We’ve talked about the types of linebacker Seattle likes. Agility testing appears to be key, or an overall superb physical profile.
I don’t think it’s very likely that the Seahawks will draft a linebacker this year. None of the players at the combine tested superbly in the short shuttle. They haven’t cut K.J. Wright and Pete Carroll has expressed interest in bringing back Mychal Kendricks. They drafted two players who fit their preferred profile a year ago (Cody Barton, Ben Burr-Kirven).
They have much more pressing needs. At the moment the pass rush has not been addressed. They’ve signed three players for the offensive line but all carry question marks. They’ve not added another weapon for Russell Wilson either.
If they’re keeping Wright, they have to prioritise other areas.
I still want to talk about Wyoming’s Logan Wilson today though.
He might not fit Seattle’s ideal profile but he still tested well. His short shuttle of 4.27 is good at 241lbs and he ran a 7.07 three cone. He managed a 32 inch vertical and ran a 4.63 forty.
Wilson looks even better on tape. He has loose hips and gets around the field with ease. When he gets into attack mode he’s direct, quick and flies to the ball carrier. He’s adept at working through traffic and he’s very comfortable stringing plays out to the sideline. He’s in control even when he’s moving at full speed. He never looks unsure of himself, there’s no indecisive movement or a false step.
This is particularly important for teams like Seattle who struggle to defend the perimeter run. We’ve talked about it a lot — but watching Cody Barton get blocked by Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs was difficult to accept. You want some violence from your linebackers. Rodgers should’ve been dumped on his backside. Wilson has strong hands at the point of contact to stay clean, he’s extremely direct to the football and if he needs to get off a block he does it in many different ways.
Simply put, he isn’t getting blocked by Aaron Rodgers.
When I watched him on tape I was surprised his short shuttle wasn’t in the elite 4.00-4.10 range. That’s how fluid and balanced he is. There’s very little stiffness there. He’s not on the same level but he’s similar to Leighton Vander Esch. They share the same ability to play with an aggressive, controlled demeanour and get around the field better than you’d expect.
He’s also no slouch against the run. He’ll play up at the LOS and help set an edge. As a blitzer he’s extremely useful and he can slip through gaps to make plays in the backfield. His tackling is extremely consistent.
Dropping in coverage is to be determined with Wilson. He wasn’t asked to do much more than spy the QB and try to read his eyes. Whether he’d be a liability defending the seam or trying to match-up with tight ends like the modern NFL demands — that’s a question mark. But it is with any linebacker at this level not named Isaiah Simmons. He did have 10 career interceptions at Wyoming which is impressive production.
The intangibles are also really high with Wilson. He played 3618 snaps in a four-year career and was a team captain for three years. He’s the kind of character this team has looked for in the last couple of drafts.
For me he’s a second round type prospect. If he lasted into the third it’d be tremendous value.
Stockpiling linebackers when there are so many other needs would be an odd tactic. I do think the Seahawks need one of three things to happen though. They either need Barton to take a big step forward in year two to warrant any long term faith — or they need to add some raw speed at the position or someone who just won’t take any s**t. Too many teams stretch out Seattle’s front seven and exploit the perimeter. That can’t keep happening. The Rams have a field day and the Niners have found ways to exploit the defensive front too. They need players who are angry, quick, violent and can get off blocks.
Wilson can do that. Whether he’s agile enough to turn their head — I can’t say. On tape, however, he looks like he’s up to the task.
The linebacker position does carry some options this year. Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen are probably going to go too early to be considered. Willie Gay Jr is a superb physical talent with great playmaking qualities. His coverage ability and knack for forcing big plays should be highly attractive to teams even if there are some character question marks. Malik Harrison will be coveted too thanks to his excellent 6.83 three cone combined with an explosive 36 inch vertical but he’s a short area player. He does his best work at or just beyond the LOS. He’s good at reading screens and he packs a punch as a hitter. I think he can be targeted on the perimeter though and could be a liability in more expansive coverage situations. Even though he ran quite well at the combine — there are some limitations sideline-to-sideline.
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Wilson reminds me a lot of Sean Lee, which is a good thing.
Wilson is a R2 talent, which means he’s probably too expensive for SEA, given other more pressing needs. But if he slips into R3, the value becomes hard to pass up.
Good scouting. He looks very Hawky. I don’t know about his man skills, but there are a number of times in those highlights where he drops into zone, and sometimes deep zones, and does very well. As to stockpiling linebackers, LBs make the best special teams players. They have that combination of size, speed and tackling ability that makes them hard to beat. I would be clapping on draft day if this kid was selected by the Hawks.
I saw an agent raise an interesting issue with essentially all Pre-Draft activities like meetings, pro day’s,etc all likely cancelled. How does that effect evaluation? Does that mean ore gambles being taken or maybe a more conservative approach by teams?
Also I saw an agent raise an interesting thought, that I doubt the NCAA would consider, is allowing Juniors, who want too, be able to return to school for this next year. Waive the schollie limits for one season (or make them hit the transfer portal). I don’t think it would affect as many players as some people might think but I think it makes some sense.
Cause right now, compared to years previous, teams aren’t getting a real chance to evaluate at a level as before. Players aren’t getting a chance to impress like they could have before.
Thoughts Rob on any of this (I would say mainly on potential draft ramifications for teams and player assessment)?
It will make it harder for teams to get a complete profile for sure. But every team is in the same boat. And the league holds an annual combine for a reason. It’s an opportunity to test. Those who passed, well that was their choice. I feel for those not invited but I’d recommend they log on to the Senior Bowl YouTube page because Jim Nagy has posted a thorough breakdown on how to do all the drills, tests and measurements so you can film yourself and send the tape to teams.
It will be an interesting experiment to see how things shake out with not having pro days or visits. Do teams actually benefit substantially from visits and Pro Days? And is being forced to rely on your scouts and game tape, things that have been in motion for the whole season, such a bad thing?
The upside of having them is obvious, but is there a downside?
Nagy made an interesting comment a couple weeks ago, that teams that have serious concerns about character can talk themselves into drafting a player they otherwise might not, after having him in for a visit and him being able to behave like a good boy for a whole hour or two.
Feels like another advantage for the teams that work the board and look for value.
Rob, nice write up on a smooth looking LB, especially relative to the competition. Slightly off-topic, but I cannot for the life of me find the later corners in this draft that are going to be Seahawky. In fact, the corners might be lighter than the dline, especially when we consider that PCJS aren’t taking anyone early. I appreciate your work incredibly and am grateful for the content and tone of the discussion here. Sorry to go off topic this early on a new post but it is driving me a tad nuts. Thank you.
It’s a good topic to bring up. It’s a terrible CB class for Seahawks-style cornerbacks.
I thought so but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing something. Maybe they break precedent and pick earlier than Shaquille went but I see them taking advantage early (Rds 1-3) of the tackle and wr depth, coupled with their pass rush need, likely edge, and an rb. My other thought, is are there any convertible safeties, a la Tre Flowers that make sense? – other than Isaiah Simmons. Much appreciated. Thank you.
I didn’t see any at the combine that stood out. Some people say Jeremy Chinn but I don’t see that at all. He’s a safety.
Delpit can play corner but he’ll go too early.
