I’ll have some further thoughts on Cousins and also Baylor’s Robert Griffin later in the week.
Author: Rob Staton (Page 390 of 422)
Sports Broadcaster, Journalist and creator of Seahawks Draft Blog in 2008.
Raheem Brock, entertainer
With owners and several GM’s (including Seattle’s John Schneider) meeting in Chicago today, hope continues to grow that a deal can be struck to end the NFL’s lockout. It’s been a long two months since the draft, with hardly any legitimate ‘news’ to report or discuss apart from litigation battles and endless speculation on whether a new CBA is close/miles away/pending/impossible.
Raheem Brock, who is due to be a free agent whenever the lockout does end, has tried to make life a little bit more interesting over the last week or so.
First came news of an incident involving an unpaid $27 bar bill which led to Brock being arrested by police. TMZ, who broke the news, have today published the defensive end’s side of the story:
The drama began after Raheem, his cousin and a female friend went to the Copacabana restaurant to order some food Thursday night. Brock says after the group placed the order, Brock’s female friend decided she would rather get a cheesesteak from a place across the street … so she and Brock walked over while Raheem’s cousin waited at Copacabana. But when they returned to the Cope … the waitress wouldn’t let them bring the cheesesteak inside.
Brock says his group canceled their food order and left … thinking everything was cool — until the cops arrived to the scene and told Brock he’d been accused of running out on the bill. Brock says he offered to pay $40 for the $27 bill … but the manager refused to accept payment. Raheem was then arrested on suspicion of theft of services and resisting arrest.
Brock tells TMZ, “While I was in ‘cuffs, I explained to the manager that I own restaurants … and if there’s a policy about paying for food that hasn’t come out … then it should have been explained to us before we left.”
I’m glad we cleared that up. Meanwhile the 33-year-old, who had a career-year for the Seahawks in 2010 with nine regular season sacks, has also tried his hand at reporting. He had this juicy piece of gossip for followers of his Twitter account:
Plaxico and Randy moss might end up in Seattle….! U heard it here first!
And to cap a busy week he also had time to dispute a report made by ESPN’s Joh Clayton. Having previously stated he expected to return to Seattle next season, he was more than a little miffed to hear Clayton’s contrasting opinion based on the player’s age.
John Clayton said what about me???
Idk…maybe he knows somethin I don’t
Of course the outspoken sack-artist made headlines towards the end of last season, tweeting that Jay Cutler was a ‘sissy’ during Chicago’s disappointing exit from the playoffs against rivals Green Bay.
If nothing else Raheem Brock is making life interesting during a particularly quiet period for NFL news. On a serious note, the Seahawks shouldn’t sniff at a player who was effective at times. Defensive line is also an area of the team which is looking increasingly thin. Clayton’s report suggests ‘age’ will the mitigating factor if Brock isn’t re-signed. In that case, should we presume Lawyer Milloy and Matt Hasselbeck won’t return either and that Robert Gallery won’t be a target during free agency? I’d wager Brock will return, where he’ll go back to doing his talking on the field and not on Twitter.
I guess not everyone believes Mike Brown will retire to his bunker once free agency opens, putting up a heavy guard against a potential deal for Carson Palmer. NBC analyst and three-time Pro Bowl receiver (not to mention former Bengal) Chris Collinsworth believes Mike Brown will trade the disgruntled quarterback when the lockout eventually ends.
“I think Carson’s finished here for a lot of reasons — I know that the movers were at his house the other day. … At the very least, (head coach) Marvin Lewis is ready to move on. Mike’s a businessman, and I think Mike Brown is probably the guy that is holding up the idea that Carson Palmer is going to be traded — he doesn’t like somebody to dictate terms to him in the way that Carson has done it. But now with the drafting of a quarterback, I think that Mike will get what he can for Carson Palmer, and I do think there’s going to be some interest.”
It’s a subject we’ve discussed many times on the blog since we revealed that a deal to send Palmer to Seattle was in the pipeline. Mike Brown has stated a couple of times his stance would be ‘no deal’, a point emphasised by many if only due to previous history. My response has been – what do you expect? As I wrote here, when an end to the lockout was not in sight, why would he deviate from the initial statement that he wouldn’t be willing to complete a trade? It would merely create a media storm at a time of limited NFL news.
As Collinsworth touches on, Palmer is in the process of re-locating. I understand it’s a move to the PNW and that Brown is willing to get what he can for the quarterback.
