Redding's Contract

by: Chris Sullivan

Mike Sando has an excellent piece in his NFC West blog on Cory Redding's reworked salary with the Hawks and what it might mean for the team. Basically, rather than reworking Redding to a long term deal, we gave him a $2 million salary in 2009. Period. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2010. 

This seems to me like a genius plan -- Redding has all sorts of added incentives to prove himself before going back into free agency in 2010 and, if he doesn't work out, we've lost virtually nothing (1/63rd of the salary cap). No reason to rephrase Sando, he nails it right here:

The new contract would seem to value Redding as part of the defensive line rotation, but not necessarily as a cornerstone of the line. In effect, Redding sacrified $1.55 million in 2009 compensation, plus whatever future salaries he might have earned, for the right to become an unrestricted free agent after one year... If nothing else, we now know how much the Seahawks valued Peterson and how much they value Redding -- not as much as one might have thought.

~END~

Rumor Mill: Hawks Interested in LT Jason Peters?

by: Mike Parker

ESPN Insider, CBS Sports and Next Season Sports are all pointing today to the possibility of the Seahawks looking to work out a trade with the Buffalo Bills for left tackle Jason Peters.

Peters, 27, has been voted to the Pro Bowl for the past two seasons. He stands 6-foot-4, weighs in at 340 pounds and has experience in a zone blocking system. If the rumors are true, and the Hawks do have interest in trading for Peters, we could be looking at a couple of different scenarios as a result: (And even though more draft speculation is now making me want to set something on fire, I'm going to talk more about it anyway.)

1.) Walter Jones' health could be more of a concern than we've heard so far. At 35, Big Walt is still one of the best at his role in the NFL, but the reality is he's not getting any younger or less injury-prone. Acquiring Peters would mean getting a younger left tackle with plenty of upside who would fit in nicely under Mike Solari's offensive line. Whether or not that move would be an insurance policy or a more pressing solution remains to be seen.

2.) In return for Peters, the Hawks could swap first-round draft choices with the Bills and focus their sights on acquiring an explosive running back. Having the 11th-overall pick would put the Hawks in a better position to draft a running back, such as Knowshon Moreno or Chris Wells. The more I think about it, the more I think Ruskell is making the rounds at each skill position and bulking it up as much as realism and cap space will allow. Running back is an area that still remains untouched so far in free agency, minus the departure of Leonard Weaver, which doesn't really count. Perhaps that position could be next on Ruskell's checklist, and we may have to wait until April 25 to find out.

Regardless of potential outcomes, the fact that this rumor is being reported on three different sites today says it's at least more credible than the Braylon Edwards rumblings we heard a couple months ago. -END-

Lucas will not visit Seattle

By Chris Sullivan

...Because, that is, he already did. Danny O'Neil is reporting that the Hawks hosted Ken Lucas to a free agent visit recently and it is clear that there is some interest there. Lucas is someone the Seahawks would have liked to keep but let go to Carolina for a big money offer while opting to keep Walter Jones, Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck. Signing Lucas would likely mark the end of Kelly Jennings as an integral part of our defense, with Josh Wilson moving back to Nickelback and remaining as our Kick Return specialist.

Moment of Truth for Matty Staff?

By Chris Sullivan

The Detroit Lions will be auditioning Matt Stafford in a private workout today. Scott Linehan and QB Coach Jeff Horton will be running the workout. This serves as basically the last chance that Stafford will get to push himself into the number one overall spot and the money that is included therein. They are likely to run him through the ringer, a stark contrast from the scripted pro-day he supposedly wowed scouts at a few weeks back.

In a way, how Stafford performs for the Lions could impact the Seahawks as much if not more than the Lions, who may already know which direction they are heavily leaning. If Stafford does not do enough to lock up the top spot (palindrome!), it's a definite possibility that he will fall to the Seahawks at #4. When the Hawks bring him in for their workout in the coming days/weeks, he could well be flirting with going in the top five vs. dropping like a Quinn-shaped Leinart. Only time will tell, I suppose.

~END~

Looking at Lucas?

by: Michael Steffes

Could the Seahawks be looking to bring back Kenny Lucas? Brad Briggs, who authors "Inside the Bears" for the Chicago Sun-Times is hearing that. The Bears had Lucas in for a visit today, and he mentions in this blog post that "it is believed that Seattle, Lucas' original team, also has interest in him." A very interesting development indeed.