From what i’ve watched of Chinn, he looks more likely to play close to the line. His straight line speed is good but i don’t see the hips that would make him a big nickel. Delpit has the short arms that would keep him from playing on the outside and doesn’t seem quick enough for slot receivers.
Delrick Abrams, CB, Colorado: 6’2, 191 lbs., 33″ arms
Gavin Heslop, CB, Stony Brook: 6’0, 197 lbs., 32″ arms
Madre Harper, CB, So. Illinois (transfer from OK St.): 6’2, 196 lbs., 33″ arms
Kindle Vildor, CB, Georgia So.: 5’10, 191 lbs., 32″ arms
BoPete Keyes, CB, Tulane: 6″0, 202 lbs., 32″ arms
Seattle was at the pro day of the 1st three. And scouted Georgia So. at least twice this summer.
* Kamren Curl, S, Arkansas (6’1, 206 lbs., 32 1/2″ arms) IMO he’s a prime candidate to make the switch to CB.
Thank you very much Vol 12. You are definitely help to keep the flame burning here at SDB!
👍 any time my man
Keyes and Curl are the ones that interest me. I could see both drawing a late round interest
Here’s my list of official qualifiers for Seahawks’ 32 inch arm length and 77.5 inch wingspan up to the Combine:
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/d-line-and-linebacker-measurements-notes#comment-476619
Personally, I’m a fan of Iowa CB Michael Ojemudia. Probably goes in R3-R4 range, I’m thinking.
Thank you Sea Mode. You are also a keeper of the flame. Much appreciated and kind of depressing at the same time. Anyone for converting Brandon Aiyuk to defense….
haha, he’s got the arm length/wingspan part down for sure!
I like this kid. Rob, I know that you keep saying that LB isn’t a need, but it really is. As Bobby gets older, there needs to be more impact players at all levels of this defense. Corner is probably inadequate as well, but after the Edge issues, find some assassin type linebackers is pretty essential. Barton is probably just a depth guy on a good defense. You’ve mentioned the lack of players in the draft, but Willie Gay Jr is an attainable guy who is a perfect athlete for this defense. I think they still need to find a DL in the early part of the draft, they definitely need a tackle to groom, but LB isn’t something we can continue to keep trying to find on day 3 and expect them to return to elite status. Also wouldn’t hurt to get a corner earlier but we all know how set in their ways they are.
I didn’t say LB isn’t a need.
I said they have greater priorities. And they do.
Rob, what are your thoughts on the Marquise Blair selection a year later.
To me he seemed to lack special traits when we drafted him. He wasn’t very big for a strong safety and he wasn’t very fast for a free safety. His tackling angles were inconsistent and in the pac 12 sphere he was known as a bit of a dirty player. We ended up having to make a midseason trade our safety play was so terrible.
Didn’t love the pick at the time because I felt it was more of a culture pick than a football field pick.
I know you don’t think safety is a need at all but I’m not sold on being able to win a super bowl with Blair mcdougald and Diggs back there. We know what Diggs and McDougald bring. Do you think Blair can significantly improve year two?
I liked Blair and we were one of the few places saying he was a R2 talent.
I think you have to give him time. Who’s to say the guy you draft at safety doesn’t equally spend his first year learning the ropes? Then what?
They can’t just keep adding safeties when they have other glaring needs. And Diggs + McDougald is not going to hold them back.
Blair plays with an edge we need to see. He can give the defense (and the other teams’ offense!) a jolt with his physical and opportunistic play.
PC said this year more than once that he loves what Blair brings but needs him to fit into the system better. Admittedly probably not the easiest thing for rookie safeties to do. Even ET had rough spots his first season. Will really be something if he can take the sophomore leap.
He’s also the only one they have who brings a physical presence and plays with a headhuntin’ mentality.
I recall he hammered a guy and got flagged. PC said after the game he likely just needed to use the other shoulder and it wouldn’t have been a flag. Just cleaning up little technique things like that could be big for him.
Agreed.
He plays so fast and loose that the game needs to slow down for him processing wise.
Agree. I see why they went out and got him, but I still think he would have been there in R4.
He shouldve had a 100 yard pick 6 last year, it’s not like hes trash. He just needs to find his role.
https://twitter.com/SeaHawkFORLife/status/1241488135428718599?s=19
Don’t know if that’s a reliable source…
But it seems like EA leaked a video of a Clowney presentation in a Titans jersey, they deleted it immediately
https://twitter.com/bevo22494/status/1241472977717395456?s=19
Toss the in the FWIW category with that guy…
At least they both point to guarantees as the sticking point, which is what we heard earlier (albeit from questionable sources) as well:
Another candidate for the Josina Hall of Fame. “I have just text me back” ?? Sounds like he’s dealing with a split personality issue LOL.
((yes I know he probably just typo’d but let me have this one OK?))
Hehe, you can have it. I thought the exact same!
It was in response to someone asking him to “hit up your source and see what the deal is now.”
Either way, I just take this for what it’s worth, which is basically just to pass the time at this point.
Josina would never make an error like that. Her phone predictive texts the words, ‘I’ve just got off the phone with’ before she even starts typing.
I suspect the intent was:
“I have, just texted me back, it’s between…”
#CommasMatter
I don’t get it.
On one hand why would EA show Clowney in a Titans jersey, if the deal isn’t done.
On the other hand why would the programmers / EA as a company know this, but not Schefter, Rapoport etc..
It’s not that hard to do a jersey swap in the game. It’s very likely a mistake where a producer copy pasted a list of ‘player transfers’ and Clowney got on there by accident because of the rumors. A video game tiktok takes like less than a day to produce by interns in this day and age.
Seems like a minor mistake to me. Whoever made it was probably mistakenly told he’d joined Tennessee.
And they didn’t even get his jersey number right anyways…
I’m done with ‘twitter updates’ to be honest.
A bunch of unproven sources of info speculating about this. I think we have to take all of it with a grain of salt.
But it’s INKEDUPSeaHWKZSHANE and he’s FORLife.
INKEDUP has 487 followers. Thats all we need to know.
FOllowerZ.
😂
In my opinion this is create marketing for EA. Nobody will blame them since they immediately deleted it but they still created a buzz.
*great marketing
If they lose Clowney then trade a 1st and pay Ngakoue $20+, I’ll boycott the Seahawks for 90 minutes.
Make sure Schneider hears me loud ans clear
Man if they trade a 1st and pay $20 mil or so for Ngakoue when they coulda just paid Frankie and kept the capital?
Yeah, he’s a dude. From the 2 games I just watched, I really like Logan Wilson.
Wilson is better in coverage than him, but reminds me a little of Chad Greenway.
Looks like he’d be perfectly suited for a zone defense. Always around the ball and I love watching him communicate. Shows he’s a leader. Assignment sound and boy oh boy does he close in a hurry.
This is a nice little LB class overall.
Yeah, the 1.54 10y burst shows up, and I like his discipline when closing down the ball carrier. How many guys do you see flying in recklessly only to run right past the ball? They get their highlight tape, but also tons of “lowlights”.
Where are you getting 1.54s 10yd for Wilson?
I have it at 1.63s. Not a huge difference, and still very good. But 1.54s would be world class elite.
