like 1985A where Biff Tannen is married to Marty’s mom.

      • Mike

        Im glad Pocic has stepped up and is outplaying expectations. We needed that. But injuries to the line crippled us last year in the playoffs. We cant afford a repeat, and center is the biggest liability other than if duane brown goes down.

        Id take that trade. Mack could always be the backup for a few weeks to learn the offense, and in wouldn’t even be mad. Better to make sure he gels well and knows the system before he would take over. Also lights a fire under pocic to keep growing his game.

        But dropping from pocic to finney would be devastating.

        • Chris Alexander

          Hunt and Britt are both still available. If Seattle were able to move on from Finney, I’d say do it. Roll the dice, keep Kyle Fuller active on game days, and keep Britt and/or Hunt on speed dial.

          That said, I wouldn’t be too torn up if they traded for Mack (and if Finney was part of that deal).

  6. Ukhawk

    Rob. When I previously brought up Takk as a target, you argued pretty hard that it wouldn’t happen. Have u changed your mind?? I’d still love to see it happen.

    • Rob Staton

      No, I didn’t argue pretty hard.

      I simply said it doesn’t have any impact on 2021 and that he was injured (and he was).

  7. Chris

    Rob,
    Do you think Seattle and Dallas could do a little trade dance? With Dak out for the season and Dallas not pulling the trigger with a contract with him this last off season, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dallas tries the tank for Trevor Lawrence or even Justin Fields. I know Dalton was decent in Cincy but he took a backup job for a reason.

    Dallas’s defense is awful and was curious if you thought about trading Barton and Hill for Aldon Smith? Dallas’s Linebackers keep getting hurt and their secondary is pretty light too. I don’t know anything about Smith but he sure seems to be lighting it up this year.

    • Rob Staton

      Jerry won’t tank and I’m pretty sure he intends to keep Dak for the long term.

      • Chris Alexander

        Seconded. Pretty sure Jerry not-so-secretly despises any team that deliberately loses. And Dak is his guy. 4-6 months recovery time for the ankle injury isn’t bad – especially as bad as it looked. Dak will still be starting there a decade from now if Jerry has his way.

        Would NOT MIND seeing Aldon Smith in a Seahawks uniform though. If nothing else, it would mean he couldn’t sack Russ in the playoffs.

      • Ryan

        Not to mention they’re in a division where 6-10 might win it and they have one of the top 3 backup QB situations in the league. They aren’t tanking.

  8. Rob Staton

    Nothing sums up Seahawks fans in 2020 like a few days pissing and moaning about Dan Hanzus putting Seattle at #6 in his power rankings — a perfectly acceptable ranking.

    • Uncle Bob

      Amen. His reasoning that the defense scares him is sound. 6ish seems reasonable to me as well.

      • Whit21

        I think all of the NFC west hasn’t played quality opponents yet. NE is always pretty good.. but the rams have gotten to play the Giants and Jets, and really didn’t blow away the Giants like most people thought they would have. 6th ranked means nothing right now, anyway.. None of the rankings mean anything. It matters who wins and loses in the post season.

        • Chris Alexander

          The Rams didn’t play the Jets (yet). Their 4 wins are against the NFC Least teams – Washington, Dallas, NYG, and Philly. Their loss was to the Bills.

    • Michigan 12th

      I’m surprised were ranked number 6. We are like the Packer 5 years ago. We have a great quarterback but no defense. We will start losing these games we are winning when the weather gets cold if we don’t get someone who can get after the QB, and if we don’t find some way to stop the run. We are pretenders until the defense gets something or our players start over achieving.

  9. Aaron

    Five or six seems fair to me given their clear lack to talent and production on defense. I think Cowherd had them around there too in his weekly Herd Hierarchy. They can’t go higher than four imo until they do whatever it takes to bring in more defensive help.

    • Rob Staton

      It’s disappointing how whiney a section of the fan base has become.

      ‘How dare you say the Seahawks are only the sixth best team in the world’

      • TomLPDX

        I actually give more credence to those that rank the Seahawks in a more balanced way. Offensively they are #1 but defensively…#32. Fortunately our ST unit is doing well and probably top 5 and that is important as well. I actually think the Packers should be higher than us and we don’t know enough about the Rams to say they aren’t a better balanced team either. BTW, I’m a realist diehard fan!

