Husky Basketball Is Falling Apart

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Now, in all fairness, just because the rats are evacuating this sinking ship that is Husky Men’s Basketball doesn’t mean it’s bad that they’re gone.

Jamal Bey, for instance, is out of eligibility (thank Christ). He was a colossal disappointment for the duration of his Husky career. Langston Wilson has opted to transfer, but he was often foul-prone and never really developed a consistent offensive game. Jackson Grant is also leaving, but he couldn’t crack a weak front court. Tyler Linhardt is apparently a guy who was here, but I know nothing about him since he hardly ever played.

Then, Cole Bajema announced he was leaving, but that feels like addition by subtraction. He’s another supposedly-good three-point shooter who was streaky as all get-out. His good games were SEVERELY outnumbered by the ones where he was anonymous to outright atrocious (you shouldn’t have as many games as he has when he went 0 for 6 or 1 for 7, when you’re supposedly an elite outside shooter). It sounds like P.J. Fuller is also leaving, but with an expanded role, he did exactly zero with the opportunity (after having a solid 2021-2022 season).

And then you’ve got Keion Brooks and Noah Williams, who it sounds like are on the fence. Brooks was easily the best player on last year’s .500 team, but that’s not saying a whole lot. He has one year of eligibility left, and I don’t know why this is even a question. Why on God’s green Earth would he stay at Washington? Why wouldn’t he go somewhere where he actually has a chance to play some Tournament ball? I can sort of see why Williams might stick around; he’s a local kid who spent most of this past season injured. I don’t know if he has any value on the open market right now, unless he wants to go to a smaller school just to play a lot of minutes and fill out his stats. The thing is, if he’s healthy, he’ll have every opportunity to do that here, so why not just stay?

What kills me now, though, is hearing that Keyon Menifield has announced he’s leaving, after recently announcing he was coming back. He was far and away the most promising and exciting player on last year’s squad, and it’s truly devastating that he won’t be back. But, again, I get it. I loved watching him; he was fun as hell on the court. But, he’s never going to win here. He’s not from here. There are no ties whatsoever keeping him a Husky. It’s brutal, but that’s what you get when you refuse to fire a lame duck in Mike Hopkins.

Who does that leave us with? Two okay big men in Braxton Meah and Franck Kepnang (the latter coming off of a serious injury) and Koren Johnson (the other freshman guard who wasn’t quite as good as Menifield, but still looked promising last year). We have a couple of incoming freshman I’m assuming won’t reneg on their committment. And, I guess, we’ll have a whole new slate of underwhelming incoming transfer players no one else in college basketball wanted.

This just sucks. It’s not like I was even remotely excited about Husky basketball next year, but I dunno, at least we would’ve had Menifield. I can only imagine how big of an impact he’ll have in his second full season at the college level. I hope he kills it on his new team. I can totally see him being a star in the Big Dance next year.

The Seahawks Brought Back Bobby Wagner!

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Look, I’m going to like any move the Seahawks make to improve the defense, because it’s been abysmal watching how this side of the ball has deteriorated over the years. Also, it’s one year, $7 million (guaranteed money amount yet to be released), which isn’t an unreasonable amount.

It didn’t feel great having Bobby on the Rams. That being said, it was entirely reasonable for the Seahawks to cut him (maybe not with the lack of communication) and sort of re-set his salary value to the league. He’s in his 30’s now, even if he’s playing at a relatively high level, this is the world we’re living in.

That being said, it was weird seeing him outside of a Seahawks uniform, and it was distressing seeing him twice in the uniform of a divisional opponent.

Bobby Wagner was easily one of the best parts of the Rams last year, given all the injuries they endured. He was second-team All Pro, which isn’t necessarily a legacy award like the Pro Bowl; it still means something. 6 sacks, 2 picks, his usual massive amount of tackles, and he played in every fucking game. Just a fucking Hall of Fame stud!

Has he lost a step? Sure, who hasn’t at 32 going on 33? He’s not an elite coverage defender anymore. That’s okay. The Seahawks just need to understand that, and focus him towards what he does best: roaming the middle of the field, and being a beast when it comes to stopping the run and plays around the line of scrimmage.

This free agency spree has been about one thing more than any other: fixing our run defense. Total revamp of the interior of the defensive line. Brought back Bobby (to help fill the void of the Jordyn Brooks injury). Signed Julian Love to bring a little more LOS help from the safety spot (either with Love or Jamal Adams, should he still be here). And, brought in Devin Bush, who very well could be that coverage linebacker if he can reclaim his lost speed, two years post-injury.

There are some interesting thoughts that come to mind with all of this activity. All of this activity, mind you, that’s VERY un-Seahawks. We aren’t normally EVER this active in free agency. Not at the top of the market. Not with guys you’ve actually heard of. Usually it’s people off the scrap heap, coming back from injuries or bouts of ineffectiveness, but who were once high draft picks and therefore have a pedigree that we hope to bring back to relevance.

My biggest worry is that this is the impetus for the Seahawks trading down from five. I know, there was always a chance they’d do that anyway. But, now I fear we’re going to trade WAY down, in an attempt to not only acquire a ton of middling draft picks, but also to save money under the salary cap. As I’ve stated from Day One (that day being: when I realized we’d get the number five pick from Denver) that I want a stud in this draft. You don’t get a stud by trading back. You don’t get a stud by LEAVING the top five. They’re not falling down the draft board. I’m sick of picking in the 20’s. This was our ONE chance to pick in the top five, and I fear we’re going to blow it.

The counter to that is: the Seahawks are making all of these free agency moves in order to mitigate our dependence upon the draft. Now that we’ve – more or less – filled out our roster, we can truly go Best Player Available in the draft and not have to think twice. But, that doesn’t mean I want us throwing this draft away.

But, the fact of the matter is, even before the Bobby Wagner signing, the Seahawks were out of money. When you factor in the cost of draft picks, practice squad, and the IR replacements we’ll eventually need, we’re actually in the hole. And there’s significant savings to be had if we trade down from number five.

