SEAHAWK BOY'S FEARLESS AND
STUPID
FREE AGENCY UPDATE
BY MIKE AND DAVE BARA
UPDATE - 3/22/2001
As expected, former Seahawks OG Pete Kendall signed last week with the Arizona Cardinals. The deal was for 5 years, $18 million with a $5 million signing bonus.
This was not at all unexpected as Kendall had been on the outs with head coach Mike Holmgren almost from the moment he arrived in town. Rumors indicated there was much more friction than was generally known between the parties, and the Seahawks were said to be relieved to see him go.
On the field, the impact should be minimal. Kendall was a 1996 first round selection of the Seahawks but his play never lived up to that pedigree. Kendall was just average athletically and while a solid pro, was never going to be a consistent pro bowl performer. Spending a $5 million bonus and $4 million a year average cap number on guy who played like a late second or third round level player would have been a bad deal and the Seahawks were right to let him walk. He'll be replaced in the starting lineup by veteran Chris Gray, and the Seahawks OL will likely not miss a beat. The Seahawks have looked at bring in a veteran backup, and have had talks with Chargers OL Ben Coleman (who they had an interest in last year) and brought in Packers G/T Ross Verba yesterday for a visit.
With only three active receivers on the roster, the Seahawks brought in Kansas City WR Kevin Lockett for a visit yesterday. Lockett caught only 33 passes last year but the Seahawks and some other teams consider him an underutilized asset as a slot receiver.
While still waiting for Ravens LB Jamie Sharper to face the fact that the Ravens don't want him back unless it is at a price way below market value, the Seahawks sweetened their offer to former Steelers LB Levon Kirkland yesterday. Kirkland would obviously solve a huge problem for the Seahawks in the middle of the defense and leave FS as the only real problem area on defense.
There are rumblings that the Seahawks might spend both their first round picks on WR's in next months draft. This is a variation on my current mock draft scenario which has them taking a WR at #7 and TE Todd Heap at #17. Reports have the Seahawks intrigued by both Oregon State's Chad Johnson and Kansas State's Quincy Morgan with their first round picks.
UPDATE - 3/9/2001
The Seahawks continued to be the most active and aggressive team in free agency today with the signing of former New England DT Chad Eaton to a four year contract. Eaton, 26, a 6-5, 305 defensive tackle from Washington State, signed a four year, $10.7 million dollar deal with a $3.5 million dollar signing bonus. The Seahawks released veteran DT Cortez Kennedy to make room yesterday. They also restructured the contract of DE Michael Sinclair to save almost $1.2 million more against the cap.
ANALYSIS
This is a terrific move for the Seahawks. Not only do they get a big strong presence against the run for the interior of their defensive line, they get him at a very affordable price that enables them to continue to rebuild the leagues worst defense. Eaton and John Randle will make it much more difficult for teams to run up the middle on the Seahawks than it was last year, when Kennedy and Riddick Parker got manhandled by most offensive lines. At 26, Eaton is just coming into his prime and his best years are ahead of him. The Seahawks now know who their starters are going to be next year along the DL, and are free to continue pursuing free agents at their other need positions, MLB and Safety. To that end, the Seahawks made offers (or at least met with) Ravens LB Jamie Sharper and Safety Kim Herring, and Dolphins S Brock Marion. The Seahawks would move Sharper inside to compliment OLB's Chad Brown and Anthony Simmons.
But the most crucial effect is on the draft. The Seahawks are now free from having to draft a DT in the first round, and Holmgren can give 1999 4th round pick Antonio Cochran and 2000 6th round draft picks John Hilliard and Tim Watson a chance to fight it out for a role as Randle's successor in few years. The biggest need on the DL now becomes finding a pass rusher to step in for Sinclair in a few years.
Assuming that they can land Sharper (who was told this week by the Ravens that they can't afford him) and either Marion or Herring, the Seahawks can focus their first round picks on the best players available and adding depth at need positions. Expect them to trade down out of the 7th pick overall.
3/5/2001
As we had suggested in our earlier free agency preview, Mike Holmgren has moved quickly in the early signing period, though not exactly in the direction we hoped. First trading for Matt Hasselbeck from Green Bay to eliminate a need at starting quarterback, then signing veteran DT John Randle to a five year deal, Holmgren has acted decisively in his third off season as Seahawks President and GM to mold his team in the shape he wants.
We'll examine each move individually, then take a look at the week ahead.
