We all expected the Ed Dickson release, so this was the less-surprising of the two transactions the Seahawks made yesterday. He was signed to a 3-year deal, and throughout most of the first TWO years, he’s been injured (including the entirety of 2019). One might assume he’s finally healthy – of course, how long can THAT be expected to continue – but we’ve already gone out and stocked our Tight End room to overflowing, so this was beyond necessary.
As a reward, the Seahawks save $3 million this year. Neither here nor there: that’s less than half of what we’ve promised Greg Olsen, but what are you gonna do? The Seahawks have needs just like any other red-blooded American football franchise!
The other big move was something that became obvious in recent weeks, but isn’t necessarily something I would’ve expected coming out of 2019: they ALSO released Tedric Thompson. I’ll be the first to admit, though, that I didn’t realize he was set to earn over $2 million in 2020, the final year of his rookie deal. He must’ve hit some escalator clauses in his contract due to all the increased playing time the last couple seasons, which is just unreal because what benefit was all that to the Seahawks? Blown coverages, dropped interceptions, bad tackling and poor tackling routes. The flaws in his game are neverending! Of course, it’s hardly fair to him – being the safety to replace future Hall of Famer Earl Thomas – but you’re given the hand you’re dealt and you’ve gotta do the best with what you’ve got. The bottom line is: he was apparently a practice darling, but could never translate that into game success.
Obviously, the combination of the two releases saves the Seahawks $5 million in 2020. I don’t know if it’s necessarily enough to bridge the salary cap divide to get us into a Clowney contract (particularly if he’s looking to settle on a short-term deal, where we don’t get nearly the help with his signing bonus proration), but I think it was beat writer Bob Condotta on Twitter who wondered if these moves were made with something bigger in mind happening in the near future.
There are, of course, other expected moves the Seahawks will make to free up more cash. I’ve been on the bandwagon that’s calling for the release of Justin Britt pretty much since the moment he was lost for 2019 to injury (he’ll be fine, he’s made plenty of money in his career, with the opportunity to make plenty more elsewhere). Also, since we know Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner aren’t going anywhere, we can apparently turn their 2020 salaries into signing bonuses – thus spreading out the cap burden to future seasons – but obviously you don’t love to do that too often, as it kicks the can down the road until you’re in Salary Cap Hell by 2022.
There was a report yesterday that veteran defensive end Everson Griffen has interest in joining the Seahawks – he did play for Pete Carroll at USC – and the feeling is apparently mutual … with a catch: only if we can’t sign Clowney. Mike Salk relayed a similar sentiment on Twitter last night and I agree: WHY THE FUCK NOT BOTH?!
Are we REALLY banking on a defensive line that’s anchored by JUST Clowney and Irvin? Or JUST Griffen and Irvin? That sounds FUCKING insane to me! For starters, there’s ZERO depth there – who are we going to have left to rely on when one or both of them inevitably get injured (because Clowney’s always been banged up, his entire career, either playing through it or flat-out sitting on the sidelines; and Griffen and Irvin are both 32 years old) – and secondly, we had Clowney last year and were among the worst at rushing the passer in the entire league! I love Bruce Irvin as much as the next guy, but come on! He’s not going to single-handedly turn this ship around!
I’m also getting more and more agitated by the fact that it’s taking so long to make a formal decision on Clowney. The longer we wait – or, rather, the longer he holds out hope of some miracle deal from some mystery team who’s yet to throw their hat in the ring – the more other possible replacements get snapped up on team-friendly contracts by other clubs. At this point, I’d be looking to set a firm deadline for Clowney to either hop aboard or find employment elsewhere; at which point I’d grab Griffen and another guy or two to fill out the veteran presence in that Defensive Line Room. Because it’s going to fucking suck when he waits until the last minute, then signs a short-term deal with someone else anyway. At that point, we’re going to be scrambling to trade for one of these franchise tag guys, which will likely cost us a first round draft pick (at a minimum) PLUS probably more money than we wanted to pay Clowney in the first place!
It’s all annoying with this situation right now, so let’s go back to the feel-good vibes of releasing two guys who brought next-to-nothing to the table for the Seahawks the last two seasons. Good riddance! See you never!