There’s also, as it turns out, significant savings if we cut Jamal Adams after June 1st. Adams counts a tad over $18 million towards the salary cap this year. I think his dead cap figure is more than that – something closer to $24 million – but if you do it after June 1st, you can split the damage over 2023 and 2024, which would – in effect – save us around $6 million on the low end, or maybe up to $8.5 million on the high end. I have no idea how it works with his contract; I’m reading very different things between Spotrac and Over The Cap.

I understand the rationale, though. Adams has been fucking worthless the last two seasons. His first year here was terrific – with the 9.5 sacks and all that – but even then he was limited to 12 games. Indeed, he’s NEVER played in more than 12 games per season in a Seahawks uniform, and we suffered the indignity of him going out in Game 1 last year. A year, mind you, where it sounds like we REALLY catered the defense to his unique abilities. So, yeah, I get it. I’m as down on him as anyone. I do not believe – for one second – that he’s going to be available for anything CLOSE to a full season. I’d have to be a gullible fucking idiot to believe that!

That being said, I would still hate this move. Not so much that I actually believe he’ll be available – though, I do think precautions can be made where maybe we can limit his snaps and hopefully limit the damage to injuries he can either play through, or make it back from in time for the playoffs – but I just hate giving up on a talent like that. He DOES have a unique skillset that you just don’t get with any ordinary player. And, I also hate having to eat this much dead money. We’re paying a fuckton to him to NOT play for us this year, AND we’re suffering another fuckton in dead cap in 2024, when he’s already long gone.

Bottom line is, we’re going to have the most talent on this defense that we’ve had in ages. I want to see what it looks like WITH a healthy Jamal Adams, even if he’s only healthy for a game or three!

That being said, the writing is on the wall. I believe more and more, with every passing day – with every passing move the Seahawks make – that Jamal Adams is as good as gone. The only other way we can generate a little cap relief is if we extend Uchenna Nwosu and/or Noah Fant. Maybe we can restructure Lockett or Diggs, as a Twitter replier pointed out. If I had my druthers, THIS would be the way the Seahawks free up some cash. I want Nwosu around for the long haul, and extending him now might be more cost-effective than trying to extend him after a second very productive season in a Seahawks uniform.

Regardless, if it only comes down to cutting Adams or trading down from five – as a means to save money – I guess I’d rather trade Adams. But, that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

What’s really interesting about all of these moves is how – for the first time – this doesn’t feel like your run-of-the-mill instance of the Seahawks “Going All In”. I think there have been a number of times where we’ve tried to shoot the moon. It may have looked like half measures as we were doing it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t legitimate.

But, this? This feels – again, for the first time – like it’s Pete Carroll’s age showing. He’ll be 72 years old in September. And, yeah, I get it, he’s the youngest-looking 72 year old we’ve ever seen. He’s more active than a man half his age and blah blah blah. But, 72 is 72. The oldest head coach in NFL history was Romeo Crennel at 73. Do I believe this is Pete’s last hurrah? Of course not. I think he’ll reach that mark as the oldest head coach in NFL history (until whenever Bill Belichick surpasses him, as he’s a year younger). But, I also don’t know if I believe that Pete has more than three seasons left. He’s apparently under contract through 2025. That might be it, regardless of what happens with the eventual sale of the Seahawks.

We’re gearing up for a run here, and then The Great Unknown. So, if ever there was a time to start kicking the can down the road as far as the salary cap is concerned, this might be it. I’d like to do that with as many bullets in the chamber as humanly possible, so I hope the Seahawks don’t make any rash decisions in the coming months.

Either way, this should be a VERY interesting team. And it’s super fun having Bobby back for at least one more go-around!

L.J. Collier Was The Worst Seahawks First Round Pick In The John Schneider Era

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L.J. Coller was taken with the 29th overall pick in 2019 by the Seattle Seahawks. He just recently signed with the Arizona Cardinals for a 1-year deal, probably worth the minimum. Thus ends the Seahawks tenure of the very worst first round draft pick John Schneider ever made.

To be fair, it’s not like there’s been a TON of first round draft picks. There’s been FIVE years in that span (2010-2022) where we didn’t make a selection until the second round! It almost happened a sixth time in 2019, I’m sure, but I gather we couldn’t find a trade partner willing to give us what we wanted to trade into the first round (not a good quarterback class AT ALL, really hampered us).

But, that being said, there have also been a number of first round duds taken by the Seahawks in that time. James Carpenter was disappointing (and entirely miscast as a right tackle), Germain Ifedi was a frequent whipping boy (and ALSO entirely miscast as a right tackle), Rashaad Penny was a reach and oft-injured, and no one’s ever happy when their team takes an off-ball linebacker that high (Jordyn Brooks has been good, but not quite elite, and now quite injured).

L.J. Collier, however, out-sucks them all and it’s not even close.

The circumstances weren’t great at the time for the Seahawks. In 2019, we were still clinging to the delusion that we were a championship contender. We were trying to recover from YEARS of mismanagement along the defensive line – starting right around the point where we took Malik McDowell in the second round in 2017 – and this was really the nadir. Frank Clark was coming up for a new contract. We franchise tagged him, then traded him to the Chiefs for a bounty of picks. It was our only viable move, really, since we didn’t even have the money to cover the tag, let alone enough money or draft capital to replenish all the spots that needed filling.

It was just unfortunate, in retrospect, that we couldn’t find a trade partner with a pick higher than the 29th. But, there was nothing doing, and by the time the draft got to the 29th spot, there wasn’t a quality defensive end left.

The consensus was down on Collier from the start. He was a reach. He had no marketable skills on the football field. If you squinted (and REALLY lied to yourself), you saw a guy who could play inside and outside – a la Michael Bennett – but in reality this guy wasn’t anything CLOSE to Michael Bennett.