Nah. Willie Gay is up there with 1.50 and Simmons with 1.51. But tons of the LBs hit the 1.54 range.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR5ogwjUT3w0BeMZFndmJwLvoTtQwrLBVCs285iDiIwHhSZ_lFiHJnzCll0JUJ6SMadOuX5zoGfJqRq/pubhtml#
Did you put this together Sea?
No, it’s from the Steelers Depot page:
https://steelersdepot.com/2020-nfl-scouting-combine-results-tracker/
Lol….. EA Sports posted a Tik Tok video of players in their old unis changing to their new unis (via Madden game of course) and they had Clowney going from Seattle to Tennessee.
If this is real….now we got video games breaking news lol
As someone who works in the Digital Media/Social Media/Vid production field it’s a very easy mistake that should be ignored. Let tell you how it probably happened.
EA social media producer: Yo intern. Boss wants us to make a tiktok capitalizing on the free agency craziness.
Intern: Got it. Let me just do a few jersey swaps in game, record a few highlights, then throw in some simple wipe transitions and we’re good to go. Which players have been swapped?
Producer: Hold up, let me google ‘NFL offseason new teams’ real quick here… alright so Gurley to the Falcons, Gordon to the Broncos, I see a headline with Clowney to Tennessee… oh Slay to the Eagles.
Intern: Boom, boom, and boom. Done. Let’s fire that bad boy out.
Got people talking. I clicked.
Just looking at some of the EDGE rushers in the draft again and there are a few that show some traits…Greenard & Zuniga for sure, along with Okwara. I’m curious about these guys, anybody have anything on them?
Darryl Taylor – Tenn
Bradlee Anae – Utah
Bryce Huff – Memphis
Tipa Galei – Utah St
Taylor — injury plagued
Anae — not twitchy enough
Pass rush and getting RW a weapon aside, it feels like 2020 is another critical year coaching wise for the Hawks.
The number of guys who should have a rookie–>year 2 and year 2–>year 3 leap is staggering
Collier
Blair
Metcalf
Barton
Haynes
Amadi
Ursua
BBK
Penny
Green
Flowers
Dissly (I’ll take just staying healthy)
Dickson (technically let’s just have his rookie ‘he’s a weapon’ form back)
Jamarco
Poona
Who’s your best pick from each group to take a leap in 2020? Who would surprise you the most?
I forgot Shaquem
Amadi & DK
Penny & Green
Surprise the most as an emerging talent or…?
Amadi was coming on strong, I think he’ll take a big leap. BBK would surprise me the most.
I think Poona is gonna break out this year and wreck a few games. Flowers is another one I think will get a lot better, could start seeing him get some picks. Penny would surprise me the most, since hes gonna miss time.
I would remove Dissly, DK, Dickson from the list. They already play like a pro. Obviously every leap is great but if they play like last year they’re fine.
I think Green, Flowers, Jones, Ford, Penny needs to show that they’re true starters and not just backup/rotational/good until someone better comes around guys. They’re not fighting for their life but they’re fighting for their snapcounts.
Collier, Blair, Barton needs to show more. They were either bad or simply non-existing. I need to see more from them and big plays to not consider them busts.
Amadi, Ursua, BBK, Haynes might fight for their roster spots.
Best chance to take a step forward imo: Green, Penny, Blair…maybe Barton
You forgot to mention Homer. I’m not sure he’ll be great with us, I think PC and Schotty has no clue how to use him. But he has talent and could be a great RB2 or 3rd down back if used well. Not on the same level but has a little McCaffrey impression of him
Disagree. Every player should be expected to grow. Doesn’t matter if they’re established starters or had some success. For teams to remain successful they need to have players on rookie contracts consistently providing more value than their salary.
Dissly, it’s an unknown how he can play through a full season. Not just the injuries but the weekly grind.
DK. He absolutely needs to grow. He’s talented in a lot of ways but has areas he really needs to improve. His route tree was the most basic and simple in the NFL. Ball security is an issue for him. High pointing and fighting for the ball needs work.
Dickson. He regressed from being a true weapon his rookie year to being a league-average punter. Was he hurt? Somehow coached not to outkick his coverage? I don’t know. But the excitement and creativity of his rookie year vanished in his second.
Leap: Barton/Collier and Green
Surprise: Flowers is good, but I would be surprised if he gets much better. CB2 needs competition.
I’d argue that just as important as Coaching if not more is Conditioning.
After all of our injury problems last year I can’t believe how little has been said about it.
Our RB depth issues at the end of the season seemed pretty unprecedented for the NFL.
It bugged me how little it was commented on because I think it was the difference between a trip to the SuperBowl and a Wild Card ticket.
I hope that PCJS are evaluating the conditioning aspect because no ability tops availability.
They completely overhauled their conditioning staff last offseason. And had pretty awful results as far as injuries go.
I like Amadi, Blair, Haynes and Ursua to take sophomore jumps.
I’ve basically written off Penny for 2020 and, although I hate to say it, Dissly maybe for good.
I think Flowers continues to incrementally improve, as do Poona and Green.
Metcalf, Barton, BBK, Shaquem, Collier and Jamarco stay flat.
https://twitter.com/E_Dilla/status/1241512994573561856
2 years, $27m apparently.
To where
2 years at 13.5M… seems a tad light on the money side, unless it is almost 100% guaranteed.
Seems like a good deal. Do you think it would be worth the hardball play at that price? I’m leaning towards a yes.
Great news, I didn’t want to lose him. It is being reported on twitter as a possible fully guaranteed money deal. Fingers crossed, that this is the real deal.
If that’s true and 27m is the total than it’s sweet. Cut some players, sign Griffen and it looks a lot better. Short deal but better than nothing
Wow. Guessing it’s fully guaranteed at that number? Either way getting Clowney at 13.5/yr leaves a lot of room to make other moves.
Please be true.
Great if true. My guess has been 2/$32m ever since it came to light that he would want a shorter deal.
Now let’s just see if it ends up being anything like this guy has said…
Wow. I’d think more teams would be involved at that APY.
Honestly, not to make light of a terrible disease, but I think the whole COVID lock down worked in our favor a bit here. I’m betting teams weren’t willing to put so many chips on the table without an extensive in-person workout.
I’m sure it probably did. But damn, His body of work thus far warrants more than that. If it shakes out that way, I’m happy
That seems insanely low.
That would be an incredibly good deal.
Does anyone know this guy that’s reporting this on Twitter? Seems ridiculous to me that Clowney would sign a deal like that.
Nope, never heard of him until today.
No idea who he is. Someone asked him what he has reported right before and this was his answer:
For now, I’m just taking it as a time-killer until something is actually announced…
Saw Pierre Desir cut by Colts. Rob, what are your thoughts of bringing him back for a look? Seemed to flourish in Indy. Not sure if he is a slot or outside though.
If he was cheap, sure.
FWIW – I went over to the Colts SB Nation site and they were genuinely surprised by the move, A few mentions that it must be to free up space to sign Clowney.
Battled injuries last year but did have 3 picks which is sorely needed in this secondary.
If this guy proves right, I’ll definitely follow…
+1
If the Hawks do indeed get Clowney for 2y/$27m, does that justify the total lack of substantive moves?
Good question. IMO, they need to do more than retain Clowney.
If 2/27 is for real (skeptical), they should have expected to lose him. What was their backup plan?
