According to reports, Randy Moss snubbed Seattle’s offer of a NFL return
Seahawks wanted Randy Moss?
According to this article in the Denver Post, reliable NFL Insider Jay Glazer reported Seattle approached Moss about a return to the NFL. It appears he declined the offer, but has since hinted he’d be willing to come out of retirement again to play for either Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.
There are two thoughts here. Firstly — the Seahawks were clearly pining for a big target after they realized Percy Harvin’s days were numbered in Seattle. You can add Moss’ name to Vincent Jackson, Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron and Coby Fleener — all reported targets. Even at 37 Moss would’ve also provided a genuine deep threat (he did for the 49ers in 2012). Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, it seems inevitable this will be a targeted need during the off-season.
Secondly, it’s interesting that Moss chose not to accept the offer — while seemingly leaving the door open for a different type of return to the game. It’s not unfair to suggest this is probably down to Seattle’s style of offense. In New England he’d potentially reignite his rapport with Tom Brady and go back to the big production he experienced last time out with the Patriots. In Seattle he’d be like every other receiver — feeding off scraps (potentially 2-3 targets per game).
Sure, he could be joining a contender. But he also might spend several weeks acting as a decoy. Is he really going to leave a nice warm studio at FOX Sports to run deep routes in the rain so Russell Wilson can scramble for a seven yard gain?
Unfortunately this could be a problem in free agency. If you’re a top receiver used to putting up big numbers — are you going to sign for Seattle? Are you prepared to accept you might be consigning yourself to multiple years of 700-900 yard seasons? And how much are you going to need to be compensated to ignore the attentions of another team who happens to be fielding a gunslinger at quarterback?
This is the type of dilemma potentially facing the Seahawks as they look for a big target (and it might be why they considered the trade market). In reality is a Dez Bryant or Demaryius Thomas (for example) more likely to re-sign in Dallas or Denver where they’ll get the chance to put up Hall of Fame numbers AND compete for a Championship, or will they go to a team that is flirting with a multi-year Super Bowl window and accept they might not top 1000 yards in a season?
Whatever anyone says, receivers love stats. Why else is Golden Tate reveling in Detroit? He’s the same player as last year. Except this season he’s getting a ton of attention. He deserves it. He’s enjoying it.
If the Seahawks can’t convince Moss to have one last go for a ring — can they truly convince a leading tight end or receiver to sign in free agency without paying over the odds? Will they be forced to consider giving up even more trade stock to address this need?
What now for Marcus Peters?
#Huskies: UW’s Chris Petersen on dismissal of star Marcus Peters: ‘I don’t think anybody on… http://t.co/9uLGoVHR9Y http://t.co/5GzxK6M9VV
— Washington Huskies (@huskiesdispatch) November 6, 2014
This had been coming. Seemingly a constant headache this season for first year Head Coach Chris Petersen, Peters had already served one suspension. Clearly it didn’t act as a sufficient warning. He’ll turn pro next year with a big old red flag attached to his back.
The big question is — how much will it impact his draft stock?
NFL.com are running an article that says at least three teams will take him off their draft board. Clashing with coaches, as Peters apparently did, will be seen as a big no-no for many. Especially in a year where several players have created havoc off the field and in the locker room. I suspect a theme in the off-season will be damage limitation.
“How can we avoid bringing in a future problem?”
Of course that will create opportunities for those still willing to take a risk. Seattle aren’t going to back off. At least I doubt it. They haven’t come this far to suddenly become all precious. Yet even Pete Carroll and John Schneider have their limits. The question is — when teams dig around, how bad are the issues with Peters?
Overall he was a pretty overrated player in my opinion. Certainly a player who needed a lot of fine tuning and good coaching. He was intriguing from a Seattle perspective because he had a physical edge and had a knack for making plays. The Stanford game in 2013 stood out as the ultimate potential-tape for Peters. And yet he never showed enough consistency at Washington to warrant all the first round hype. There are games where he got beat badly. Some of the physical stuff makes up for a lack of pure technique. The NFL is forcing corners to harness technique over aggressive physical play.
He needed to go to a team with a proven track record of coaching up DB’s. I also think he probably needed to go somewhere without any sense of entitlement. If teams feel that way — don’t be shocked if he goes undrafted. The NFL has no problem teaching prospects a lesson (see: Vontaze Burfict) — it doesn’t matter how talented you might be. In many ways it could salvage Peters career if he gets that type of wake up call.