        • Chris Alexander

          They’re really only #32 on defense in yards – both passing yards and total yards. In most other defensive categories they’re in the 16-26 range. Still not “good” but certainly not last.

      • 12th chuck

        I wont mention any sites, but they have seahawks as number one ranking. There is no way, no how they are that good, and I thought it might and should tarnish their reputation a bit.

        • Chris Alexander

          That unnamed site, and others like it, have the tendency of doing their regular season rankings based on their preseason rankings – i.e. if they think KC is going to be #1 then they were going to be #1 even if their starting QB had opted out due to COVID. Add to that their historical reluctance to leapfrog teams over other teams that haven’t yet lost and you end up with Seattle at #1 because they’re 5-0 and the teams that were between them and the #1 spot to start the season have all lost – some of them 3 times (*cough* San Francisco *cough*).

          At least they got the “Biggest Weakness” right – The defense.

          Personally, I think Seattle would/should rank between 4 and 7 in most “objective” polls.

  10. John seahawk

    Kerrigan or McKinley? I’ll go with the Dion Sanders answer, both. No idea how that could happen. But I subscribe to the theory that what is between us and a legit shot at a superbowl this year, is the secondary pieces we already have coming together and ability to rush the passer.

    • Scot04

      I’m sure many of us would like to see both added. Chances of both happening about 0. I hate to say it, but I don’t see them adding a guy like Kerrigan at all. I hope they prove me wrong.

      • Sean-O

        I think Kerrigan makes sense (veteran not in the plans for the future, last year of his deal) but the way the NFC East is going, WFT might be buyers at the deadline. 8-8 might get it done. I think benching Haskins & going with Allen, a guy who know Rivera’s system, alludes to that.

      • John seahawk

        You are probably right, it is just so rare that you have a team that on both offense and special teams screams “WE CAN WIN A SUPERBOWL NOW!!!” and on defense at linebacker you can see Bobby, KJ and a first round pick being capable. You can imagine Adams, Griffin, Dunbar and Diggs doing it. But I can’t see it with the line we have, to many rotational guys being asked for more than they have to give. If Pete Carrol can win a super bowl with this group it will be his defensive masterpiece.

        • Rob Staton

          “If Pete Carrol can win a super bowl with this group it will be his defensive masterpiece.”

          If the Seahawks win a Super Bowl with this group, it’ll be because Wilson pulled off a miracle.

  11. Spectator

    Awesome podcast Rob. Such fun to listen to while in car.

    Quick question, I recently saw reports people are inquiring about quinnen williams form jets. Any thought that we might be one of those inquiring? They owe us for the deal we gave for Adams, and maybe they want the rest of our draft picks lol

    • Rob Staton

      I suspect the Jets would expect at least a second round pick. Not sure I’d do it for a player who has been inconsistent and nothing like what he was at Alabama. I’d be more inclined to take the risk if he was an EDGE.

      • Spectator

        Thank you for the response, Rob. I was thinking that he would be worth a 2nd initially, but you are right.

  12. charlietheunicorn

    DE Takkarist McKinley

    Here is the major reason why he would not be coming to Seattle….the dude has been injured multiple games now, groin strain, which can knock a guy out for weeks or months if not managed properly. Would you sacrifice some cap space for a guy who is damaged goods? Ultimately, just to dump some sunken cost on the team cap already and compound that with less resources later?

    At 6’2″ 250, where would he fit? He is smaller than a traditional 3 down DE or is he more a pass rushing specialist in the Seattle scheme?

    • 12th chuck

      unfortunately, I don’t think pc/js consider being injury prone high enough on their value chart evaluating players. The fact he has an groin injury now should be a consideration

    • Steve Nelsen

      McKinley’s 10-yard split is one of the key measurements Rob has identified that Seattle seems to value in their LEO prospects. So, he would fit in a rotation at that spot with Benson Mayowa. He would seem to be a reasonable gamble for a Day 3 pick.

      Kerrigan is a bit more of a risk-reward proposition given his past production, salary and current production.

  13. Nathan

    I don’t know enough to speak about nearly anything, but I will talk a bit anyways lol. I really hope JS makes a legit move to find us some pass rush. Kerrigan is definitely the #1 name I have heard about and have been paying attention to. But I’m because of the cap space situation many teams will be in, deals will abound. Here’s hoping we get someone good who can add some spark to our rush, allowing our other rushers to play less snaps and get less attention.