If they weren’t willing to go higher than 2/27 for Clowney, couldn’t see them trading for Ngakoue or signing Griffen.
Weird situation.
If you get Clowney for that price, then you could bring in Griffen to fill out the pass rush on the DL. Both guys combined would be around 24M together then. Very shrewd. Of course, they pull this off, they could also do the trade with the Jaguars…. and have the guy play on his tag this season. (hum, intriguing).
Logan Wilson seems like a great replacement for K.J.. They’re pretty similar imo but Wilson is a better athlete in every way. At the combine K.J. was 1 inch taller and 5 lbs heavier.
40: KJ: 4.75 / LW: 4.63
Bench: KJ: 20 / LW: 21
Vert: KJ: 32 / LW: 32
Broad: KJ: 120 / LW: 121
3Cone: KJ: 7.26 / LW: 7.07
SS: KJ: 4.46 / LW: 4.27
Do you have arm length Cole? KJ seems to have 37” arms 😬
Wright: 34 7/8
Wilson: 32 3/8
Also those combine numbers for KJ are nowhere near the status quo. KJ while looking good last season is very slow nowadays.
Absolutely. I’d be surprised if KJ runs a 4.9 right now.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kNcnmWuxMQ0
Cool look at Okwara, Isaiah Wilson and Andrew Thomas.
Spoiler alert, Okwara is essentially ineffective against both Thomas and Wilson.
Wilson is still one of my favorite candidates for our first pick.
Yeah, we’ve talked about that game a lot. He had no impact. Georgia’s two tackles are both awesome. There’s a reason why I/we have been talking them up for months.
Thanks for another prospect post Rob. Looking forward to more of these.
Clowney deal is a steal for us at 27m. Smart on them to make this deal that ends before 2023 season (Clowney’s team). 11.5m signing bonus if true adds cap flexibility for potential trade. Again, if true, this is a homerun move that lays out a potential trade for Judon/Ngakoue.
Let’s wait and see if this twitter report is accurate.
You bet! As I said, if true, the cap flexibility (mainly the high signing bonus) leaves breadcrumbs for a trade. Mainly Ngakoue related though is my hunch. Judon is interesting but I’m more interested in the potential that Jax is breaking and would be willing to just do a late second. All speculation but breadcrumbs are leading somewhere interesting..
If they don’t go higher than 2/27 for Clowney, how do they trade and pay for Ngakoue. If report is true, I think breadcrumbs lead to Griffen at 2/20.
Because that’s related to his potential high signing bonus. I’m having my doubts about this report already though lol.
I was unclear. If they don’t value Clowney higher than 2/27, I doubt they value Ngakoue worth a high pick and what he’s asking for (20m/APY). Griffen at less than Clowney is more realistic.
I agree, unless they immediately extend Ngakoue at a more realistic apy.
Yeah, I just can’t imagine Clowney getting only $13.5/year. I guess it’s possible with teams unable to get a true read on his health, but if Im the Colts or Titans, or anyone else really, I’m offering more than that, in the blind on his medicals.
I’ve seen Logan Wilson play a few times over the last few years. He’s a Seahawk if there ever was one.
Would love to pick him up late in R2 or maybe trade up in R3.
Rob,
I haven’t seen you mention Casey Toohill from Stanford. Any thoughts on him? Tremendous testing numbers at 6’ 4” and 250.
I haven’t watched him.
I mentioned his height/weight. 33.5” arms, 4.62 40, 1.54 split, 39” vertical, 4.21, 7.08.
That’s all fine but I need to see him play before passing comment.
Of course. I thought I’d bring him to your attention.
Remember Kristjan Sokoli?
Of course I do. Do you remember Max Crosby?
Who, the guy from just last year?
Yeah, I think I can remember that far back 🙄
What I remember is Maxx had some decent game film that affirmed his great Combine results.
Are you saying Toohill has good game film?
No. I just wanted Robs opinion on a guy that fits the measurables that the Seahawks look for. Am I not allowed to ask the writer of the blog a question?
To be fair Sokoli was a non-factor on tape and Toohill was extraordinarily productive last year.
Its a fake account…
No relation to me and I claim original creation of the handle
One lesson today and forever…
Twitter rumours are bad.
‘Reporters’ — not just no name twitter types – live tweeting situations for five straight days, posting rumours and none of it coming true is bad.
Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.
When you see a Tweet like that, please open up the profile of the person that posted it. If you had, you would have seen that Bob Condota has 27 followers. Clearly a fake account.
First time poster, love the site. Evenly and well written. Just wanted to reply(and too lazy to go through all the other posts to find out if I am duplicating any other comment) about the Hawks not adding a weapon. I think Olsen has been and could again be quite a weapon when paired with a QB with some actual passing chops. Thats it. Thank you
Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) Tweeted:
Just FYI — My understanding on the Jadeveon Clowney front is that as of this minute, there is nothing new. No specific deal that’s been reached with anyone. Nothing ready to be announced by anyone. That can change in a heartbeat. But as of this minute, that’s my understanding https://twitter.com/bcondotta/status/1241554030905552896?s=20
It was such a relief to wake up this morning to learn Seattle hasn’t rushed into signing Clowney and they are still slow playing the situation into a second week.
Phew.
Hopefully if they hang on until Wednesday they can save another $20,000.
It is my opinion that sarcasm if this sort undercuts the rational and empirical tenor of this site.
I’m discouraged too. I’d really like to know what Clowney’s camp is asking for. Possibly it is something that has JS upset.
Unfortunately the sarcasm is here to stay. My blog posts are very serious. But life is very serious at the moment. And if I can make a joke about Branden Jackson getting 16 sacks this season in the comments section, I’m going to shoot my shot.
How about a low 1-2M / year deal (1 year) for Winston to come in and play backup QB?
It could be a win/win for both sides. He has already gotten paid, he just needs to rehab his image and then he could have a nice contract in a year.
No thanks. I’d rather keep Geno winning the opening coin toss for us. Winston probably will be unsigned until a qb goes down with a major injury.
I seriously doubt Winston will play for 1-2 mil, but I’d certainly take him over Geno.
Playing behind the most durable QB in the league is no way to rehab his image. Unless he wants unlimited supplies of salmon, I can’t see it.
I’d prefer not signing any rapists to the team thanks.
Something is going on… Seahawk defensive assistant Aaron Curry has an “interesting” Tweet.
https://twitter.com/aaroncurry51/status/1241566361454645249?s=21
Then he posted this after everyone started freaking out
Aaron Curry M.Ed. (@AaronCurry51) Tweeted:
https://t.co/lFAANVGqWr https://twitter.com/AaronCurry51/status/1241578016171364352?s=20
I’ve been fooled too many times today. Would a newly signed assistant coach tweet that?
Now the other guy with all the scoops, INK&DINK or whatever, is saying Clowney turned Seattle down and he’s now chooding between the Jets and Titans. lmao
* choosing
Curry just said it’s not work related
Im sure it was. Or at least nothing related to FA. I was just mentioning what the ‘scoopster’ said on Curry’s timeline. He’s full of s**t.
I was looking at the contract the Colts gave to Buckner:
2020 $12.3 million salary $11 million bonus
2021 $ 1 million salary $16 million bonus
2022 $11.0 million salary $5 million bonus
2023 $18.75 salary, $1 million bonus
2024 $20.25 salary
$39 million guaranteed.