I have just published part two of my piece on Field Gulls regarding the Seahawks rebuild and what was, essentially, a successful (win over New Orleans) failure (7-9 record) in 2010. Click here to read the piece.
I wrote a piece for Field Gulls today titled ‘Seahawks in re-build (part one): Learning lessons from visions of the past’. Click here to read it. I’d really appreciate it if you gave it some love and attention.
I recently sat down with Dan Kelly at Field Gulls and went through a number of different topics. On the agenda – what to look for in LEO prospects this year and what position the Seahawks most need to address going forward.
Andrea Alderson has a piece on West Virginia defensive end Bruce Irvin, a player I believe to be among the best in the country.
Walter Cherepinsky has an updated 2012 mock draft. The Seahawks take Matt Barkley with the second pick.
Peter King caused a stir yesterday when he suggested the Seahawks were ready to move on from the Matt Hasselbeck era, potentially handing the starting job to Charlie Whitehurst. King appeared on ESPN 710 today to put more meat on the bones, see the embeded audio below to hear what he had to say…
If only to emphasise how long this lockout has dragged on, we’ve been discussing this issue for what seems like an eternity. The Seahawks fan base is definitely split between those who feel staunchly that Hasselbeck should stay in Seattle and those who believe it’s time to move on – with very little middle ground. The debates at times have been venomous and defensive and truly this is an issue that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible if only for everyone’s sanity.
Here’s how I see the situation, through personal observation and sourced information.
Matt Hasselbeck very much remains an option for the Seahawks. There’s a mutual interest between both parties to get something done, but both parties also want it to be on their terms. Brock Huard suggests in the audio above that the stumbling block to a deal before the lockout was length of contract (Seahawks offered a one-year deal, Hasselbeck wants two years). My prime Seahawks source suggested differently – that a deal was made before the end of the last CBA but guaranteed money and not years was the problem.
I approach the situation as such – the Seahawks don’t want to sign a handcuff deal to a soon-to-be 36-year old quarterback who has had injury problems and a high number of turnovers the last three years. Hasselbeck repaired his bargaining position with strong performances against New Orleans and Chicago in the playoffs and has precedent on his side such as the $15m two-year deal signed by Kerry Collins at Tennessee. It’s also important to remember Collins signed that deal having helped the Titans to a 13-3 season.
The deal for Hasselbeck wasn’t completed because while mutual interest remains between the two, both parties are also fully aware of alternatives. Hasselbeck will expect to get interest on the open market which can help his bargaining position, while the Seahawks can explore different veteran quarterbacks. I’ve previously reported that Cleveland will be big players in the Kevin Kolb stakes despite everyone assuming that franchise is settled on Colt McCoy. That would leave other teams such as Arizona having to look elsewhere – and Hasselbeck would be a logical alternative.
As I’ve also reported on this blog, the Seahawks have explored the possibility of trading for Carson Palmer, a deal which until I’m told otherwise remains a distinct possibility. Palmer will move his family to the Pacific North West and I understand the Bengals are more receptive to a deal than Mike Brown has suggested in brief media appearances. Palmer is four years younger than Hasselbeck and has recorded superior statistics in recent seasons. He also has familiarity with Pete Carroll during their days at USC. As I said previously, until I hear otherwise I’ve no reason to believe anything has changed since we broke news on a potential Palmer-to-Seattle deal in April.
The Seahawks also have interest in Philadelphia’s Kolb, but I understand they are not willing to pay as much compensation to acquire him as other teams such as Cleveland and Arizona.
Pete Carroll and John Schneider are comfortable going into free agency with a few options to play with. Although some fans will cringe at the prospect (perhaps unfairly) the Seahawks maintain a level of belief in Charlie Whitehurst and should other deals not materialise, they are prepared to give him the starting role and bring in other veteran competition in free agency. They aren’t going to let the market dictate their position – the price will have to be right for Kolb, Palmer or Hasselbeck and if it isn’t, they’ll walk away from the table and turn to the only quarterback currently signed for the 2011 season.
Every possibility remains open at this stage. As I see it, the team haven’t made a commitment to Hasselbeck either way. They’ve maintained contact when possible and although Pete Carroll and John Schneider sounded out his re-signing as a priority, the reality is they had a full season of football to talk about a new deal and chose not to, they didn’t complete a deal before the CBA deadline and chose not to franchise tag their quarterback. You don’t allow your starting QB to ‘test the market’ if he’s truly your one defining priority.
At the same time, his free agent status and the team’s interest in other veteran quarterbacks won’t prevent a deal being completed if that is the direction which, in the end, best suits all parties.