    And our trade compensation? Finney and Hollister really do come to mind. My issue with trading Finney would be if Pocic got hurt later in the season or even in the playoffs, Finney should be ready to step in and quite possibly be a slight upgrade in play quality. However, if PCJS are good with say signing Britt to be our backup C and trading Finney, I don’t believe I’d hate that move. If I remember correctly we shouldn’t bet on Kyle Fuller (C/G) being a quality C who can take over if Pocic got hurt.

    Trading away Hollister makes sense given his price. I agree he hasn’t lived up to his price and is a small use weapon but we use him pretty uniquely and to lose that would sorta suck. But I’m very open to trading both. We’re supposedly deep at TE, with Olsen, Greg, Willson and hopefully Parkinson is ready to go when he can get off NFI (week 9?).

    • Robbie

      Keep in mind Britt is still available as well.

      • Steve Nelsen

        Yes. PRt of what set Finney behind was trying to learn the line calls in a new scheme during an on-line training camp. If Britt is healthy, he would be plug and play.

      • Nathan

        Exactly, I mentioned him. He’s likely an average C but he knows Russ, the offense and as a backup or starter (if Pocic got hurt and Fuller isn’t good enough to start) I think we’d all be accepting of that.

        I’d rather have a good pass rusher than a late round pick and Finney on the roster. Find pass rush please John.

  14. Nathan

    I look at our defense and I really think we are a #1 pass rusher and staying healthy away from going from bad to pretty good. I think about our guys;

    Corners: Dunbar who’s look better last we saw him and same with Quill. Ugo has looked good vs the run and pass which is fantastic news after losing Blair.

    Safeties: Diggs I suspect has been goodish and has the potential to be much better, especially once he gets Adams back. Adams is Adams. And Neal has really show up, earning Nickel snaps when Adams gets back.

    Linebackers: KJ is dope. Bobby is dope. Cody is a backup but let’s get Brooks back. And let’s keep using Quem.

    DL: So far it seems like everyone is doing what you should expect of them (in a good way). The only one with a higher ceiling than he is playing is Reed, but he is playing well. So if you add a DE1 along with getting Green back and hopefully Taylor at some point you’ve got a rotation. You’ve got the guys playing now playing less snaps per game. You’ve also got them playing the roles they should be (like Mayowa being a DE2) and that helping them because opposing teams will need to focus their pass pro on our new DE1, resulting in less attention (additional blockers, double teams, etc) being put on our other rushers. That should allow them to make more of an impact.

    I really think a low-key huge piece on our def is Dunbar. He’s gotta stay healthy. Flowers has been flaming trash that opposing offenses pick on once he comes in and don’t stop because he gives up everything.

  15. CaptainJack

    A 6th in the league ranking is fine, and even generous considering our strength of schedule and historically bad defensive stats. A ranking shouldn’t be only based off of record, especially in football, but on how confident you feel that team would beat the teams ranked below it. Right now, I wouldn’t want to watch a seahawks game vs the chiefs, titans, packers, ravens, or even steelers. I just wouldn’t. Not after needing an improbable comeback drive to put away the lowly 1-4 vikings. We need some dominant or at least comfortable wins to build up confidence. The cardinals are a good team but they’re in no means great, they turn over the ball on offense and they’re shaky on third down. They just lost Candler Jones and behind him there’s not much generating a pass-rush in Arizona. This is a team the Seahawks have the capability to soundly defeat. So don’t mess around, strike early and often. Put them away. Create turnovers on defense and make third down stops. Gain that respect and confidence.

  16. Aaron

    Bell to the Chiefs per Schefter

    They can have his ego and overpriced production. I’m glad the Bell to Seattle talk is over.

    • TomLPDX

      Is it me or does this seem like overkill for offensive players on the Chiefs? Only one guy gets to touch it at a time.

      • Rusty

        They’re not particularly great/deep at RB though. Well … weren’t

      • CaptainJack

        They have Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who is awesome and averaging 103 total yards/ game, but they could use more depth at running back.

      • Troy

        If you are Mahomes and EVER complain about lack of weapons you would be out of your god damn mind. Got to appreciate how well they surround and support Mahomes with talent/weapons.

        • Chase

          Is it just me or are we a frank clark away from being the chiefs?

        • Big Mike

          Chiefs actually aren’t real deep at RB. They’ve got Clyde E-H and Darrell Williams and that’s about it. Damian Williams (last year’s #1 back) opted out this season.

