Answers to Your Questions Vol. 1

Ok, so what a day. The combine started and the news has been fast and furious. Not only that, but Seahawk Addicts debuted it first ever LIVE BLOG event. Several of us made it through the two hours of coverage with good debate and lots of humor. There will be a live blog event during all the combine sessions until it ends. Or at least that is the plan.

How about the big news!?!? Sean Locklear has resigned. 5 yr deal with 12 million guaranteed. If you ask me it was a steal. If Rob Simms shows any improvement under Solari, the Hawks could have turned their greatest weakness into a strength. We will anxiously wait to find out.

So this is the first installment of the beloved answers to your questions segment. Bare with me as I am sure i will get better at this, but here goes.....

Griffin-- The Nfl Salary cap this year is at 116 million. After tagging Trufant the team had about 110 million committed to salaries. However, the swirling talk of the day was the 7.4 million cap credit received from an incentive put in Pork Chops deal. Not to toot my own horn, but I talked about this a while back, here is the post. I have also listed out some of the moves that will save the Hawks money. Here is some people they may consider moving on from, and what it saves. I think Ashworth is as good as gone, he has little use and a high price right now. Also, here is some restructuring that would save money. Hopefully that helps. After the cap credit, I had them at 13 mil under the cap. This is before the Locklear deal, but also they haven't made any cuts yet either. Trust me, despite the panic from many after Trufant was tagged, the Hawks can find plenty of dollars if they need them. You can check that info yourself if you can read an excel file. On the right, the link that say Seahawk Salary Spreadsheet, tracks this (you may have to sign up with google too). With the 25th pick, and possibly having as few as 5 picks, they probably need no more than 4 million for rookies.

Griffin--Cutting Alexander saves the team approx 4.2 million this year. His base salary. This is only if he is designated a post June 1st cut. He would then count around 4 million in dead money next year. If they opt to cut him before June 1 (or not designated as one) he counts about the same as he would if he played. It is 125K difference. However, the dead money is not that big of deal because it essentially replaces the dead money from Wistrom that is counting this year.

Anonymous -- The reason the Hawks let a Pro Bowler/ Franchise player in Hamlin go was because of his personal issues which led to him missing most of the 05 season. Also, when he returned in 06', Safety was one of the weakest positions on the field. The argument many made against Trufant could be applied to Hamlin as well. Last year all he could get was a 1 year deal, so he played his best when his financial security was on the line.

WES-- The Hawks haven't met with any running backs yet, mainly because they haven't arrived. The combine is staggared so that certain groups are being weighed and displayed while others are on the field. The running backs aren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow,. at which time they will participate in the meat market phase of the combine. Today was O line, TE, K, P, and the all important Long Snappers. They will be on the field tomorrow or Sat I believe. I personally would like to know if the Hawks met with any Long Snappers :-)

Ian-- Granted, I am not in a traditional School. I go to Antioch which means no grades and no tests. However it is still a lot of work, i am just much better at working late at night. My classes are all at night too, but I bring my laptop with me, so occasionally, when news dictates, I blog from class. Hence, my days are free. I also work in the Library on campus, but I often blog or work from there.

Mysticseachicken-- What I should have said is that Willis is capable of being the backup cheaper than Ashworth. Willis has been the backup right tackle on this team for several years. Orginally it was thought that was his position. Last year they put him in the guard mix because they were excited about his improvement and wanted him on the field. It really makes little sense to keep two of 4 backup linemen who can play only one position, RT. So because Willis is so much cheaper I think that he would be the choice.

Seatowntp-- Thanks for the advice, I sent him an email saying I would be interested in verifying #'s with him and having him contribute to the site if he was interested.

Brian-- One of the reasons I would be very surprised to see anybody pay a 1st and 3rd price for Barber is money. Not only do you give up the extra first day player (should be a contributer) who you would get with the 3rd, but you either have to give Barber a huge deal. Now, not only have you given up more, but you paying him a lot more than a rookie as he ages through his prime. Also, with a back with that running style may age faster than you think. On top of all this, he may become a free agent next year, when he can be had for no picks if a team still needs him.

The Shaun Alexander Situation seems to be a popular topic. I saw it posted on Profootballtalk.com, and some of you even emailed to me (thanks). Here is my opinion. He is not going to be on the roster for week 1. This can be debated, but the fact is that there are only so many roster spots and so much playing time. Morris is far better suited to split time than Shaun, cause he can play on 3rd down. A rookie is going to have the most trouble in pass protection, so why would they want Shaun to rotate with him. I thought that he wouldn't be released until the Hawks had drafted his replacement. Now, if the Hawks are dead set that they are taking a RB for the future in this draft, it doesn't really matter. However, if they want to have the freedom to pass if they never see a RB that represents a good value during the draft, then they need to keep him on until after the draft. Time will tell how accurate this report is. According to Claire Farnsworth, the Hawks are denying this rumor.

As far as Michael Turner goes, his name is at the top of the list for free agent running backs. This is not new money the Hawks miraculously found. They were expecting this. It would be a surprise if they made a move for a high priced FA like Turner. Especially because he is already 4 years in the league. Usually, a team would prefer to go young so they can get the full shelf life of a running back.