I’m not convinced he’ll drop that far although we don’t know enough about his dismissal to make a serious judgement. It really comes down to how much teams believe in the potential (which is evident). He’ll be helped by a total dearth of top tier cornerbacks in this class. Anyone with a big need at the position might feel it’s worth taking a shot as early as rounds two or three. What are the alternatives?
From Seattle’s point of view they drafted Tharold Simon in round five despite his appearance on a not too complimentary list of names at LSU. Would they take a chance? Perhaps. But it’d probably be in a similar kind of range where the risk factor is so low.
Rob,
Adam Pac Man Jones was drafted sixth overall by the Titans. His record was clean in college but he got into all kinds of trouble in the NFL. As he bounced around from team to team, everyone knew he carried a lot of baggage, yet teams picked him up because he had game-changing talent. In Peters’ case, if I were a GM, I wouldn’t draft him but it seems like talent trumps all in the NFL (as shown in Pac Man’s career). I think the Honey Badger would agree with this too.
On another note, I was wondering if you have watched Miami CB Ladarius Gunter? He’s 6’2″ and plays good press technique. He is my choice for Seattle’s mid to late round “Richard Sherman” pick.
Talent hasn’t always trumped all though. Adam Jones has indeed been given multiple opportunities — but there’s a cluster of recent high profile draft prospects who’ve been ignored as a consequence of college issues. Burfict is a good example, so are players like Da’Rick Rogers and Isiah Crowell. It’s really down to a players ability to prove to at least one team he can be trusted. I think Arizona invested faith in Mathieu because they had his ‘older brother’ figure Patrick Peterson on the roster. A lot of other teams wouldn’t have even had him on their board. Peters has to try and convince people he can be trusted with the right guidance.
On Gunter — I haven’t watched him but will certainly keep an eye out.
But let’s face it, does Peters really warrant the comparison to Pacman Jones? Absolutely not. Jones was a sheer force at CB for West Virginia with rare athleticism he showcased as an electric kick and punt returner for the Mountaineers. Hyped as having Deion potential, it was enough that even with baggage mounting Jerry Jones still decided to trade for him from the Titans so he could kick the tires himself.
Peters has no such pedigree and had never enjoyed the level of dominance Jones did in his college career; plus is there any evidence of his athleticism being off the charts like Pacman? He’d need eye popping combine numbers for teams to overlook his history of insubordination to risk taking him in a high round, and he’d have to show proper remorse and contrition when prodded to explain his checkered college history. Who knows whether such a hothead could even get this part right? He’s got the psych profile of the ticking time bomb with his combustible anger issues capable of detonating at any given time. I’ve known guys like that. If he’s determined to be a meathead by combine interviewers who left thinking he still clearly didn’t get it, no way a team touches him.
Well, when a problem gets created it sure is elusive to fix.
– Sidney rice ends his career with injuries
– trading for harvin which sucks away draft capital money and presumably leads to the loss of golden
– draft picks like Harper and Durham don’t pan out
– failure to trade for Brandon Marshall or Vincent Jackson
– using their top picks on out of the box “do it our way” picks when a true need like a kelvin Benjamin is sitting there for them
Hindsight is 20/20 but at some point they have to question what they are doing with those high picks
Yeah Kelvin Benjamin was actually taken 4 picks before the Seahawks first pick.
Kelvin wasn’t there for the Seahawks (though a trade up wouldn’t have been too costly, perhaps), but I do understand your point. I’ve found the Seahawks choices around drafting WRs and OL to be rather peculiar. I think it’s fair to question their process, at this point. At least at those position groups. We’ll see how Richardson pans out as this season goes along. I was quite surprised they didn’t grab Allen Robinson. But we can go down a pretty lengthy list of promising WR prospects they’ve passed on over the past 2-3 years, at various spots in the draft.
I would love to have Paul Richardson in just about any other scenario. But my point is they’ve been ignoring a need by being too cute with their 1st rounders, and now by talking to Moss they are resorting to desperation. PC really needs to look in the mirror and question whether his draft process in the high rounds is really working.
Schneider and Carroll need to start hitting in these early rounds for sure. The best way to find cheap impact players.
It does sound a bit desperate if true to reach out to Moss. If true, and the signing of Moeaki shows us all they are missing the taller receiver. I think Sid retiring didn’t help either. I agree with you Rob – top WRs are going to want $$ and numbers. The only possible exception might be Fitz if he doesn’t win a SB with AZ this year. His contract is huge, and while Carson has been signed for the next few years, he might consider coming to Seattle – knowing he doesn’t have to do everything – and has already made a ton of cash.