          • Volume12

            Agreed. CEH is good, might even end up being great. They needed another RB though. Think it’s a great fit w/ Andy Reid’s offense.

      • Chris Alexander

        Yeah … scary to think about the Chiefs adding another weapon but I put the over/under on Bell bitching about his snap count and touches at 6 games.

        Seattle did well to avoid that headache.

    • Steve Nelsen

      I was totally wrong about Le’Veon. I thought there was no way any team would pay him more than he was getting from the Jets and no way he’d play for free. If he has ANYTHING left in the tank, KC will find a way to get it out of him.

  17. GoHawksDani

    How about R2+Hollister for Kerrigan and R4 AND
    R5 for Tak?
    Boost inside and outside?
    That would be good times and show that Schneider didn’t lose his mojo.
    I doubt Sweat is available but wow just watched the Rams game and that man is awesome.
    Even without a chance to win he run down Akers for a tackle and hassled all game. I’d happily give up like R2+Hollister for him. Even some R5-R6 to top it off

    • Rob Staton

      That’s too expensive for Kerrigan.

  18. Troy

    I don’t see the Mack deal as making any sense. Pocic is finally looking good (after we put him back at his natural spot), and it wouldn’t make sense to bring on 6 mil for a back up center, OR switch starting centers midway through the season.

    For center depth, we have both Joey Hunt and Justin Britt on the ghost roster (I believe).

    I would love us to get ANY good DE who can rush the passer. If we can give up a 5th or 6th rd pick and get a guy who can give us 6-8 sacks the rest of the way, and put consistent pressure on the QB for the rest of the year I would take that in a heart beat, even if its a one year rental.

    • Troy

      I agree with you Rob that we should try and get rid of Finney if possible that was a terrible signing and the sooner they move on the better.

    • GoHawksDani

      You won’t get a guy after 1/3 of the season is done for an R2 or later that will bring you around 7 sacks. At least I doubt it. That would mean that he would’ve been able to get 10+ sacks for the full year. Maybe some miracle can happen, but I’d think more in the 4-5 sacks for 10-11 games range

      • Rob Staton

        Well it depends how often they play.

        There are 11 games left. Six or seven sacks in 11 games isn’t out of the question if the player is good enough.

  19. AlphaDK

    Is Takkarist even an improvement to Mayowa? when I compare their production, I do not see McKinley as a superior player. Haven’t broken down any tape.

    Might be nice to have Mack as a backup and replacement starter, but if we trade BJ Finney away, we have zero centers on the roster for 2021. Maybe the BJ signing is a disaster, but it seems premature to accept that as fact.

    • Steve Nelsen

      It is hard to judge backups in 2020 with no training camp or preseason games to evaluate.

    • DougM

      On a rating order I would put McKinley at 34, Mayowa at 80, and Kerrigan at 96 if you know what I mean.

  20. BruceN

    Kerrigan would be a better trade for both teams. He’s still capable to be a productive edge rusher, an older player who is not in the main rotation and an expensive player on a last year contract. So we get a player we need and Washington can move an expensive player who is not in their future plans and get cap relief plus draft picks. But they are only one game out of the top of the NFC Least division. The last part was more of a sarcasm.

    • Chris Alexander

      With Dak out for the season and Dallas’s defense playing as badly as it has, I’d actually put money on Washington finishing ahead of them in the standings. Not that finishing first in the NFC Least means anything other than hosting a wild card game and then watching the rest of the playoffs on TV. Still, that might be enough to convince the team to hang onto their guys at the deadline.

  21. Ashish

    If any trade to happen this week will be ideal. Hope we find a good DE young or vet.

    • Chris Alexander

      Agreed. As was pointed out in the ESPN piece about Bell joining KC, players have to go through a 6-day COVID protocol so it basically takes a week to even get them on the practice field.

  22. dcd2

    Had a 3 hour drive today and 2/3 of it sucked. The other hour I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast. Really appreciate that it’s available via the standard mediums (Apple for me). Is there any chance you and Robbie can get your Pod’s onto Apple/Spotify/etc.?

    Tell Stuart and Adam that the ‘prep’ and ‘glamor’ were top notch!

    • Adam nathan

      Thanks so much! Delighted you enjoyed the show!

  23. Chris Alexander

    Of all the players listed in the Barnwell article, I’d vote for grabbing Kerrigan. He’s pricey – almost $700k per game; he’d count about $6.91M against our cap if we got him after the Arizona game.

