Hawks terminate Baldwin and Chancellor contracts...

[Sgt. Largent]

From what I've heard the team did Doug a solid by releasing him rather than him having to retire. By releasing him he is guaranteed to keep all his signing bonus (something they could have gone after if he was forced to retire instead) and he is also protected injury wise if he is unable to play anymore (retiring would have waived any right to an injury settlement).

It also saves us 9M in cap this year, and possibly 20M in 2020. So not entirely altruistic on our part..........and IMO we wouldn't have made him pay back the pro-rated signing bonus portion. Just like we didn't make Marshawn pay his back.

It's what good organizations do.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Love to see Doug raise the flag!

For sure.


It's going to be interesting to see how Doug reacts to all of this, if he even reacts at all. He's not the warm and fuzzy type, and it's still unknown as to what his relationship with Pete and the Hawks is at this moment in time.

Is it amicable? Is he pissed off? Somewhere in between?

why would he pissed?

Baldwin had no more guaranteed money in his contract but by being cut instead of retiring he will not have to pay back any of the $7 million in bonus money received in a four-year deal he signed in 2016. He will end up not playing the final two seasons of that contract, years in which he would have made $9.25 and $10.25 million. However, per the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, he should get $1.2 million in an injury protection payout for the 2019 season.

Maybe he was pissed that all his friends got cut, traded and weren't offered extensions. Idk, I'm not saying he's pissed, I'm saying he might be. He certainly didn't seem like the same 100% bought in Angry Doug last year that he was.

Probably all the injuries, but maybe not. That's all I'm saying.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

He said at the end of last year what a struggle it was playing last year with all the injuries and pain.

 

[DJrmb]

From what I've heard the team did Doug a solid by releasing him rather than him having to retire. By releasing him he is guaranteed to keep all his signing bonus (something they could have gone after if he was forced to retire instead) and he is also protected injury wise if he is unable to play anymore (retiring would have waived any right to an injury settlement).

It also saves us 9M in cap this year, and possibly 20M in 2020. So not entirely altruistic on our part..........and IMO we wouldn't have made him pay back the pro-rated signing bonus portion. Just like we didn't make Marshawn pay his back.

It's what good organizations do.

I agree they likely would not have gone after that money, but it still is guaranteed vs not guaranteed for the player...

Also we'll see on the cap savings. If Doug can no longer play and gets an injury settlement can't that cut into that savings?

 

[knownone]

I'm wondering if all of this Baldwin retirement stuff is because the Seahawks told him they would cut him. We've known that Doug was a likely cap casualty since last year.

If Baldwin ends up playing this year, my entire perspective of this situation will shift. I don't think Doug is retiring. I think he's reacting to the news that he's no longer in the teams long-term plans.

 

[DJrmb]

I'm wondering if all of this Baldwin retirement stuff is because the Seahawks told him they would cut him. We've known that Doug was a likely cap casualty since last year.

If Baldwin ends up playing this year, my entire perspective of this situation will shift. I don't think Doug is retiring. I think he's reacting to the news that he's no longer in the teams long-term plans.

It looks like Doug was already planning to retire and was just waiting for the release according to this:

Seahawks released/failed physical WR Doug Baldwin.

It paves the way for Baldwin to officially retire. Baldwin had reportedly been holding off on making a public announcement until he was cut. The release was necessary for arcane financial reasons related to NFL rules.

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/11671/doug-baldwin

 

[mikeak]

From what I've heard the team did Doug a solid by releasing him rather than him having to retire. By releasing him he is guaranteed to keep all his signing bonus (something they could have gone after if he was forced to retire instead) and he is also protected injury wise if he is unable to play anymore (retiring would have waived any right to an injury settlement).

It also saves us 9M in cap this year, and possibly 20M in 2020. So not entirely altruistic on our part..........and IMO we wouldn't have made him pay back the pro-rated signing bonus portion. Just like we didn't make Marshawn pay his back.

It's what good organizations do.

I agree they likely would not have gone after that money, but it still is guaranteed vs not guaranteed for the player...

Also we'll see on the cap savings. If Doug can no longer play and gets an injury settlement can't that cut into that savings?