45 games in 4 years for the Seahawks. 16 starts, all in 2020. His career got off to a bad start with an injury in training camp as a rookie; that set him back considerably. Or, maybe it didn’t. Maybe he was just fucking terrible, and a track record of perfect health wouldn’t have made any difference. I know this, injuries didn’t keep him off the field 2020-2022. You know what did? His incompetence at the game of football. He was frequently a healthy scratch on gamedays. On a line – mind you – that wasn’t very good as it was! We’ve never STOPPED trying to recover from the years of mismanagement along the defensive line! And he couldn’t even crack THAT rotation in many weeks!

3.0 career sacks, all in 2020. 40 career tackles – less than one per game. So, no pass rush ability, and not really anything special when it came to stopping the run. He didn’t do a fucking thing in his time here.

It’s adorable that Collier’s agent is throwing shade at the Seahawks and their scheme. I mean, I know the Seahawks have been far from perfect (especially defensively), but Pete Carroll has a track record. Other players HAVE stepped up and produced in this system. If Collier goes to the Cardinals and becomes a force to be reckoned with, I’ll eat my fucking hat.

Good. Fucking. Riddance.

Now, let’s go out and find a proper defensive end in this year’s draft to take his place.

My Thoughts On The New Rules In Baseball

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I should probably go ahead and start out by saying that I have not yet watched nor listened to a baseball game since the new rules were implemented in Spring Training. And I didn’t get a chance to make it out to a minor league game last year. I can’t remember if the rules were in place the last time I did go to a Rainiers game; I vaguely remember a pitch clock running, but I don’t remember the umpires being sticklers for adhering to it. This was the year Kelenic started in AAA – so that would’ve been 2021 – and from what I recall they were just starting to sprinkle it in.

Anyway, I suppose my thoughts could change as I start watching games and as the season progresses. But, from what I’m hearing, and from what I know the rules represent, I think I’m like the majority: overwhelmingly in favor of them.

Pitch Clock

I’m decidedly NOT a baseball purist. I don’t think I’m any kind of sports purist, but I’ll be honest, I’m especially a fan of speeding things up.

Now, clearly, I’m no athlete. But, my friends and I used to play a considerable amount of baseball in my backyard (the baseball was a tennis ball, the bat was thick and plastic, the strike zone was a towel thumbtacked to the fence, foul balls over the fence/house were outs, you could throw the ball at a baserunner to tag them out), and as a pitcher who took pride in his craft (and kept copious notes of his stats throughout the “seasons”), I was a big fan of taking the ball and throwing it, with very little in-between nonsense.

It’s not that I necessarily hate it when a pitcher futzes with his gear, or when a hitter fidgets with his batting gloves. But, taken as a whole, you can see the clear difference in game play. We’re shaving off 30 minutes of bullshit! If your OCD brain can’t function between pitches without doing 15 ritualistic things, then maybe you don’t belong in the Major Leagues. Somebody posted a video to Twitter that featured nearly 3 minutes of down time between pitches; that’s clinically insane!

It’s also not like I was always thinking “games are too long”, but you knew it when you were watching it. Some pitcher loses the strike zone for an inning, and all of a sudden you’re sitting there for 45 minutes before the next team’s up to bat. You had hoped to be finished and in bed before 10pm, and all of a sudden it’s pushing 11pm with no end in sight.

It’s easy to blame the most egregious cases. I don’t know how Boston fans tolerated Nomar Garciaparra all those years. I know, in recent times, it’s been a nightmare having to sit through Diego Castillo on the mound; a guy who seemingly never makes it through an inning in under 20 pitches, with 45 hat twists in between. But, clearly, it’s just about everyone, all game long, contributing to the runaway boredom.

I’m a pretty big fan of the Mariners; I’ve been following them religiously since 1995. And even still, it’s hard to stay engaged through all 9 innings! I’m usually right there in the beginning, then I lose focus through the middle innings, before making a return towards the end. I don’t think that’s uncommon. When there’s nothing else going on; when it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon and you might find yourself nodding off for an hour or so in front of the TV, the pace of baseball becomes nice white noise to soothe your restful mind.

But now, when you know you probably only have two and a half hours before it’s over, there’s more urgency. There’s fewer opportunities to turn your focus to your phone, or whatever else is on TV. If you step away to make dinner, you might now find 3-4 innings have gone by!

There’s only a couple of instances where I’m not as much of a fan of the new pace of play.

The first has to do with the rhythm of the broadcast. Now, the shorter games can also be a good thing here, if you have announcers who are boring/annoying. But, when you’ve got good ones – when you’ve got Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers, for instance – you don’t mind spending 3+ hours with them, because they’re so entertaining and good at their jobs. You want to hear their stories, you want to learn what facts they’ve dug up for that game, you want to laugh at their jokes and just be in their company. So, that’s a bit of a bummer. There’ll be a learning curve, I’m sure. Plenty of cliffhangers to stories that have to wait until the next half-inning. But, that’ll work itself out. And, most importantly, it isn’t the end of the world, nor a deal-breaker.

My other gripe is going to be one that I’m just going to have to deal with, and that’s actually attending the games. I don’t go during the work week. If I did – or if I retired and had season tickets – then yeah, getting out of there and back home by 10pm would be a very ideal scenario. But, when I go, it’s an event. I get a group of friends together, or I’m there with my sweetheart, and we’re there to have a good time! We want alcoholic beverages, we want to try all the different kinds of foods, maybe we want a souvenir, and I know that I want to enjoy myself as I keep score in a scorecard. I never want those games to end! Now, if you go to a game, and concessions don’t have their shit together, you’re bound to miss a significant chunk of the game because you were stuck in line! Not for nothing, but with the Mariners being as good as they are, you know there’s going to be a drastic increase in fan attendance, which is only going to further strain the understaffed concessions booths. And you better be on your toes for that seventh inning, because alcohol sales are going to be over before you know it!