Otherwise – they should be looking to the draft to find that guy. I do hate seeing guys I liked a lot – Bryant and Matthews – not being drafted by Seattle.
it sounds like with Peters, the more rope they gave him, the more of a headache he became.. The higher he’s drafted, the more a team is invested in him and the more he’ll feel entitled.
There seems to be several “tall receiver” options in the draft next year. I think Rob’s points about the challenges in trade or FA market are legit and makes it less likely we find success via this avenue. But do we think that we invest another top pick in a receiver/skill player? There also seems to be a few DT’s available at the top end as well as pass rushers. Doesn’t look like a great draft for the Oline though. It’s early to try and project draft strength, so just thinking out loud here.
Then it seem more imperative to draft a tall receiving target in this year’s draft should FA’s not want to sign with Seattle because of the depressed stats.
On another note, I love how they’ve been using Lynch as a receiver the last few games, nabbing a handful of catches. I wonder if a pass catching RB could be in the mix as well if they couldn’t draft that big receiving target…
Me too. Lynch has looked so fast this year when in space – however we can get the ball to him we should. I just love watching him play! I hope somehow he is still around next year.
Rob,
What’s your take on Isaac Blakeney? 6’6, 225lb, he had some great catches today in the Duke-Syracuse game.
Very intriguing player. Nice long frame. Can get downfield. Not always a prolific feature in Duke’s passing game but pops up with big plays. I like him. One to monitor.
Rob,
thoughts if any on Devontae Booker if/maybe he declares and hawks go other directions earlier? I’m watching the utes vs. Ducks and he has serious hands out of the back field, balance, and it appears wicked acceleration…
He looked good in the UCLA game but it’s the only chance I’ve had to watch Utah this year. I’ll take another look this week.
His clip against Oregon state on draft breakdown is a bit meh. But I’ve watched a lot of Utah as the late game where I live and in a loss last night he looked pretty awesome. Maybe a fourth round prospect.
Based on what I’ve seen of the hawks Offense in the last couple years and the types of talent they’ve been bringing in, I honestly don’t think they know what they want. To me, it’s like they want to be a “Swiss Army knife” offense that has they ability to do it all, instead of just being really great at one thing. The line is built to run, so when we cant run and are forced to pass, things go south. This offense revolves around marshawn and RWs ability to improvise, but when defenses can lock down both, the offense struggles. Or when our defense struggles, then the game plan goes out the door. They need to make a decision….either commit to Lynch and extend him a few more years, or put the entire Offense on RWs shoulders. If we’re going after a big target, I would prefer a TE. I think our offense is at its best in a 2 TE set, allowing for both run and pass. When we had both McCoy and Miller on the field, the offense seemed almost unstoppable. I like our recievers, it’s just that they don’t scare opposing Ds.
Here lies the issue with Lynch… Coming into this season, he was back/forth about retiring. He had made comments to the effect of “I might retire if we win the Super Bowl. I have all the $ I need and I can go out on top”.
2015’s season will be interesting as RW will need to be paid and that may force the hand into transitioning into Russ.
I also think Lynch is annoyed that these young guys got bigger contracts than he did – given all that he does. When RW gets his contract how will Marshawn feel about that? Anything is possible.
I can see your point about free agency Rob, but I don’t think it will be a big deal. Every year they expand Wilson’s playbook, and I’ve got to think when he is a 100 million dollar man, they’ll treat him like it. If they are smart with their cap, they will sign players. Zach Miller took $34 Million dollars to catch passes from TJack for crying out loud. And if it is a problem, they need to use the draft. Same way the Bengals have loaded up for Andy Dalton. It is frustrating, though, that this is a problem.
On a side note, I really like the play (and potential) of Marcus Burley. It will be nice to have Lane back, but Burley could be a huge player for us very soon.
If only we had taken Kelvin Benjamin like I had hoped. Any thoughts on another FSU player, Nick O’Leary, Rob? He’s not the modern-day type speed threat at TE, but I like the way this kid plays.
O’Leary to me looks like the type of guy who could have a nice little role…. on a pass heavy offense. I think the way Seattle is set up they need quick twitch or size. I think O’Leary in GB, NE or DEN could work out a nicely — shorter routes, finding little soft zones, quick passing.