    McKinley would be a nice “value” pickup; he would cost us about $110k per game (~$1.1M, depending on when the trade was made).

    Could definitely see JS bringing in 2 or 3 guys at the deadline this season.

    Should be interesting.

    • Chris Alexander

      Other players in the Barnwell piece that stand out to me:

      LB Haasan Reddick from Arizona – he’s a former 1st round pick who, by most accounts, hasn’t lived up to his draft status. But he’d provide quality depth for our linebackers and he’s an affordable 1/2-year rental – assuming, of course, that Arizona would trade him to a division rival.

      CB Justin Layne from the Steelers – would love to see him on the field instead of Flowers – and he actually makes a hair LESS than Tre does.

      S Bradley McDougald from the Jets – not that we “need” him per se, but I feel for the guy – through no fault of his own he ended up having to play for the Jets . . . and I like him as a player. C’mon home, Bradley.

  24. Lukas

    Maybe I missed it in the comments but what it is your personal opinion on the value of the trades suggested? To me they sound incredible cheap, both the Takk and the Kerrigan deal. I would agree in a second as a Seahawks fan. Do you agree as well of are there some concerns I‘m missing?

    • Rob Staton

      I suppose a year ago we might’ve thought a R5 for Quandre Diggs was cheap.

      It’s hard to project value, especially with the financial uncertainty in the league currently.

  25. Trevor

    Does anyone else still finding incredible that we are paying the more in cap space for Hollister and Finney than the Falcons are paying for Dante Fowler

    Fowler 2020 Cap $6.6mil
    Quinn $6.1 mil

    Finney $3.5 mil
    Hollister $3.2 mil

    I know neither of those guys is having a career year but they would be enormous upgrades to what we currently have in place of 2 guys who have played about 60 snaps total.

    • Rob Staton

      Yes, of course.

      Not so much in relation to Dante Fowler but definitely in the case of spending as much as they did and getting very, very little in return.

      • Trevor

        I guess I meant any of the pass rushers who were available. Robert Quinn, Fowler and Griffen all have cap hits less than Hollister and Finney.

    • Ukhawk

      LMAO

    • Morgan Goulet

      I hate being angry this early in the morning.

    • Steve Nelsen

      Yes. But you forgot to include Fowler’s $14M signing bonus. And the fact that he has as many sacks as Benson Mayowa.

      • Steve Nelsen

        If you want a different comparison; Seattle got Jarran Reed, Brandon Shell and Benson Mayowa for the same bonus/salary cost as Atlanta pause for Fowler. And avoided $20M cap hits in 2021 and 2022.

        • Ashish

          Good one Steve. Understanding salary cap is an art.

        • Trevor

          The problem with that scenario though Steve is that Benson and Reid are not signed beyond this year so our starting DT and Edge rusher need to be replaced and I am guess will cost a lot more than a $14 mil in signing bonus.

          • Steve Nelsen

            Jarran Reed is signed for next year. And Fowler is scheduled to get paid over $20M next year in salary.

    • Kingdome1976

      Also Fowler wanted to go to the falcons.

    • Cortez Kennedy

      Yes, I’ve been whining about Fowler and Quinn for awhile now.

      • Steve Nelsen

        Quinn had a $12.5M signing bonus, $30M guaranteed. Also 1 sack so far this year. Same as Benson Mayowa.

  26. Tree

    I know everyone had their own view of the off-season and I am sure everyone got some things right and wrong (I was dead wrong on thinking they should move along from KJ). But in light of the cap going down and the lack of sacks, strong PFF grades and/or even playing from Clowney, Quinn, Fowler and Griffin, would you really want those guys knowing the effect on the cap next year or not having a guy like KJ this year? I think all the finger pointing over Finney is over blown. $3.5 is not a ton of money and we couldn’t go all in on Pocic without having a veteran hedge. That said,
    I am all in on moving him and Hollister now (resign Britt as a backup) and it will be interesting to see if we get a better guy on a better contract by being patient and not overpaying in FA (which usually doesn’t workout). In terms of adding our annual vet DT, I think that we are 5-0 and got the best option out there (plus added Rush in the meantime) that strategy worked out.

    • Jimbo

      I think the problem people had was that they seemed to prioritize those backup caliber talents like finney, ahead of the starting caliber talents for the pass rush. If you don’t have enough cash to sign a vet like finney, after securing the vital needs for pass rush, then so be it. Wilson found ways to get it done with Joey freaking Hunt at center. It was the first half gameplan/playcalling that screwed them.