I’m never going to be fully happy going to games unless they manage to go into extra innings. But, again, that’s just something I’ll have to deal with.

No More Shift

I’ll admit, I didn’t hate the shift as much as some people. Part of me feels like hitters should be able to knock the ball the other way, or otherwise take a bunt when they’re clearly giving it to you. But, mostly, I actually like pitching and defense. I like it when guys throw 7+ innings of shutout ball. I like the strategy of taking advantage of a particular hitter’s pull tendencies. I think all of that is very interesting, and it makes spray hitters that much more valuable.

But, it’s also REALLY discouraging to see a hitter whip a ball straight up the pitcher’s ass – where it used to glide over the mound and second base, into the outfield without even the semblance of a play from the short stop or second baseman – only for it to be easily scooped up by a guy standing right there and thrown to first for an easy 6-3 put-out. And it’s rather pathetic to see all of these left-handed batters roll over to the second baseman who’s positioned halfway between the infield dirt and the outfield wall.

Then, I think about what the shift has meant to certain hitters. Corey Seager’s Brother Kyle Seager, for instance, might’ve been a perennial All Star. He came into baseball just as it was starting to be widely implemented, and by the end he was a shell of his early self and couldn’t keep his average above .250 to save his life. From 2011-2016, he was a .266 hitter; never had an average below .258. From 2017-2021, he was a .231 hitter; never had an average above .249. To make up for it, you really had to swing for the fences, which only increased your strikeouts (leading to that Three True Outcomes era we all loathed).

How many careers were derailed because of the shift? Conversely, how many middling pitchers were sustained? It’s not even that, though. Clearly, pitchers have outpaced hitters in natural ability over the last 20 years. Getting steroids out of the game helped. But, these guys are throwing in the upper 90’s with ease. They’re throwing nasty change-ups and sliders as secondary pitches, and the hitters can’t keep up. So, it only makes sense to throw the hitters a bone in this regard.

I say that as, again, a guy who loves pitching. A few more seeing-eye singles won’t make a whole helluva lot of difference for the really elite pitchers. But, maybe we get some of the duds out of the game a little quickler.

Bigger Bases/Fewer Pickoffs

I don’t know who could possibly have a problem with this, because it’s all straight up fun. Stolen bases are fun! Infield singles are fun! You know what’s not fun? Watching a pitcher throw over to first five times, only for that guy to take off running anyway. Pickoffs RARELY work. No one really has a good move anymore. More than anything, they just take advantage of the carelessness of the runner, who might have guessed wrong or just wasn’t paying attention.

I wasn’t even around for them, but I miss the days of guys stealing 100 bags. Between that and the shift going away, this feels like a resurgence for speedy slap hitters, who have been all but legislated out of the game thanks to nerds who took advantage of a flawed system. I’m all for winning by any means necessary, but it’s nice to add value where you can. And if a guy can hit around .300 – with little-to-no power – while stealing a bunch of bases and scoring a bunch of runs, there should be a place for him in Major League Baseball. It shouldn’t all be lumbering bombers who strike out 200 times a year and walk 100 times a year.

The beauty of baseball is that it takes all comers. You can be short, skinny, and fast, or you can be big, strong, and fat – or, really, any body type in between – and if you can play, you can play. So, let everyone play!

It’s funny, sports leagues tweak rules all the time, and it seems like they’re constantly getting it wrong. The NFL is a major culprit in this; who remembers the disaster that was allowing coaches to throw challenge flags for pass interference? Lots of half measures and hare-brained compromises lead to a watering down of the product. But, I feel like baseball got these things 100% right. Again, we’ll see how it shakes out in the regular season. But, without going to severe extremes – like shortening games to 7 innings – they’ve managed to preserve the integrity of the game, while reshaping it for future generations.

And, oddly enough, getting back to basics a little bit. Games used to be like this way back in the day. Shorter in length, with more singles and stolen bases. We’re improving the game for future generations by harkening back to a time when it was played by previous generations!

How Devastating Is This Dylan Moore Injury For The Mariners?

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One of the most terrifying things about the WBC is watching your players get ripped from the slow ramp-up of Spring Training activities and thrown into the fire of “meaningful” baseball in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans. I’m sure it’s an enjoyable experience for their home countries to root for – as if we didn’t already have the damn Olympics; why couldn’t we just keep baseball in that tournament? – but for fans of specific Major League Baseball teams, you’re just hoping your guys make it through unscathed.

It’s not so much a worry of them getting knocked around; I’m sure most will mentally recover from the devastating effects of losing in the WBC. No, rather it’s worrying about what happened to Edwin Diaz. He LITERALLY just signed a 5-year $102 million contract extension with the Mets. His team just knocked out some other team in the WBC (not even in the finals, mind you, but one of the earlier rounds), and his teammates were gathered around him near the mound, jumping up and down in a pile of bodies, when he tore a tendon in his leg. He needs surgery and is lost for the year. He’ll be 30 years old in 2024, and who knows how he’s going to recover or if he’ll ever be his old, dominant self? The Mets might’ve just signed on for an albatross to end all albatross contracts.

Thankfully, the Mariners have seemingly avoided any such calamities. Nevertheless, no team makes it through the spring unscathed. So far, we appear to be heading into the regular season without Dylan Moore.

Under normal circumstances, if you told me the biggest injury issue we’d have to date is a utility infielder/outfielder with an oblique strain, I’d say we’re doing pretty good, all things considered. And that’s true. But, it’s at least a little worrisome considering how much the Mariners had planned on using him. By my estimation, he figured to play at least 3-4 times a week, maybe more. He’d be filling in at short and second base, to give Crawford rest and to platoon a bit with Wong. You figure he’d also be a backup at third base, to give Suarez a blow with a DH day or something.

And that’s the rub. The Mariners don’t have a traditional DH. It’s going to be a rotation of guys. With Moore likely the next man up to fill the void out on the field.