I’m guessing that Clowney wants to get something in this ballpark. What do you think might be holding up the process? # of years, guaranteed money, signing bonus? I’d also appreciate if anyone can explain to a math guy how Buckner’s contract adds up to $4/$84. Thanks.
I can’t explain the math, but Clowney isn’t as good as Buckner.
Looks more like 5 years for $95 or so.
If it’s $39 mil guaranteed, sound like 2-3 years no?
The $39 million is the 2020 salary, bonus plus the 2021 bonus as I understood it. I’m in salary cap 101 right now….thanks,
Buckner had one year left on his contract. He signed a 4 year extension which adds 4 years at 21m per.
If in fact the Seahawks do sign clowney for 2/27 or something like that. It totally vindicates this entire free agency for me. They will have signed an elite edge defender for peanuts with very low risk!
All they need to do then is sign/trade for a decent leo. I think if thats the case there is no logical way to look at this off season than full blown success.
If you told any Seahawks fan before this free agency that you can get Clowney for that price, they would immediatly say that they did well! This is exactly what is happening. We still have the draft picks and salary to trade for a decent LEO.
Although I not 100% there yet, I’ll give that a +12 anyway!!!
You’re welcome to feel that way.
I’d argue they ran the serious risk of losing their only good DE to win a game of ‘getting the absolute best value’, while watching the other options aside from Everson Griffen go off the board.
And if they don’t land Clowney, which is still possible, the off season will be a disaster. They will handcuff themselves to making a massive trade with no leverage in talks.
And they’ll have potentially wasted the 2020 season.
So if you’re content for them to risk all of that to show Clowney who’s boss in negotiations, that’s your choice.
I mean some risks are very calculated. Maybe they predicted the cold Clowney market due to teams unable to have him over for physical workouts.
But what difference does predicting it make?
Well done to them if they did.
Everything else I said is true.
Also you have to wonder next time Clowney is hurt and they want him to play through it how anxious he would be if he feels like the Hawks have low balled him.
That’s a great point.
I have no idea how Clowney will feel after this. But he’s a human being. If a team goes a long way to show they want you and make it happen, you might be more inclined to give them everything. If a team slow-plays you for a full week despite telling everyone you’re a top priority… you might think you’re not going to risk playing through that injury. After all, why should you?
Compare this situation to Calais. Baltimore trades for you and gives you some long term security. Or Atlanta, where they cut several players to make a statement that they were bringing in Dante Fowler to be their missing link to the pass rush.
And Seattle… reportedly trying to get him to accept $18.5m instead of $20m or whatever.
I just don’t get it.
But if/when he signs for whatever price they get in the end — get ready because people will be very happy to forget the massive risk they took to get this done or the potential consequences. We’ll just have a wave of gushing praise from media and fans.
I would agree with this 100% if he is in his late 20s or 30s and play on his last contract. But he is only 26 and in next two year he will give everything he has or his market in 2022 will be colder than now…
Will he?
Or will he have made $70m in his career and think f-it?
Don’t assume a short term contract will be enough to motivate him. Or that being slow played by the team that supposedly wants him badly just so they can get ‘their’ value won’t trump any motivation to get back into the FA market.
None of us know how he will react to this. But it’s something to consider as this ridiculous slow play continues to save what some have suggested is as little as $1.5m-2m a year just because they can.
I am working for 1000eu per month. My wife for 300eu. And we are both mechanical enginneeras and we are much less satisfied. But people who earn a lot always want more. Nothing is enough for them. Yes , he did earn 70 but he has chance to take 100 more if he plays great next two season and he risks to lose that if he dont wont to play through injury, to play less than 100% etc. And on the other hand, yes seahawks low ball him but at the end they were the ones who give him best offer. Not other 31 team. For example look at the Reed and his post when somebody mentioned him 10mil apy few weeks ago. And I believe he will give his best next season and try to show that he is worth 15+mil for next contract.
Not every player always wants more. Increasing numbers of players are retiring early.
And people don’t need to try too hard to negate any opinion that isn’t 100% positive.
If that situation isn’t enough to make him butt hurt, imagine if JS managed to drop a fan fav other shoe and make a deal for Yannick at $20m………….hoooooo doggies!
But not all would be lost. I don’t have a twitter account to do crazy so here’s a “sources say” type post. Once Clowney signs the “no tag and/or trade” promise is fulfilled. Package Clowney, T2, this year’s earliest 2nd rounder, and 2021 second in a trade with Washington for #2 this year and take Young. Several problems solved. You say that the med eval embargo would scotch that deal? Nah, JS swears on a stack of bibles that he’s the only one with good, available med info and that Clowney is solid, just another favor to his buddy on the other end of the trade.
What are quarantined off season days for…………..
The fat lady hasn’t sung yet
I keep wondering if there are serious concerns about Clowneys long-term health
How is this still not done?!?
In regards to Clowney. The Seahawk front office tells everyone they really want Clowney back. But then they low ball Clowney how does that work. Then on the other hand maybe his core injury is more serious then we think.
If it’s more serious than we thought why haven’t they gone a different direction?
Yeah, this is just starting to get…weird? Prioroty, priority, priority…hmm, let’s back him into a complete corner to show him how much we want him back.
I get there are multiple sides to this. The market, benchmarks, length, yearly, guarantees, cold reality, etc. But like Rob has stated so many times, no matter what you (JS/PC) determine his market at, is it really worth chancing him moving on? Especially when it’s such a critical fix? Seems crazy at this point. Again, without knowing the whole story, if I were Clowney I’d almost pick a competing offer just out of spite.
Good times.
Bingo. This is it in a nutshell.
Whatever happen to the incentive-laden deal?
It seemed to me Richard Sherman had a similar deal with the 49ers when he left. Very team friendly up front, but it had escalator clauses built in based on performance.
By all means, if Clowney earns his millions, pay him. If not, I’m sure there are ways to word the contract (IE – per game active roster bonus, sacks benchmark, etc) that will hopefully motivate him to perform – and earn the salary he’s after. Keep the 13.5mil APY base and work up from there.
The Sherman contract ended up costing the 49ers in the end because Sherman hit some very lucrative benchmarks. But you know what, he earned it. He’s a leader on their defense and definitely sets the tone.
Strange days indeed. Most peculiar Mata’afa.
Remember, Pete said it was also a priority–although with less emphasis– to keep the OL together, then proceeded to do the exact opposite. And I think he knew that it wasn’t going to happen when he said it, too. The pass rush was worse than the OL, but the point is that you can’t treat Pete’s post-season statements about needs and intent as gospel.
He’s usually pretty honest though.
And the difference here is they maybe had their hand forced on the OL. They can sign Clowney right now.
We simply don’t know all the details. We can speculate all we want but the fact that Clowney/Yannick and Griffin are still available is promising.
Having a discussion and offering opinions is still allowed.
An opinion is not speculation.
An opinion can’t be speculation?
Me saying I don’t agree with the Seahawks approach to this is not ‘speculation’.
It’s an opinion.
A valid one, whether anyone agrees or not. And it’s valid because I’ve gone to some lengths to explain the thought process.
Let me make something clear guys.
If someone comes on and proposes a valid point, as Trevor did with his suggestion on how this negotiation might impact Clowney’s play.