      Start with the stud pass rushers, then anything else like Greg Olsen, Finney, Ogbuehi ect are just luxuries if they can still fit them under the cap.

    • Logan Lynch

      My view on Finney is the same as it was with Flynn. The signing made sense at the time and gave them an option. Someone else stepped up, took the job, and ran with it. If you can get value for him and have a backup plan (Fuller, Britt, etc.), go for it.

    • cha

      I don’t accept your premise that it was “the Hawks must choose between KJ and a pass rusher”. KJ was never getting cut, and there were plenty of other ways to get a pass rusher on board.

      As for the options and their FPP grades (that’s what I’m calling them now to avoid the internet police) I would LOVE to have a Clowney absorbing double teams and having low sack numbers and fielding complaints from fans that Reed and Mayowa and Adams have more sacks than our highly-paid pass rusher if it means a less putrid defense.

      • Rob Staton

        And Clowney’s PFFFFFFFT grade is good too

      • Volume12

        Someone’s a cop caller

        • Big Mike

          Freaking narcs man!

  27. Jimbo

    Is Kerrigan better suited for 5T or Leo if the Hawks got him?

    Takkarist McKinley is a Leo, but do you see him as a SLB as well?

  28. clbradley17

    Speaking of numbers, Brady Henderson and ESPN had a variety of good with the O and ST, and the flip side with the D today. Some surprises: “66.7% — Seattle’s pass block win rate
    That’s fifth best. You read that right: The Seahawks — based on ESPN’s metric that uses NFL Next Gen Stats to measure how frequently linemen sustain blocks for 2.5 seconds or longer — have been one of the league’s best pass-blocking teams through five weeks. They were 28th last year at 53.5%.

    They have a league-high 56 points off turnovers this season, turning eight of them into touchdowns. The other two allowed them to kneel out the clock.

    The Seahawks have downed a league-high 15 of Michael Dickson’s 22 punts inside the 20. They also have the most punts downed inside the 10 (eight) and 5 (three).”

    https://www.espn.com/blog/seattle-seahawks/post/_/id/34399/defense-leaking-russell-wilson-cooking-five-numbers-on-seahawks-5-0-start

    • dcd2

      We haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row of defenses, but that’s certainly nice to see. I doubt any of the teams we have faced are in the top half of the league for rushing the passer (maybe NE).

      As Rob said on the podcast, the LAR game will be very telling… for a number of reasons, including if we can keep RW clean. That will likely be the best defense we face all year, and they have had our number of late with their OFF vs our DEF as well.

    • Lewis

      Most of the times Russ was sacked, he held the ball quite a long time. At least, it seemed that way to me. Personally I’d like to see them using more outlet stuff when teams are taking away the deep ball, as they did in the Vikings game. More TE involvement and passes to RBs like at the start of the season, less dependence on 40 yard bombs

  29. cha

    Jamal Adams
    @Prez
    11m
    Life will mature you!

    And the Seahawk defense will give you nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, dizziness, weak spells and uncontrollable falling down.

    • clbradley17

      This is the way.

    • Lewis

      It’s like a commercial for Hawkalimumab

  30. Volume12

    Is it true Joe Burrows hasn’t completed a pass of 20+ yds?

    Watched some Georgia last night. Azeez Ojulari, who Rob profiled, is absolutely exciting. Love his flexibility & ability to soften edges/angles. Plays hard too.

    Their corners caught my eye. #27 Eric Stokes & #3 Tyson Campbell. Campbell probably has more traits & definitely size, but has yet to put it all together. Stokes plays physical all the way through routes, locates the ball well, has a nice intensity about him, good size & speed. Just a damn good cover corner.

    • Chase

      According to ESPN his longest pass of the season is 42 yards, and just off the top of my head I can think of a couple passes he completed in that range.

      • Lewis

        Perhaps they meant through the air?

        • Chase

          That’s likely the case then.

  31. juju

    Mentioned this as an option last week…

    “Former Cowboys DE David Irving has been conditionally reinstated by the NFL, per source. He is a free agent and can sign with a team at any time.”

    • Steve Nelsen

      He would be a low-cost option. He was an effective pass rusher when he played. 6 teams are interested. How many are in states where recreational marijuana is legal? That might give the Seahawks an edge.