It’s not like we’re losing a superstar or anything, so I’m not trying to get my panties in a bunch. He’s not even a 2-WAR player. But, it goes to show how razor-thin we are in our depth. The drop-off from Moore to whoever fills his spot on the active roster is going to be considerable. And, likely, it shifts our plan to give Crawford more rest, and to give Wong a platoon partner. Ideally, Moore will return by May and we’ll get the full effects of whatever Dylan Moore brings to this team. But, it’s an oblique, and that shit tends to linger and get re-aggravated if the athlete isn’t careful in his recovery. How this will affect us over the course of the season is anybody’s guess, but I’m assuming it isn’t great.

I’ll be interested to see what the Mariners opt to do. Trading for an outside replacement seems very unsatisfying. Though, I suppose, that’s what you carry six starting pitchers for. If you can’t trade Flexen or Gonzales for reinforcements, then why are you still employing them? That being said, you’d like to think you can get more than just a reserve infielder for a legitimate innings-eater (which both Flexen and Gonzo are). I guess it all depends on how our internal options look (there’s Haggerty, and a few guys who have never cracked the bigs before), and how long it takes Moore to return.

That’s my biggest worry. Moore was already recovering from a “core surgery” a few months ago. He was already being brought along slowly, and just starting to ramp up to play in actual Spring Training games, when he strained his oblique on a swing in batting practice. I don’t know if these injuries are related, or if it’s just one thing on top of another, but every time I’ve heard of a player suffering an oblique injury, it’s taken significantly longer for them to recover than what original estimates stated. Suffice it to say, I’m not confident we’ll get Moore back by May. I’m not even confident we’ll see him before the summer, if we see him at all this year.

But, as I said before, it’s not the end of the world. Let’s just hope this isn’t the first domino of many to drop. I can’t handle a Season From Hell with these Mariners. They’re just too damned promising and fun to watch; don’t ruin my year!

More Minor Seahawks-Related News, Part 2

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Is it just me or have the Seahawks been unusually active in free agency? So active, in fact, that I had to split this post into two parts!

Seahawks Signed Evan Brown

It seems like the Seahawks found their starting center for 2023. It’s a 1-year deal, for just under $3 million, so that doesn’t preclude the Seahawks from finding a more permanent alternative in the draft. But, as always, the Seahawks like to hedge as much as possible before the draft, that way they can give off the illusion that they’re selecting the Best Player Available, and not necessarily some guy to fill a hole. I would consider the center spot to be a hole, though Brown does seem like an upgrade over Austin Blythe, at 6’3, 320 pounds. Considering the type of beef we have to go up against six times a year just in our own division, it was time to invest in some bigger bodies to hopefully give Geno Smith a little more protection.

Seahawks Re-Signed Drew Lock

One year, $4 million, with incentives up to $7.5 million. It’s almost a carbon copy of Geno Smith’s 2022 deal. I don’t know why we’re investing so heavily into a consensus backup quarterback, unless it’s because we’re going to completely ignore the position in the draft yet again. I’ve never been one to believe we’d take a guy with the fifth overall pick, or even in the first round. But, I did kinda hope we’d look into getting someone somewhere, that’s not an afterthought/undrafted king. But, I think the odds are pretty good we’re using our draft to boost everywhere else.

Seahawks Signed Devin Bush

This seems like an incredibly interesting signing by the Seahawks. It’s a one year deal of an unknown amount (just kidding! it’s anywhere from $3 million to $3.5 million), but figure it’s some sort of a prove-it deal for a once-promising uber-prospect who’s seen his career side-tracked by injury. Specifically an ACL tear in his second NFL season, that’s taken him a lot longer to recover from than anyone would’ve liked. He still played over the last two years, but not at the height of his rookie campaign. By all accounts, his speed dropped considerably after the injury, and it’s unknown if he’s ever going to return to form. If it pays off, we could have an elite off-ball linebacker at a bargain rate. If it fails, then hopefully it won’t matter too much, because either we’ve drafted a speedy linebacker, or something else – like a box safety – comes into play.

Seahawks Signed Julian Love

This is a 2-year, $12 million deal, so you figure this guy has a role on this defense regardless of what happens with Quandre Diggs or Jamal Adams (or Ryan Neal, for that matter). He’s a safety, which is why those other names come up, but he can also play nickel corner. It seems to me that it would be odd to sign this guy and give him Coby Bryant’s job, when Bryant did fine as a rookie. This leads me to believe that Love will take over at strong safety, while Jamal Adams will play a little more consistently as a linebacker or a third (box) safety. It also doesn’t hurt to have a little extra depth, since Adams clearly has an issue with staying upright, and you never know what’ll happen with Diggs. The extra year makes it clear that Love can be a bridge between Adams after this season, and whoever ends up being the next guy. What’s not going to happen is the Seahawks cutting either Adams or Diggs before this season. It doesn’t make sense financially, nor competitively.

Al Woods Released

I can’t imagine this is something the Seahawks actually wanted to do. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they just wanted a clean slate across the board for an underperforming defensive line. But, my take on the 2022 season was that Al Woods was the lone bright spot along the interior of that line. Sure, he’s getting up there. Sure, there will be other similar options to fill that void (we really don’t have a true widebody nose tackle on the roster at the moment). But, the guy is tough as nails, impossible to move, and is beloved by both fans and teammates alike. And he’s been durable! No, I have to believe the Seahawks did this because we’re literally broke. No money left. Every little bit helps, and in this case, that’s $3.6 million we get to put towards, presumably, filling out our roster, paying our draft picks, and finding replacement-level players when our guys land on the IR. I’m assuming we tried to renegotiate his contract and he wasn’t having any of it. Too bad. Some team is going to find a bargain in Al Woods.

Minor Seahawks-Related News While I Was Losing My Shirt In Reno, Part 1

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Every year, for the first weekend of March Madness, my friends and I congregate in Reno to gamble on basketball and drink all the alcohol our special bracelets will allow. It’s a great time to be alive.