Simply dismissing it and asserting that everything will be hunk dory because you don’t agree — there’s no point in that.
If you want to come on and talk about a more positive subject (this is an article about Logan Wilson after all) then there’s no problem with that. I don’t want this place to be a one-topic community. But I’m also not going to have people trying deflect constructive criticism with sheer blind faith. People deserve to be able to talk on both sides of this debate. And that will happen.
Trevor had an extremely valid point. Nickel-and-diming a guy who played through a painful injury while being frequently double-teamed because he was the only consistent pass rush threat not only won’t sit well with Clowney, but other guys in the locker room are taking notice.
If we had lost Clowney because some other team had offered him $25M a year on day one of free agency, then fine. Take the L and move on. But I’ve got to believe the price has dropped to a point where we can make a deal work and still have room left to maneuver. If they’re worried about his injury history, then don’t go out and call him a priority. If he is a priority, treat him like one. And no, that doesn’t mean give him all the money he wants, but it should mean that the prevailing attitude toward him should be “let’s make this work” instead of “let’s make sure we don’t pay him a dime more than we absolutely have to.” I may be wrong, but it sure seems like it’s more the latter than the former.
Exactly.
If we see Seahawks history we have seen this trend, hawks never overpays player. They have their plan(s) which we don’t know at the time. Plan(s) may not like/agree by all like media, fans etc.
What ever we discuss here in blog it’s more what one of us fan thinks. As a fan coming here comes to know what others are thinking and I appreciate others view Imagine if we don’t have platform to express or see what others have to say?
I enjoy this site.
Wow! 2 years 27 mil. That is unbelievable. If true. And no other team wants to beat that price!.?
No wonder Clowney hasn’t signed. He was probably thinking get something like that upfront with 3 or 4 more years to come. I am quite impressed and pleased the league isn’t ready to over pay for him. But I agree with Rob, Seattle should just get this done. Surely there’s a way. Please, and bring in Griffin. Still a chance for a solid improvement on the D-line.
I’m sure that i’m overlooking a whole set of ”known unknowns” on this one, but I can’t escape the feeling that there’s just something ‘off’ about the whole situation. And I can’t for the life of me bring myself to feel that the net result of the process as it has gone down thus far would be, if and when Clowney does sign, a player in whom the “I’m all in” ethic is there at maximum force. Somehow not a good optic, I fear. But as I said, no doubt there’s a lot behind the scenes I don’t know.
A little off topic but still relevant: A renowned german virologist just said it’s very unlikely that soccer games will be played in front of fans this year. That’s a huge issue for german soccer.
I don’t know what that would mean to the NFL. Maybe the owners would pay for the loss, if there can’t be fans.
Top flight clubs in Europe will be fine. Most can afford to let their fans in for free. It’ll be the same for NFL teams. They’re not dependant on ticket money. The TV is the big winner. And that’s why they’ll play behind closed doors. As long as the TV companies are OK, everything else will be.
Well, looks like our new TE will not be the oldest on the block…
And in other TE news…
I cant reply on your last post in our conversation (no reply button) so will answer her…
I am not trying to.negate something that is not positive…
Do I agree with how they are doing this with Clowney? NO
Do.I think.its wrong way to low ball him? YES
Do I think Clowney could.act like Trev said? Yes , Its possible.
Do.I think he will act like that? I.think and hope NO. (wrote why I think like that)
Trying not to make assumptions.
Other than re-signing Reed, they have done little to nothing to fix the pass rush.
Whether Clowney is refusing a low offer or passing on a fair offer, the Seahawks need to do something or risk coming up empty.
I don’t have enough info to criticize their process, but can criticize the results. As of now, the defense is still crap.
If they approach the draft the same way they’ve seemingly approached free agency, it will be another long, frustrating year of ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have beens.’
The defense needed a major injection of talent.
So far the only new addition is Bruce Irvin and they’re risking losing their top defensive lineman.
The draft is not good on defense.
They deserve to be challenged and questioned. Even if they keep Clowney.
Compare this to the way other teams have gone about improving and upgrading such as Baltimore, Arizona, New Orleans, Buffalo and others. The Niners have added a top-15 pick for a player they didn’t feel like they were going to be able to keep.
It’s not good enough.
I was agreeing with you.
Criticize the results: They have not solved the problem.
I know you were. I was following on and adding to what you said.
LOL. Thanks. Sometimes I question whether I make any sense at all; need all the help I can get.
I completely agree with what you wrote.
Good post. We don’t know if which or if if either party is being unreasonable. We do know that the team has done very little in free agency thus far to improve the team.
We don’t even know if this 2yr/$27m offer is even remotely true. I’d rather not bash the FO based on the tweet of an unknown entity.
I’m certainly not going to bash Jadeveon Clowney for potentially tanking because he got low-balled in the same source. Clowney gave us a good year. He deserves our respect.
Nobody’s bashing the front office because of two years $27m.
People are questioning and challenging the front office because one week into free agency, the only new addition to a defense that BADLY needed an injection of talent is Bruce Irvin. Meanwhile, they’re flirting with losing their best defensive lineman by slow-playing the contract negotiation to win a value war. Despite insisting several times that keeping him was a ‘huge’ priority.
It makes no sense.
And even if they win their value war. The defense is only at status quo status. Then what? Everson Griffen and Bruce Irvin are not the difference between crap-fest 2019 and a major improvement.
Agreed. But we simply don’t know what’s going on and why nothing seems to be happening. The team may very well be hamstrung in the negotiations simply because Clowney is unable to negotiate elsewhere. It is also hard to make major signings when you aren’t sure what you’re going to have to spend to keep your priority signing.
So far, they’ve cheaply added:
Olsen as a one year hedge against Dissly not being ready…or washed up for good.
Three OL that essentially replace Ifedi, Fant and Britt at half the price.
Irvin, who we can reasonably expect to be our sack leader if the current roster stands, and from whom we can count on 5-6 sacks and a few other big plays if he remains healthy.
These signings allow them to have enough cap space to at least have a chance at keeping Clowney without cutting current starters to do so. Signing Kkagoue or Griffen first might not leave them in that position.
If this is the case, I think they are bending over backwards to keep Clowney, which is much more in line with the rhetoric of PC/JS on this subject.
We still don’t know, however, anything other than making a big signing before making a deal with Clowney probably precluded retaining him altogether.
Precludes
It’s quite simple if the Seahawks are ‘hamstrung’.
You set a deadline and move on if needs be.
It’s amazing that all these other teams are busying away improving, adding, trading. The Seahawks don’t have to wait a week to find out what Clowney’s doing before going about their business.
And if they’re ‘bending over backwards’ to keep Clowney, you don’t quibble over 18.5m vs 20m (which is what the local media is reporting).
Does anybody have any info on Clowney’s agent? Is he a known guy? Have the Seahawks dealt with him before? Any problems with other teams?
Clowney’s agent is Bus Cook. Used to be Wilson’s too.
He was reported to have fired Cook during last year’s failed negotiations with Houston, then I read that Cook was his agent again. There must be agents that the Seahawks have issues with, but I’m not saying Cook is one of them.
Yeah they parted but then apparently rejoined forces again. So he’s back to being Clowney’s agent and the player is listed on Cook’s website as a client along with Cam Newton.