    • charlietheunicorn

      He comes with a considerable amount of baggage. He had a DV charge (I believe) and multiple substance abuse issues. He also has 2 or 3 seasons where he picked up an injury and ended up on IR by the end of the year. Nothing freak, just little injuries that finished his season. At 6’7″ 290, he would clog up the middle, but I’m not sure where he is in his headspace.

      • Lewis

        He tested positive for marijuana multiple times, a substance they no longer test for. Doesn’t sound like a major issue to me.

    • Chase

      Can’t be worse than what we are fielding right now

    • Trevor

      Seems like a bonehead and lots of baggage but when he is on that boy is a flat out beast. Worth kicking the tires I think. Look how the Aldon Smith gamble is working out so far.

      • Lewis

        His baggage seems pretty minor, honestly. Nor do I think he is a bonehead, given he started a CBD business and a marijuana activism newsletter after he left the league. It is, however, clear he cares more about being able to use cannabis than play football. But if that’s the only issue, I’m not sure that’s a problem.

        I guess the real question is, how much does he care about football. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

        • Big Mike

          Sign him, room him with Flash when he gets reinstated. I foresee no issues in that situation.

          I kid, I kid

        • CaptainJack

          From the Iowa State Daily

          “Facing various charges stemming from the Veishea riot, ISU defensive tackle David Irving has been dismissed from the ISU football team.

          Irving was photographed carrying a stop sign and seen on video helping take down a light pole during the riot in Campustown in Ames on April 8 and was criminally charged with fifth degree theft, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief in the second degree, a Class ‘D’ felony April 11.

          One day after being suspended indefinitely for a violation of the ISU student-athlete code of conduct policy, ISU coach Paul Rhoads announced April 12 after his team’s spring game that Irving had been dismissed from the team.”

          So he was suspended from college ball for some shenanigans that happened during a protest/riot? Oh, and he “quit” football to advocate for the players ability to smoke weed. Sounds like he’s the perfect fit for seattle.

    • DC

      The best part of that potential signing is that we would finally have a ‘true’ Irving on the roster. Folks have been writing about Bruce Irving, on & off, for the better part of a decade.

    • CaptainJack

      Sign me up, love Irving’s game.

    • Darnell

      I’d be very interested in Irving.

      With Randy Gregory coming back I wonder if Everson Griffen becomes available considering how poorly he has played (not that I would want him on the Hawks with how he’s looked thus far).

  32. jed

    Fun podcast … thanks for sharing.

    That Cliff Avril made me miss him on the DL and he would have been a perfect player for this team. Probably because they were on the same team, that story got me thinking about Doug Baldwin. How fun would this year’s offense be with Doug, Tyler, and DK as the top 3 WR?

    • Sea Mode

      I too have thought about Doug with Tyler and DK, though I’m equally convinced of Rob’s observation that removing Doug was certainly part of the Russell Wilson explosion we’ve seen these past two seasons.

      • Darnell

        Doug was heavily involved (14 tds in 2015) during Russ’s previous explosion. Not sure I see a correlation.

        • Rob Staton

          Doug Baldwin also thought he had to hold Wilson to account, constantly offered backhanded compliments and seemed to be very much part of a movement within the locker room that never quite ‘got’ Wilson.

          Since he retired, Wilson has taken control of the team. He’s the unchallenged face of the franchise, the leader. And he’s played his best football.

          • jed

            Totally agree Doug in the locker room wouldn’t work and maybe Doug retiring & Wilson’s ascent are related more than just timing. I have no real insight though.

            I was more thinking of what it would look like on field, but maybe that would be difficult for the same reason. I also happened to watch the gif of Doug and Josh Norman recently.

  33. BobbyK

    The Giants are 0-5 and Kyler Fackrell only signed a 1-year deal this past off-season. I’m totally up for getting him (I wanted the Hawks to draft him but he didn’t meet their criteria of being a good use of a pick). He has a couple sacks already and a bunch of tackles for a loss. Though he didn’t have sack numbers last year because of the scheme fit with the new DC in Green Bay, he did have 10.5 sacks just two years ago. He’d positively impact the Seahawks.

    • Sea Mode

      I wanted the Hawks to draft him but he didn’t meet their criteria of being a good use of a pick

      Ouch. My man Bobby out here tellin’ it like it is.