But, it’s a pain in the ass when it comes to sports blogging, because it also generally coincides with the start of NFL free agency. A lot of shit goes down during these four days, and I don’t have the time or the willingness to drop everything and shoot off a blog post as they happen.

Instead, other than the really big stories, I compile them all here in a post-trip post. Here’s all the bullshit that didn’t deserve its own headline.

Gabe Jackson Released

This actually happened way before I left for Reno, but it was so unimportant that … I can’t even properly finish this sentence; farts? We save $6.5 million, which is considerable what with the nearly $5 million in dead money we’re eating. He was going to cost us a pretty penny if he remained on the roster, and that’s too much to spend for someone who was a rotational guy at guard with Phil Haynes (who was previously re-signed on a one-year deal). I’m not so sure Haynes’ $4 million contract means he’s a lock to start for us; we could (and probably should) draft a guard of the future. But, he’s probably going to start for us – at least at first – and it’s better that way. Haynes has proven capable; Gabe Jackson has proven to be over the hill and expensive.

Shelby Harris Released

We saved another $9 million by making this move (though, we still had to eat a little over $3 million on dead money). Figure a lot of that will be going to Dre’Mont Jones, in our big splash on the first day of free agency. Harris was a quality interior player that we got back in the Russell Wilson deal, but he’s getting up there in age and you can’t afford to pay that kind of money to a guy who’s just okay. There’s no denying that the Seahawks were absolutely atrocious on the front seven in 2022, and especially in the interior defensive line. Harris was fine, but he clearly wasn’t making up for how deficient this team was, and it was imperative to make a big move at this position, considering our dire need.

Cody Barton Signed With The Washington Commanders

One of the other biggest needs is interior linebacker, where we really need a couple guys to fill the void until Jordyn Brooks is able to return from injury. One of my biggest worries, as a result, was the Seahawks shrugging their shoulders and re-signing Barton because he’s “familiar with the system” and “is better than everyone insists based on our 2022 results”. I don’t know who I’m quoting there, but in my head that’s word for word what some know-it-all has to say about Cody Barton. Has there ever been a good football player named Cody? I don’t think so! Prove me wrong. Anyway, Washington saved me from a lot of unnecessary worry by signing him on Day One, so he’s their problem now. Enjoy ankle tackles and a complete dearth of impact plays!

Quinton Jefferson Released

This came after the Dre’Mont Jones signing, which saves us around $5 million. He’s always been a quality rotation body – who can slide inside and outside – but nothing really special. That being said, he was one of the few players who flashed any semblance of competence along the line in 2022, so it was nice having him back while it lasted. I don’t know if this is a move we made to help pay for Jones’ new deal, or if it will lead to another move, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Rashaad Penny Signed With The Philadelphia Eagles

You know, the more you think about it, the more you realize Rashaad Penny is the most Eaglesy running back on the market. Mix him in that backfield with three other guys and watch them all tantalize – fantasywise – but ultimately let you down when you actually have to start one of them on your team. Penny leaving the Seahawks seemed like a foregone conclusion after returning on a 1-year deal, only to get hurt early in the season. It was time for a fresh start, and it’s time for the Seahawks to look elsewhere to back up Kenneth Walker.

Travis Homer Signed With The Chicago Bears

It’s a 2-year, $4.5 million deal, which granted isn’t a lot of money, but also Travis Homer isn’t worth spending money on. He’s just a guy, and that’s all he’s been. He also hasn’t been remotely durable since his rookie season. I’m happy to move on and hope the Seahawks look to draft a running back to fill out the ranks.

The Seahawks Signed Dre’Mont Jones & Jarran Reed

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We have exciting news! I can’t remember the last time the Seahawks were involved with a major signing on the first day of free agency. Not for an outside player anyway. The Seahawks are an organization that likes to draft and develop, they’re an organization that likes to take care of their own guys. Other than that – and the occasional big splash trade – we usually buy low and test the waters on an older veteran, or a lesser name coming off his rookie contract.

It’s a smart way to do things, but it can also be infuriating. What happens to those teams who “win” free agency? They’re often coming from a real dark point; that’s why they have so much money to spend in the first place. And, you’re not getting the proper value out of guys on bigtime second or third contracts, compared to those on rookie deals especially, but also compared to past-their-prime veterans who might have a little something left in the tank. So, you don’t often see a lot of future success from those teams who “win” free agency. Once in a while, a team will get everything right, but that’s pretty rare. More often than not, if you’re not just as inept (remember that Philly “Dream Team” they compiled some years back), then you’re mortgaging the future like the Rams did. Which is great, they won a Super Bowl. But, now they’re set to be one of the worst teams in football, and that’s gotta be tough to swallow as a fan.

Conversely, as you can see, it’s not like the Seahawks’ way has paid dividends either. All too often, we’ve eschewed one impact signing in an attempt to scattershot a lot of minimum deals. Instead of signing one impact offensive linemen, we’d sign three mediocre duds. Instead of going for one impact pass rusher, we’d overpay defensive tackles (Poona, Mone) who can’t get to the quarterback, and then sign whoever else was left on the scrap heap (Quinton Jefferson, Al Woods).

Everyone likes to point to Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril as the last time the Seahawks got it right in free agency. That was EONS ago! The last outside free agent who actually made a positive impact was Uchenna Nwosu; before him, there was nobody.

Seemingly every year, we head into free agency with a decent amount of money to spend, and seemingly every year, we walk away shaking our heads at the moves the Seahawks have done.

Well, not this time! This time, we signed Dre’Mont Jones away from the Denver Broncos, for 3 years and $51 million. He gets a $20 million signing bonus, which puts his 2023 cap hit at around $10 million. Assuming he plays well, his 2024 cap hit is under $20 million. And if he’s a jackpot, we’ll probably extend him before 2025 comes into play.