From what I remember they have a good or at least working relationship with Cook. I seem to remember Schneider expressing some disappointment, albeit in measured language, when Russell Wilson left Cook to work with Mark Rodgers before his second contract negotiation.
Bus Cook is a old school agent who got his start with Brett Favre. I’d doubt there is a personal issue.
Houston wouldn’t work with Clowney and he said, “Enough! I’m not playing for you.” If I were him, I’d be starting to think about a 1-year deal with anyone other than the Texans or Seahawks. When people screw you over – you resent it. I don’t care if you make hundreds of dollars or millions. It’s just a fact of life. When anyone of us feel like a priority and valued in life – we feel and act a certain way. It’s human nature. What the Seahawks are doing with Clowney, seemingly, is a crock.
And other teams have the excuse of not being able to do medical checks.
Seattle has the medical info.
And yet they’re trying to re-sign him to a big contract (just not as big as he wants). So they clearly don’t see anything too troublesome.
So he’s well within his rights to ask why they are playing this out and feel some resentment if he ultimately takes their deal because his other option is sitting around indefinitely hoping for the virus to go away.
On what planet have the Seahawks been messing with Clowney? Houston franchises tagged him as a LBer instead of a D line costing him millions and seeing the Hopkins trade, their is no doubt The Texans have been a special kind of stupid with their personal decision.
The fact Seattle is willing to offer him a big long term contact, should be enough for other teams medical, to believe he’s at full health.
We traded for Clowney, made him feel right at home here, and let him test the market to determine his value and gave him an offer. If it’s in the neighborhood of the 18.5 rumored offer from the Hawks, that’s being pretty respectful of his contributions on the field. We let him test free agency, and I hope are willing to match any offer out there for him, but why does it always have to feel personal with contracts? Just keep it out of the media and handle your business. I see no disrespect, just a player that believes his value is higher than the opinion of 32 teams.
1. What the Texans did has nothing to do with this. Local media reports are saying the Seahawks offered $18.5m a year and Clowney wants $20m. That’s messing about when you say on the record that Clowney is a huge priority re-sign.
2. No, Seattle being willing to re-sign him is NEVER enough for other teams. You don’t invest millions of dollars of guaranteed money in a player before giving him a thorough medical. That’d be like dropping $250k on a car without giving it a test drive or even checking to see if it had four wheels.
3. Nobody is talking about ‘disrespect’. We’re talking about the fact the Seahawks told us multiple times that Clowney was a huge priority and that fixing the pass rush was a critical need. And yet here we are, watching them quibble over a couple of million dollars, risking losing him to another team — and if that happens, they are well and truly screwed because they spent a week slow-playing this when other teams were signing the other pass rushers.
Redskins are shopping Quinton Dunbar, who somehow was Pro Football Focus’ #2 overall CB last year. Seems like something the Hawks should inquire into, given our less than stellar #2 CB play and lack of depth.
They won’t need a cornerback upgrade when Branden Jackson comes roaring off the edge to the tune of 16 sacks, earns defensive MVP and has a second space needle built in his honour called the Jackson needle.
More like the Jackson five (total pressures all season)
I was thinking more like 0.5 TFL’s.
List the current NFL teams that might lose to this team if they played right now… 😂
Wow. That’s a 9-7 team right now. Maybe 10-6 or 11-5 with some coaching and some breaks.
Man I want Griffen to come here so badly.
That defense might actually be decent. But I suspect that offense would be pretty horrific. I think people don’t realize how much talent Jameis had around him last year in Tampa. Several guys on that list might be done with the league. (Walker, Jason Peters, Eric Reid)
Fascinating. Wonder if he did a realistic cap number for that “team”. Might be pretty realistic for a fantasy.
I’m surprised Robby Anderson remains unsigned, he’s a fairly decent receiver, but I suppose the WR draft class might be depressing his value.
Von Bell will always be the guy who dived at the air beneath Stefon Diggs in the playoffs to me. So less surprised about him.
That was Marcus Williams lol. Von Bell has had a less *spectacular* career, but also not a very good one. Basically a JAG
Oh was it? My humblest apologies to the man.
So no news on the Clowney front… despite all these relatively small and unverified twitter accounts saying he signed with Seattle for peanuts. All hot air?
I’m seriously confused as to how a jaguars beat writer would have the inside scoop on the Seattle front office.
Yes. Basically a bunch of absolute bollocks has been written on Twitter. Which is no surprise.
Seriously! I got tricked yesterday on twitter. i’m usually pretty good about it but the Bob Condotta one really got me. The dude added an extra T in his handle. Got me. Glad you delete me post LOL. Can’t believe I fell for it.
Maybe the Hawks FO signed all those OL and Bruce and said to each other “Let’s just take the rest of the week off, we can’t meet in person anyways so who cares” Seriously though, why are they being so passive? The thing is though they don’t need to address their strategy or even hold any kind of press conference about it. We’re basically in limbo as fans. I’m beyond frustrated with this.
OTC is showing the cap in 2021 is $215m and 2022 is $225m. I’m guessing those are estimates.
With those numbers Hawks have $86m of room in 2021 with 29 contracted players.
Let’s give them 12 players from the 2020-21 draft classes and charge them with $20m. $66m room with 41 players.
Let’s charge them with $5m injury and incentive $. $61m room.
That doesn’t include Shell, Irvin or Ogbuehi. Probably team options with easy outs, but let’s be convservative and call that $10m on 3 contracted players $51m room on 44 contracted players.
$51m of room for either 7 (to 51) or 9 (to 53) contracted players.
Even if you cut that in half for RFAs and anything else I forgot, that’s $25m of fun money.
They have room to backload signings into 2021.
I ultimately think that is what they are trying to do. They cant though if its only a one year deal. Also we only really have two free agents next year (at least that I can think of) being Griffin and Carson. Griffin could get a nice sized contract but I wouldnt imagine that Carson would.
The CB market has been pretty flat. We’ll see if it has a jump/correction in 2021 like the safety and TE markets recently experienced.
As for RBs, I’ve got to think that market is flatter than flat. 2 of the biggest contracts (D Johnson and Gurley) being absolute disasters is just the exhibit A.
I know we’re all not happy with the FO right now for not making this happen. But what if their offer is far and above anyone else’s, and maybe it’s just that Clowney doesn’t really want to re-sign in Seattle and is holding out hope that someone else will come out with a comparable offer and he’s the one dragging Seattle along?
Clowney has said, multiple times, that he would love to return to Seattle.
We don’t need to try and create reasons to give the front office a pass.
Also, as you’ve pointed out, Rob… if Clowney “doesn’t really want to re-sign in Seattle”, we need to respond accordingly and make other moves. Sitting around, hoping he’ll change his mind is not an effective strategy.
And if they’d set a deadline last week and signed, for example, Fowler and Quinn instead — I for one would’ve said fair enough. At least they would’ve acted to try and rectify an enormous need. But instead, we’re just sat here waiting for them to win their value war so they can save a few bucks and then… hope that they can win another value war with Everson Griffen and that he and Bruce Irvin will somehow be enough to turn a bad defense into a good one.
Isn’t that like A-Rod saying he wasn’t signing for just money? We don’t really know what he is actually thinking and what he tells the media.