      • Big Mike

        Ouch from me too. Nice one Bobby

    • TomLPDX

      Can we get him? I remember you lusting after this dude back then and he has been playing decently.

  34. charlietheunicorn

    Next gen stats

    Most Expected Yards Per Carry (2020)

    Cardinals (4.8)
    Eagles (4.8)
    Chiefs (4.7)
    Patriots (4.7)
    Seahawks (4.7)

    I didn’t realize they were so efficient rushing the ball in 2020.

  35. Richard She

    Remember how Rob’s been talking about how ambitious and assertive Russell Wilson’s become? You can hear it for yourself here on Bill Simmons’s podcast:

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/73qlhYAyZLVSud4sdOlAvN?si=V8S9EAADSX6ZJSCeKowUwg

    He talks about wanting to play until he’s 45. He talks about owning 2 hyperbaric chambers and spending roughly a million dollars a year on his body, from PTs to cooks to his own personal masseuse. He talks about taking a bigger role in the leadership of the team and being the face of the franchise. He’s working behind the scenes and the new success of this years offense has Russ’s fingerprints all over it. This new media blitz just highlights how ambitious he is. Russ wants to win titles with an S. And then he wants to own a team, just like Rob’s been saying.

    Couple interesting tidbits:
    1) Russ talks about how competitive the practices were in 2012, with the LoB talking trash and starting fights damn near every day. He says going against that defense in practice prepared him to succeed in any real game.

    2) Russ refers to how deep the team was in 2012-2015. Remember when our 2s and 3s were killing people in preseason? What happened to that? People talk about JS’s misses in R1, but what happened to our depth? We talk a lot on the blog how the Hawks are one good edge rusher away from being a decent D. But happens if you have a Nick Bosa and then you lose him for the year? What happens if Cliff Avril goes down in the super bowl? You can’t just fall apart. I think schematically, you have to build a team that can field a competent D even if a couple key players get hurt, because that always happens.

    3) I can’t help but imagine if we could have had a couple more titles if we’d opened the offense up all the way back in 2012. Look at what Saban’s done at Alabama. The conservative approach that PC took just removed all of our margin for error. When you’re the better team, you want more possessions. Combine a generational QB with an all-time D (Russ + LoB), and one title is just not enough. We could have been Tua + Alabama.

  36. Roger Davis

    This Sunday the Rams and 49ers go at it. For us Hawks fans there is a VERY IMPORTANT situation I suggest we should place close attention to.

    Last year the Rams invested 2 First Round picks and a 4th round pick in Jalen Ramsey. They have now signed him to a $105 million dollar contract. Sound a lot like our Jamal Adams situation? Here’s a quote from David Lombardi over at The Athletic: “The Rams rank #1 in net yards allowed per pass attempt, and they’re doing so by deploying Ramsey… – all over the defensive formation.”

    In (M(H)O), it seems to me that our use of Adams has resulted in as much noise and confusion as it has in solid accomplishments. Blitzes being attempted while uncovered receivers are running terrifyingly open way too much.

    It will be interesting to see how the Rams use their wild card multi-millionaire man of all trades so we can compare it to how the Hawks will be using our (soon to be) multi-millionaire man of all trades.

    I tape the Hawk games and then re-watch them a couple of times over the next week, mostly to see how the O and D lines have played. Ill be taping the Rams/49ers and re-watching how they use Ramsey. It will be interesting the following week to see how our use of Adams compares.

    • Lewis

      This a direct result of not having someone that can win with speed on the edge. They were trying to cover for that deficiency but blitzing Adams far too much.

      • Roger Davis

        Lewis – at this point it doesn’t matter WHY we are doing it, at this point it matters HOW to use a brilliant player in multiple positions, play by play, and how to make it work. If it can work.

        Sunday, we’ve got the Rams with a guy like Jamal – playing “all over the defensive formation”, like Jamal does and I WANT to see how the Rams coaches DO THIS – WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE, does it work, how do the other 10 players on the team react???

        Remember, they also have Aaron Donald doing more or less the same thing on the Dline. How is this all schemed? How is it orchestrated? Is the way forward a defensive back and defensive lineman playing independently of the other 9 players an actual scheme?

        Is chaos the new scheme? Can it be made to work?

        Tune in Sunday to the Rams/49ers – by the games end I’ll know more than I do now! Hopefully, we see something constructive Pete can use going forward. If he future is just to release the Kraken – then let the beast loose!

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