I think Quandre Diggs tried to pull a fast one at the end of camp and has been left with his tail between his legs.
Having seen Jamal Adams hold out and receive a record-breaking contract and Duane Brown hold out amid increased media talk that the Seahawks would sweeten the pot for their left tackle, I suspect Diggs wanted some of the action.
You could even argue, why not? There’s no harm in trying.
Yet I think it’s very evident that here is a man trying to save face after a failed attempt to get the team to act.
Last week Pete Carroll said in a press conference that Diggs was making a statement. Yesterday, Diggs played that down. It was all just a small, personal situation he needed to take care of.
Now it’s emerged he’s trying to take out an insurance policy against injury this season.
Surely though, he could’ve done that weeks if not months ago?
Not only that, why start camp and risk injury then right at the end decide you need insurance? Meanwhile you single yourself out by not practising and write a series of prolific tweets hinting at your dissatisfaction.
Chalk this one down to a victory for the team. It appears Diggs tried to get them to extend his deal now, amid the huge extensions for not only Adams but also Harrison Smith in Minnesota. The Seahawks, quite rightly, said this isn’t the time.
And it isn’t. If Diggs stays in Seattle beyond 2021 it’ll likely be after he establishes his market in free agency. This would be the worst possible time for the team to negotiate with their other starting safety.
Not only that, it would be an invitation for every other player on the team to ‘hold out’ prior to their final season on a contract. Eventually you have to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘no’.
Diggs’ press conference on Tuesday was a bit like the ‘comical Ali’ meme. Nothing to see here. I suspect the truth is he had a go and failed to coax more money out of the Seahawks. He’ll be playing in week one on the same deal.
The key is going to be Duane Brown. There’s less than two weeks to resolve this issue, which is far more important.
53-man roster notes
— I am baffled by the decision to keep three quarterbacks, mainly because Geno Smith and Sean Mannion aren’t actually any good. If keeping Mannion around due to his knowledge of the scheme is important, cut Smith. It seems they want to retain both somehow, perhaps with Mannion reverting to being a veteran member of the practise squad, and they think retaining him for now is the way to make it happen. It still seems a bit unnecessary.
— This is very much an incomplete picture. With four receivers, five pure running backs, 11 offensive linemen, a cluster of D-liners and weak depth at corner and linebacker there will presumably be claims and transactions coming this week. I just hope they don’t get too cute over the next few days.
— The Seahawks have never been a team to save a lot of cap space. The fact they have $13m in effective cap space currently suggests a potentially aggressive period of roster construction is forthcoming. I know people keep saying it’s unlikely but it’s got to be a possibility that K.J. Wright returns. They need another linebacker. Geno Atkins also is a distinct possibility, at the expense of maybe even L.J. Collier. If it’s possible to keep adding at cornerback too, that would be wise. Nobody wants to see Tre Flowers start, surely?
— Yesterday was a reminder that UDFA’s are still UDFA’s for a reason. There was much praise for Seattle’s undrafted class this year — and how a lack of draft picks had helped the Seahawks. Well, in the end, only Jake Curhan made the roster. Players like Cade Johnson may well make the practise squad and eventually get called up. But the lack of players making the team is indicative of the nature of UDFA’s. The Seahawks have never been more wide open to make the roster and only one undrafted player made the initial big cut.
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