So when he said he loved it in Seattle — immediately after the season and in subsequent quotes from reporters like Josina Anderson (via her well used phone)… what he actually meant was he couldn’t wait to leave and sign somewhere else.
We don’t have to try too hard to defend the front office you know.
I am definitely not saying that at all. I am saying that just like any player they may want to stay and are going to communicate that to leave the options open but when push comes to shove, he is probably open to the best offer he will get. I woudln’t doubt he loves Seattle but I am also sure he wanted to see what his value and what his options were on the open market.
My comment had nothing to do with defending the front office. I see them as an issue as well. If they want him and he wants to stay then they both should stop playing games and get it done.
I’m not sure why you posted that reply then. The original poster suggested we’d offered the best deal but Clowney didn’t want to sign because he didn’t want to be in Seattle. I countered by highlighting quotes where he’s professed his desire to stay in Seattle. You then said he could just be being A-Rod.
But now you’re saying he’s open to the best offer and wants to see what’s out there… but the OP already clarified the premise was that Seattle was the best offer.
At the end of the day Clowney can do what he wants. He doesn’t have to worry about Seattle fixing their pass rush. This is his life, his opportunity. The Seahawks are the ones who have to sort the team out and either get this done or move on. And they’re doing neither.
My response was to “Clowney has said, multiple times, that he would love to return to Seattle.” and that what he says to the media doens’t necessarily mean what he wants.
You are correct, it is on the team to pursue who they want.. Like all of us, I would like to see some movement whether it is Clowney or not. The FO shouldn’t put all their eggs in his basket.
Commenting on some earlier posts, do we think we are disrespecting Clowney on a contract offer? If reports are true about the $18.5 apy (which who knows at this point). That would translate to a 4 year $74 million contract, or 5 years $92.5 million. We are talking about a guy who has never hit double digit sacks in his career. A career where he played along one of the all time greats in JJ Watt. I think he gets more respect than he deserves due to the fact he was the #1 overall pick and was a god in college. Personally I think the contract is fair and he hasnt ever done anything that warrants a $20 million a year contract. Do I want him back, hell yeah I want him back but how far do you want to stretch yourself? Just some thoughts.
But again — that’s all fine. You make a series of valid points.
So if they don’t want to pay him — don’t. Sign someone with +10 sacks a season. Those players were available.
They haven’t done that. What they’ve done instead is say Clowney is a huge priority and they’ve put all their eggs in one basket with him (albeit at their price). And now they run the risk of actually weakening a D-line that was one of the worst in the NFL last season, when the self-confessed priority was major improvement there. If he signs elsewhere, then what? No Clowney. No other options other than Everson Griffen (who would also need to negotiate a contract!). It’s not good.
+1 Gazillion
You make good points as well. I wonder if this really caught them off guard. I wonder if they thought they would either retain him early or lose him early so they could go after other options. I think the league in general is a little shocked at his market. Maybe its the medicals or maybe its his lack of production or both. Im not sure if we will ever get an honest answer from John when he does his yearly interview but it would be fun to know.
This is the only explanation that makes sense to me, they’ve got caught out waiting on Clowney and now its too late to do anything but keep waiting. Or just up the offer and get it done, but they might be thinking: “why should we? no one is offering more so just accept the deal and let’s get going”.
Looks like Pierre Desir just signed with the Jets.
That’s OK. We’ve got Akeem ‘animal’ King ready to step up and… errr… not win the nickel job again???
Well at least this draft class looks pretty solid at CB…/sarcasm
I actually think it is a decent corner class, it just lacks guys with 32″ arms. There’s some potential nickles out there tho.
Rob
I know it might seem dysfunctional, but I am thoroughly enjoying this sarcastic side of you. It has a significant amount of realism to it that just resonates with me right now. Trust me. I would much prefer wearing my rose colored glasses, but that doesn’t really help anybody And often only miss lead people into believing things are great when they are not. I’m more than willing to say the glass is half full rather than half empty when we were in a 50-50 situation. Not sure that’s where rat at the moment. All the best nice work.
Also thanks for moderating off that fake news post from yesterday.
I think sarcasm, done in the right way, can lighten the mood in the time of need.
I hope people see it for what it is — an attempt at gallows humour — and nothing more sinister.
I think Rob has probably been busy moderating a lot of posts lately!
I just wish we would get some real news about what is going on, though.
I have nothing to base this upon, but we have to consider that the NFL could suspend operations at some point with the dramatic spike the US is undergoing now in new cases and deaths due to the c-virus. A possibility, it seems to me. In other words, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this Clowney/Hawks standoff could carry on even longer. In other words, there might be even more incentive to get something done ASAP.
I have every reason to believe the NFL season will at the very least be postponed. It may even get get canceled if things don’t change.
Would anybody be shocked, or even surprised if Roger Goodell soon came out and suspended NFL operations (FAcy, the draft, etc…) for, say, a month? I know I wouldn’t be. After all, the headquarters for the NFL is in New York City, the American epicenter of the pandemic, literally Wuhan West now.
We can already guess that spring practices/workouts will be cancelled. It wouldn’t surprise me if the NFL vastly diminished, or even got rid of the pre-season this year. They might even decide to push back the first league games till October 1st, to begin acting preemptively in such a way. I thought I could see them getting rid of the 4 inter-league games, pushing them back a year and going with a 12 game schedule with a greatly expanded playoff schedule. You know they’re spit-balling all sorts of scenarios now.
Anyway…just thinking about this in terms of getting our big deals done now. 🙂
To be fair, many are pointing out the spike is due to the tests finally becoming more commonly available. So, it’s just accurately recording how many cases there already are.
Of course they’re going up for that reason. But does it matter?
Absolutely. There’s still time to turn this from a sharp spike into a bell curve. Positively identifying cases is critical.
What I meant was the spiking numbers and medical centers being utterly overwhelmed are grim data no matter who saw it coming or not, no matter how much such an early scenario was baked-into-the-cake. I did ONE refresh on world-o-meter this morning and our new cases, mostly in NY, rose over 7000. The biggest new total at a given time for us by far.
Like I said, no matter how well this was intelligently envisioned, the grim raw data and reality when it hits is startling, no matter-of-fact thing.
I just want the Clowney deal done now.
I doubt that. They’ve got this far and suspended all contact and activity. There’s very little reason to tell people now they can’t negotiate. The horse bolted in that regard the minute the league year opened.
They could easily postpone the draft if needed but not stop people talking contract.
Remember the good old days (a couple weeks ago)?
Sport was still happening, we were allowed to go outside for non-essential trips, and the Seahawks were set to begin what was to be an active and aggressive offseason that puts them back in contention. How I long for those days…
The halcyon days…
Let’s hope the last few days weren’t the halcyon days, compared to what is potentially about to transpire when Covid 19 hits the homeless and drug epicentres of Vancouver, Seattle, San Fran and LA.
Well aren’t you just the harbinger of doom.
Wow another OL signing… Chance Warmack
hmm
This is most likely a zero risk shot in the dark signing.
wtf are they doing?
Maybe they’re loading up the depth to enable them to cut Britt and possibly Fluker.
Or it might just be the next step in the Seahawks’ quest to have every player from the 2013 first round on their team at some point.
He’s converting to the DL.
Damn. Beat me to it 🤪
Who had Warmack on their FA hit list?