6’3, 281 pound defensive tackle who has 22 sacks in his 4-year career, 18.5 over the last three seasons (no less than 5.5 per year). But, it’s obviously not just sacks that makes him one of the most sought-after defensive linemen in this free agency class. He can play all over the line, and he’s a menace against both the run and the pass. He’s basically everything we’ve been looking for since Clinton McDonald left, on the low end. On the high end, the sky’s the limit. I dunno, maybe Aaron Donald is the limit; he’s probably not Aaron Donald.

Nevertheless, he’s the best defensive tackle we’ve had in ages. Sam Adams maybe? Rocky Bernard? It goes back a ways. (I don’t count Michael Bennett here, though maybe I should; I always saw him as a defensive end who slid inside on passing downs to give us an extra outside rusher).

Not only is Dre’Mont one of the best and most impactful free agents, but he also fills a VERY huge need on this particular team. Shelby Harris and Quinton Jefferson were both released as cap casualties. Poona Ford is probably moving on (after not really fitting into the new 3-4 scheme), and Bryan Mone might be out with injury all year. So, as much as we all like Al Woods, there’s a lot of work left to do.

And just when I thought we might settle for some guy making the minimum, we bounced right back the next day and brought back Jarran Reed on a 2-year, $10.8 million deal. This isn’t just any old man off the streets. This is someone who has been remarkably healthy and available (other than a stint when he was suspended). He had a stretch with the Seahawks where there was real pass rush ability and potential (surpassing 10 sacks one year), but by and large he’ll give you a little bit of that, while also presenting a stout front in run defense.

What makes all of this truly thrilling is seeing what will come from the #5 overall pick. If Jalen Carter falls to us? And we get to play him, Reed, and Jones side by side by side? With Nwosu on one end and Darrell Taylor or Boye Mafe on the other? Or, we end up with Will Anderson as an end with those guys? We could really have something here!

Mike Hopkins Will Not Be Fired At This Time

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As expected, the Huskies lost in the opener of the Pac-12 tournament. It was the very first game of the set, and I immediately stopped paying attention beyond that moment. *Checks notes ESPN.com* it looks like Arizona defeated UCLA to take the conference crown in a slight upset. Those are easily the best two teams in the Pac though, so don’t be surprised if they go relatively far. I was surprised to see USC as a 10-seed, after their pitiful showing in the conference tourney; I was less surprised to see ASU as an 11-seed play-in team. They’re not great, but they have a great win here and there.

This isn’t about the rest of the conference, though. This is about YOUR 16-16 Washington Huskies. It was announced over the weekend that Mike Hopkins would be returning. Normally, you don’t need to release a statement confirming someone still has his job when he’s got multiple years left on his contract. But, given the discourse of late – and the disappointing results we’ve seen since last making the NCAA Tournament in 2019 – it really felt like the Huskies were set to make a change.

As has been discussed, though, Washington still owes him a combined $6.3 million over the next two seasons. That by itself isn’t enough to dictate inaction, but when you throw in Jimmy Lake’s figure (over $6 million for the next two years), all his fired football assistants (and Hop’s basketball assistants), the cost of a new basketball coaching staff, and all the raises Kalen DeBoer and his staff have received after just one season (not to mention all the NIL money being raised to start paying these players, on the football team especially), there’s only so much a school like Washington can reasonably hope to do.

I wouldn’t call Washington a “mid-major”, but I would say we are a tier between mid-majors and true power five schools. We don’t have the reach of these national programs like Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and the like. We don’t have the fans attending these games, nor do we have the television numbers to even remotely compete. But, we’re not chopped liver either. What we’ve come to terms with is that Washington is a football school. That’s not a knock; it’s not a bad thing. But, we’re NOT a basketball school. We’re not trying to be all things to all sports. We’re (smartly, rightly) putting all of our chips into the football basket. That’s where the bulk of our boosters live, that’s where the bulk of the money in college athletics lives, and that’s where we’ve traditionally made the biggest sporting impact (all apologies to the rowers and whatnot, in the lesser sports who win championships to zero acclaim).

So, the money is going to football. We’re shooting our shot – so to speak – on the football team making a serious run at the playoffs in 2023. And, somewhat as a consequence, we’re letting the basketball program stagnate under Mike Hopkins, either until his contract runs out, or until he becomes cheap enough to be fired without having to eat an unreasonable sum.

I thought the Hopkins debacle was all summed up perfectly over at UW Dawg Pound. I was happy to learn that Jamal Bey is, indeed, done with college basketball. I was a little dismayed to learn that even though he was celebrated on Senior Day, Cole Bajema is planning to return. Also, I find it incredibly interesting to discover we’re looking to convince Keion Brooks to come back.

Langston Wilson entered the transfer portal – to no one’s shock – and there might be others looking to leave. But I really wonder what this team might look like if most-everyone came back. Not that I think we’d be world beaters, or even contenders for the conference title, but it’s been exceedingly rare for a Mike Hopkins team to have any semblance of continuity. He had it in 2019 – again, with mostly holdovers from Romar’s regime – and we actually did something of value for once. Not that I think lightning would strike twice, but you never know.

I want to have strong feelings about the Huskies keeping Mike Hopkins, because I like Husky basketball. I like it when we’re good, when Hec Ed is rocking and rolling, and when we’re making our presence felt on a national stage. Winning that game in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 was a truly magical experience, and I want more of that!

But, I’m just so God damned beaten down. The atrocious Mike Hopkins “offense”. The zone defense that couldn’t catch a cold. His impotent sideline antics. Our piddling assistant coaching staff. Our non-existent local recruiting abilities.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been spoiled as a Husky basketball fan. I jumped on the bandwagon at peak Romar era. Even his most mediocre teams were somewhat interesting. He always had at least one or two interesting guys. And while his offense wasn’t any sort of great shakes, at least he had players with real offensive abilities. Guys who could drive the lane, create for themselves, or kick out to a bevy of three-point shooters.