Lucas left Seattle the year that Tim Ruskell arrived. It was a very difficult situation, if you recall. Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck, and Shaun Alexander were all free agents at the same time and Ruskell prioritized those core players, managing to keep all three. Lucas, however, took big money from Carolina in the first week of free agency. He was a quality player for the Hawks, and has been both good and bad during his stint in Carolina. Mostly, he mirrored the Panthers' performance--or more specifically, their pass rush's performance. As with every corner on that team, he has been hung out to dry in the years Julius Peppers (and with him the Carolina pass rush) was underperforming.

Clearly, Lucas did not get the interest he was hoping for since being released by the Panthers. If he is going to accept a lesser deal, it might as well be some where he is comfortable I suppose. A Bears writer saying it is "believed" Seattle is interested isn't even close to confirmation the Hawks want Lucas back, but this does open up an interesting line of discussion. So have at it, Addicts!

My thought is that Lucas is worth a look on a short term deal. I am in favor of the team putting its draft mostly to the offensive side of the ball, so getting a biggerish (made up word!), veteran corner gives the team another option if Kelly Jennings proves that an improved front seven doesn't help cure his falling down problem. Adding Lucas does that without using another high pick on a corner. However, if the team didn't bring him in, I wouldn't cry either. END

Hawks vs. AFC West

 By Chris Sullivan

The Seahawks' preseason schedule has been announced. In keeping with previous years, the Hawks will travel minimally in the preseason, which is great. Even better is that the Hawks will face the entire AFC West, which is basically awesome. Seeing the old rivalries, even in pre-season, is always fun.

Week 1: Seattle @ San Diego
Week 2: Denver @ Seattle
Week 3: Seattle @ Kansas City
Week 4: Oakland @ Seattle

Hawk Visits / Scouting

by: Chris "Beanie" Sullivan

Ohio State running back Chris Wells will be headed to Seattle in the coming weeks for a meeting with team officials. No shock there, really. Wells is considered by some to be the top running back in the draft, and he has bolstered that claim with 40 yard dash times in the 4.35-4.45 second area. I can't imagine the Hawks using a #4 pick on Wells, but it is good to see us checking up with these guys. 

Kansas State QB Josh Freeman will also be visiting Seattle in the coming days. Projected as a mid-first rounder, Freeman is touted by some as the QB with the most upside and by others as the clearest bust in the draft. He's got excellent size and a great arm, but mediocre feet and poor decision making. The bottom line is, he lost quite frequently and did so facing iffy competition. Both Freeman and Wells are indicative that the Hawks might be looking to trade down, but of course, they'd be derelict in their duty to ignore the top guys so these visits probably doesn't mean much.

The Hawks were also present for Brandon Gibson's workout at Chief Sealth H.S. Running in the rain and wind, Gibson pulled off times in the 4.6 second area, much slower than the 4.4 he expected to run. Coming off a hamstring injury, that isn't too surprising. Still, Gibson ran very precise routes and looked good according to Eric Williams. Seahawks third-string QB Jeff Rowe threw to Gibson. 

~END~

Seahawk Addicts Mock Draft - Rd. 1

by: Chris Sullivan

I figured it was about time we got one of these thrown up here so you guys could have fun mocking me when it comes up allllll wrong on April 25. Isn't that the only reason people do these? Anyway, you know what to do. 

#	Team	Player	Position
1	Detroit	Matthew Stafford	QB
2	St. Louis	Jason Smith	OT
3	Kansas City	Aaron Curry	LB
4	Seattle	Michael Crabtree	WR
5	Cleveland	Brian Orakpo	DE
6	Ohio Town 2	Eugene Monroe	OT
7	Oakland	BJ Raji	DT
8	Jacksonville	Mark Sanchez	QB
9	Green Bay	Everette Brown	DE
10	San Francisco	Michael Oher	OT
11	Buffalo	Tyson Jackson	DE
12	Denver	Rey Maulauga	LB
13	Washington	Andre Smith	OT
14	New Orleans	James Laurainitis	LB
15	Houston	Chris Wells	RB
16	San Diego	Eben Britton	OT
17	NY Jets	Josh Freeman	QB
18	Chicago	Larry English	DE
19	Tampa Bay	Malcom Jenkins	CB
20	Detroit	Warren Beatty	OT
21	Philadelphia	Jeremy Maclin	WR
22	Minnesota	Vontae Davis	CB
23	New England	Brian Cushing	LB
24	Atlanta	Peria Jerry	DT
25	Miami	Kenny Britt	WR
26	Baltimore	Percy Harvin	WR
27	Indianapolis	Evander Hood	DT
28	Philadelphia	Duke Robinson	OG
29	NY Giants	Clay Matthews	LB
30	Tennessee	Clint Sintim	LB
31	Arizona	Knowshon Moreno*	RB
32	Pittsburgh	Alex Mack	C

*Updated, I'd missed him in a revision!