Matt Hasselbeck - The trade for Hasselbeck is in reality a free agency move, in that it fills a perceived "need" at QB created when Holmgren ran John Kitna out of town, and brings in a player making a paltry $440,000 this season. This deal essentially cost the Seahawks a pair of middle-round picks, as in a normal year a team trading down from the top ten to the teens would expect to gain at least a third rounder, and they gave an additional third up to get Hasselbeck. At least now Holmgren has "his" man at QB and Hasselbeck has his chance to shine. There can be no more excuses if the Seahawks offense continues to sputter under Hasselbeck. He is Holmgren's hand picked solution and will hopefully benefit from the kind of support from his boss that Kitna never enjoyed.
John Randle - The signing of Randle to a five year, $25 million deal seems a good move on the surface. The contract is front loaded the first couple years, making it easier to part with Randle in later seasons if his play declines. Randle fills a "need" position at DT, but is not the oversized anchor the D-line still needs. Scaling in at 287, the all-action Randle will certainly invigorate the D-line and probably make the other players around him better. He is a total professional who always gives his all and hasn't missed a game as pro. The only concern is his age, 33. After saying that he did not want to spend his money on aging stars who's better days were behind them, Holmgren turns around and does exactly that. Still, Randle had 8.5 sacks from the tackle position in what was supposedly a down year for him, despite the fact he had absolutely no help on the pathetic Vikings defensive line.
OVERALL ANALYSIS - The trade for Hasselbeck would seem to weaken the Seahawks in terms of their high-round draft picks, leaving them #7 and #17 in the first round, plus their second at # 40. However, it is still likely the Hawks could receive a compensatory 3rd rounder for losing Sam Adams and Phillip Daniels last year, and likely could receive another 3rd in a trade for Rickey Watters. So, the top of the draft could still be rich in picks for the boys in blue.
LOOK AHEAD - After these moves the Hawks two greatest needs are still an anchor DT and now WR (since Shawn Dawkins and Derrick Mayes were both cut), but DE and ILB are also high on the list. This week the Hawks bring in a player we have advocated signing, Titans DE Kenny Holmes (March 4). Holmes would probably command a contract similar to Randle's or Phillip Daniels' (5 years, 27 million, 8 million SB), which is fine. The Seahawks have the room under the cap and a need at the position. One intriguing possibility centers around the idea of moving 300 lb Lamar King inside next to Randle (since Michael Sinclair has agreed to a pay cut and will evidently not be released), which would be possible if the Seahawks came away with Holmes. If that happens, the Seahawks would not necessarily have to use either of their first round picks on a defensive lineman and would be free to move up and down the draft order to acquire even more picks in this very deep draft.
Failing in that, these first two moves also leave the Hawks free to pick a top WR (Koren Robinson, Freddie Mitchell) at #7, and a huge anchor DT (Marcus Stroud, Casey Hampton) at #17. Or, they could reverse priorities and possibly land a Gerard Warren at #7 and a Chad Johnson or Quincy Morgan at #17 if things fall right. In either case, the Hawks could probably also afford to trade either pick and move down 5-7 places, pick up another pick, and still land top players at both positions. The second round pick would provide cover for both these positions or could fill a need at ILB.
OTHER NEWS AND NOTES
Don't be surprised if the Seahawks make a move for former Packers TE Mark Chmura after all. Despite his off field problems and recent neck injury, Chmura will probably come at around 1-1.5 million per year, a figure the Seahawks could easily reach by dumping Itula Milli and Christian Fauria. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will probably lift Chmura's suspension sometime this week.
The Seahawks have scheduled a visit next week with former Redskins guard Tre' Johnson. Unless Pete Kendall accepts something close to the Seahawks "preliminary" offer, color him gone.
Oregon State's Chad Johnson's 40 time was all over the board at the combine, from a 4.58 to a 4.39. He also had what some considered a bad attitude. In any case, his stock has fallen.
Texas DT Shaun Rogers showed up with his foot in a cast and a chip on his shoulder and has fallen all the way out of the first round at the moment.
Georgia DT Marcus Stroud did a wimpy 21 reps at 225 pounds at the combine, which has hurt his status. By contrast, Kansas fullback Moran Norris bench-pressed 225 pounds 37 times.
Purdue's Drew Brees, once thought (by a lot of dumb people who evidently never saw him play) to be headed to Seattle, was highly mediocre in his combine workout and like Stroud, will have to impress in his private workout to get back in the first round.
Washington's Marcus Tuiasosopo helped himself a lot at the combine and is now viewed as probable second rounder. See, I told you so.