There’s nothing interesting about the guys Hopkins has brought in, other than Terrell Brown. There’s truly nothing interesting about the transfer portal, now that we know what it really is. It’s just one more way to lose your very best players, while replacing them with lesser rejects who couldn’t hack it on relevant teams.

So, you know, I’ll go through the motions of paying attention to the Huskies when they’re on TV. But, I’m not getting my hopes up. We’ll continue to underwhelm in 2023/2024, and if Hop is still here on a final lame-duck season, that’ll be a disaster of all disasters. This is going to hurt his ability to recruit, his ability to keep our “committed” guys, and probably any chance of putting out a non-embarrassing product on the court. This could get REALLY ugly.

The last thing we wanted after Hopkins won those back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards was for him to get poached to a bigger program. Who knew it would’ve been the best possible outcome for all involved? Certainly for us, but also for Hopkins. Ironically, the Syracuse head coaching gig just opened up for next season (for the first time in nearly 50 years). Maybe Hop can one day get hired on to be an assistant again.

Making Sense Of The Geno Smith Contract With The Seahawks

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Last week, it was announced that Geno Smith signed a 3-year extension for $105 million. But, we all knew that was the phony number that’s never likely to be administered. We then discovered it was something closer to 3 years, $75 million, with $30 million in incentives. But, that still didn’t paint the full picture. For reasons that boggle the mind, it took a while to finally get that full picture, but here we now are.

We’re looking at a $26.1 million signing bonus (spread out over three seasons, that’s $8.7 million per year, for cap purposes) and a $1.2 million base salary and a $200,000 workout bonus. So, in total, Geno Smith is set to earn $27.5 million in 2023, which is a fantastic chunk of change. For cap purposes, though, it’s only a $10.1 million hit, which should help us greatly when it comes to signing our draft picks, and maybe dipping our toes into free agency.

There are also incentives, which we’ll get into later. But, what needs to be understood is the fact that this is effectively a 1-year deal. If Geno Smith bottoms out, or if we draft someone who looks to be the second-coming of Patrick Mahomes, we can cut him after this season (as long as it’s before the 5th league day of the 2024 season) with a $17.4 million cap hit (that is assuming, of course, that he doesn’t suffer a severe season-ending injury in 2023, as his base salary next year becomes fully guaranteed for injury).

Here’s how the rest of the contract shakes out. While there are certainly protections for the team against Geno being a one-hit wonder, it’s truly a deal constructed to allow Geno to bet on himself.

For starters, his base salary in 2024 jumps to $12.7 million; however, he will also earn $9.6 million in a roster bonus, along with his $200,000 in a workout bonus. That brings his cap hit for next year to $31.2 million (very much in line with a top quarterback, which is how he played in 2022, and presumably how he will need to play in 2023 to see a 2024), and that doesn’t even get into the incentives (again, we’re getting into that later).

In 2025, his base salary will be $14.8 million, but he would also get a roster bonus of $10 million, along with $200,000 for working out, to make his cap hit $33.7 million. So, if he maintains his 2022 level of play through 2023 and 2024, he’ll again be paid like a top quarterback. Not THE top quarterback, but one of them.

The extremely interesting part of this deal is the incentives I’ve been teasing. He’s got a number of escalators – based on his ability to surpass his 2022 numbers in five categories – that could REALLY make him a wealthy man. They are:

  • Total Passing Yards (4,282)
  • Total Passing Touchdowns (30)
  • Completion Percentage (69.8%)
  • Passer Rating (100.9)
  • Team Wins (9)

He gets $2 million per item on this list that he exceeds. My understanding of how it works with wins is he needs to play 80% of the time and lead the Seahawks to either 10+ wins or the playoffs again. If we make the playoffs as a 9-8 team or an 8-9 team, I’m assuming the Seahawks won’t be sticklers here. And, if he exceeds all five, there’s an additional bonus of $5 million earned. Meaning, he could add $15 million to those previously-outlined numbers above. So, if he does that in 2023 – and he’s still on the roster 5 days into the 2024 league year – he’ll be worth a cap hit of $46.2 million.

And then, if he does it agin in 2024, he’ll be worth a cap hit of $48.7 million. THIS puts him in that top tier of quarterback. This’ll be pretty close to what the very best quarterbacks are earning.

Which, at first blush, leads me to wonder: are his numbers in 2022 really so elite? I’ll buy the completion percentage and passer rating; that’s really great. But, we see guys throw 4,300+ yards all the time. 30 touchdowns isn’t anything all that impressive. And 10 wins is fine, but 14 wins are better. I could see Geno Smith potentially surpassing all of those numbers again in 2023. But, what I can’t see is him blowing those numbers away. I think he’ll be BARELY eking past some (or all) of them. Which makes him just an okay quarterback making top-of-the-market dollars.

I don’t want to piss and moan too much, because there’s a cynical part of me that expects all of this to be moot. I think the odds of him beating all five of those incentives are remote. He might get to three or four. But, even less likely is him returning to the Seahawks on a $37+ or $39+ million cap hit. Especially if one of those incentives he fails at is wins/making the playoffs. Of course, it’ll require us to have a viable younger option, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

That all being said, I like this contract. I like having a short-term out. We properly compensated the man for a job well done in 2022, but we didn’t negotiate against ourselves and overly-inflate the guaranteed dollars. I might have other opinions this time next year, if we opt to keep him around. But, for now, it really seems like we have just one more year of this bridge quarterback before we move onto our next franchise guy.

The best part seems to be the fact that we’ll be drafting a guy. Maybe not at the #5 pick. With the Panthers trading up from 9 to 1 with the Bears, that all but assures three of the top four picks will be quarterbacks (Carolina, Houston, and Indy), and it’s sounding very likely that the Cardinals also trade down with a team looking to draft a thrower. I would think the Seahawks likely take one in the second round.

Longshot prediction: the Seahawks draft TWO quarterbacks this year, one in the second round, one somewhere on the third day of the draft.