He was cut so no injury settlement

 

[Sgt. Largent]

From what I've heard the team did Doug a solid by releasing him rather than him having to retire. By releasing him he is guaranteed to keep all his signing bonus (something they could have gone after if he was forced to retire instead) and he is also protected injury wise if he is unable to play anymore (retiring would have waived any right to an injury settlement).

It also saves us 9M in cap this year, and possibly 20M in 2020. So not entirely altruistic on our part..........and IMO we wouldn't have made him pay back the pro-rated signing bonus portion. Just like we didn't make Marshawn pay his back.

It's what good organizations do.

I agree they likely would not have gone after that money, but it still is guaranteed vs not guaranteed for the player...

Also we'll see on the cap savings. If Doug can no longer play and gets an injury settlement can't that cut into that savings?

I think that's the tradeoff there.............we're going to cut you, let you keep your signing bonus so we can get the cap savings now, in lieu of a lesser injury settlement that might take much longer to negotiate (and I think that it also has to be cleared by the league office or something).

 

[toffee]

Feels like the team is doing the right thing here, and w/respect to a couple flat out Hawks Legends. Really sad, but not a surprise. Sounds like w/him being able to keep signing bonus etc. they are doing him a favor. I suspect many people will somehow turn this in to some front office bash job, even though this was inevitable.

Yep. NFL twitter is full of morons talking about how the Hawks did both players "dirty"

How so?

 

[2_0_6]

If Doug's heart was into playing this year there is NO WAY the Hawks cut him. They aren't tight against the cap with him on board, he is making the right move and walking away while he is healthy.

 

[DJrmb]

From what I've heard the team did Doug a solid by releasing him rather than him having to retire. By releasing him he is guaranteed to keep all his signing bonus (something they could have gone after if he was forced to retire instead) and he is also protected injury wise if he is unable to play anymore (retiring would have waived any right to an injury settlement).

It also saves us 9M in cap this year, and possibly 20M in 2020. So not entirely altruistic on our part..........and IMO we wouldn't have made him pay back the pro-rated signing bonus portion. Just like we didn't make Marshawn pay his back.

It's what good organizations do.

I agree they likely would not have gone after that money, but it still is guaranteed vs not guaranteed for the player...

Also we'll see on the cap savings. If Doug can no longer play and gets an injury settlement can't that cut into that savings?

I think that's the tradeoff there.............we're going to cut you, let you keep your signing bonus so we can get the cap savings now, in lieu of a lesser injury settlement that might take much longer to negotiate (and I think that it also has to be cleared by the league office or something).

Gotcha, ok. Well, I just hope they parted ways on good terms. I hope Doug stays connected to the team and the city in some way. He's done a lot of good here, beyond just what he's done on the field. It'll be interesting to see what's next for Doug.

 

[sutz]

If you recall, at the draft pressers, JS and Pete were talking about Baldwin and how they were working with him.

I think they negotiated this out and while nobody is happy that it is done, I think both sides have a situation they can deal with. Wouldn't surprise me if Doug has a job with the club going forward, where he gets paid, but it doesn't count against the cap.

Sad to hear, but inevitable. If not this year, then very soon.

Thanks for all the memories Doug, and all of the hard work and dedication. You're a good man. Good luck in all you do.

As far as Kam, he's been done for a while now. Have loved seeing him out on the sidelines and with the team working with the young guys. Good to see his contract situation resolved, finally.

 

[KitsapGuy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1126601117150793729[/tweet]

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Here's the cap implications

Seattle has $6,287,500 of dead money from Doug Baldwin's release. Since his salary cap number was $13,143,750, Seattle gets $6,856,250 of cap relief. Failed physical designation sets up potential CBA injury protection claim, which could result in additional $1.2M 2019 cap charge.

 

[Shanegotyou11]

Boy oh boy. Thanks for it all boys.

 

[12AngryHawks]

I hope to one day see Baldwin's & Chancellor's names hung up at the CLink.

 

[94Smith]

Man those guys were 49ers killers. Great football players

 

[Cyrus12]

Both legends and will no doubt have there names on the ring of honor.

 

[Tusc2000]

Would love seeing both come back as position coaches one day.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Very sad to see but not surprising.
2 of my favorite Hawks of all time.
Absolute warriors and will forever be Champions.