I think it's time to churn the team a bit. (My opinion 100%)

[hawkfan68]

I've been thinking about which vets can the Seahawks part with and still be okay. Michael Bennett could be a player that's tradable. Frank Clark has shown the capability for being Bennett's replacement. Bennett is a terrific player, no doubt. He's been a bit of a head case at times. He also continues to rack up pre-snap penalties due to his mental errors. He's never corrected that. I don't believe he will. Some of his offside penalties have kept drives going when they should have been stopped. This had a negative impact on the defense. MB still has good value. Maybe they can cash in on some of that.

I believe that Sherman is expendable as well. He's a very good CB, no doubt. But in my opinion, Earl Thomas is the only one that is "untouchable" in the backfield. It's Earl that elevates his LOB mates' games. It's Earl who elevated Sherman's, Lane's, Maxwell's, Browner's, Shead's, Thurmond's, etc games. Having Earl back there is a security blanket for those guys. They play better with him back there. So that's what makes them more expendable in my view. With a heavy DB draft, this could be a option to go. They get a couple of good CBs and if Earl regains his health, LOB could be back.

On defense if they want to make some changes, in my opinion, Bennett and Sherman could be tradable options.

 

[StoneCold]

We do not need a major overhaul. What will make next year great? Healthy RW. Improved play on the Oline. Draft or sign some depth on D. Especially at CB and DE. Do people really think that's not achievable?

These "blow'em up threads" feel like a major over reaction.

 

[Hyak]

Clearly they are not going to blow things up but I do think this year is when we start seeing a glimpse of the plan to transition from the current core of players to new ones hitting in the next 3 years.

I define the core players as ones who have been signed to 2nd long-term contracts or acquired by trade on such a deal (Graham). Their top 10 players by contract fit this definition and account for $ 101.262 M of their current cap spend of 142 M (top 51) - 71%.

From a contract standpoint, Wilson, Baldwin, and Wagner are the guys here for the long-term and odds are that RW and Wagner see 3rd contracts. Bennett also is in this group but he's also getting to an age where he may not see the whole duration of his contract.

Core Player UFA's by Year
2018 - Graham, Chancellor
2019 - Thomas, Sherman, Avril, Wright
2020 - Wilson, Wagner
2021 - Baldwin, Bennett

In addition, you have some younger players who will be approaching their free agency and are candidates to become core players with a 2nd contract. Note that the expectation would be that those core adds have corresponding core deletions from the group above.

2018 - Britt, Richardson (2014 draft class)
2019 - Clark, Lockett, Glowinski, Rawls (2015 rookie class)
2020 - The 2016 rookie class

With all of this in mind, I believe the plan of PC/JS is to have the offense relatively intact for the next few seasons as is with perhaps a Graham extension and a veteran OL add in the mix. Defensively, I totally think the direction will be to go heavy here in the next 2 drafts to essentially replace most of the current core defensive players who are getting older. Thomas to me stands out as the likely candidate of that group to get a third contract although I could see them trying to get something short term done with Kam but who knows if that flies.

 

[Seahwkgal]

We do not need a major overhaul. What will make next year great? Healthy RW. Improved play on the Oline. Draft or sign some depth on D. Especially at CB and DE. Do people really think that's not achievable?

These "blow'em up threads" feel like a major over reaction.

:2thumbs:

 

[crosfam]

We do not need a major overhaul. What will make next year great? Healthy RW. Improved play on the Oline. Draft or sign some depth on D. Especially at CB and DE. Do people really think that's not achievable?

These "blow'em up threads" feel like a major over reaction.

Yes - Tear up the team (a massive overhaul) and we waste the potential of RW and several players in their prime. It will be 10-12 years, new players, and new coaches before we are back to this level.

 

[fenderbender123]

I'm not down on this team by any means, but I do think there is something to be said about being able to have a roster full of more great players when you are relying on drafting good players instead of handing out big contracts to "core" players.

 

[KiwiHawk]

It's a bit like building a performance car. When you have next to no horsepower, adding 100 HP makes a massive difference. But once you get up there, adding 100 more HP gives you a negligible impact on overall performance. You get greater gains from tuning the car to the driver, knowing the course better, etc.

Changing our roster is like searching for more horsepower. When we sucked, it worked brilliantly. Now, however, the roster is pretty stacked, so improvements are harder to come by and make less of an impact. What looks like no improvement is just less room for improvement.

We do need more depth, but you can't get depth without having injuries to starters so that those backups get a chance to play real games with the first team. Otherwise, if we stay healthy, we got this.

 

[IndyHawk]

When Pete/Schnieder first took over it was rebuild time. Not this team!! Sorry to disagree.
And honestly, re:XLIX-Denver got their asses handed to them by us and two years later they won. NE has lost SBs, they plug along. I am so sick of the narrative of the team not being able to handle a SB loss. We have been in and won playoff games since that loss. The Seahawks are a young team and in their prime. We will be OK.
CRAP! I cannot wait for the draft so the whining can stop.

No offense but the past season wasn't your finest hour lol

 

[sutz]

When Pete/Schnieder first took over it was rebuild time. Not this team!! Sorry to disagree.
And honestly, re:XLIX-Denver got their asses handed to them by us and two years later they won. NE has lost SBs, they plug along. I am so sick of the narrative of the team not being able to handle a SB loss. We have been in and won playoff games since that loss. The Seahawks are a young team and in their prime. We will be OK.
CRAP! I cannot wait for the draft so the whining can stop.

The whining might change after the draft. It doesn't ever seem to stop.

 

[bighawk]

I think there are 2 issues one is does this team really have the hunger to be great and second the front office needs to do a better job of replenishing depth we have lost over the years.
To me they go hand and hand. When we signed Avril and Bennett for our super bowl run we had knew what we needed for that and they succeed. We lost so many quality depth that the next man up theory hasn't worked the last couple of years. We have a ring but do they want multiple rings. This team is still in the middle of a title run but it is up to the team how long it goes. Front office do your job build up the weak spots and Coaches get them ready for battle. It can be done. Go hawks.

 

[Josea16]

It's a bit like building a performance car. When you have next to no horsepower, adding 100 HP makes a massive difference. But once you get up there, adding 100 more HP gives you a negligible impact on overall performance. You get greater gains from tuning the car to the driver, knowing the course better, etc.

Changing our roster is like searching for more horsepower. When we sucked, it worked brilliantly. Now, however, the roster is pretty stacked, so improvements are harder to come by and make less of an impact. What looks like no improvement is just less room for improvement.

We do need more depth, but you can't get depth without having injuries to starters so that those backups get a chance to play real games with the first team. Otherwise, if we stay healthy, we got this.

Like possibly fielding an average OL to protect the guy we pay 25M to? Pretty decent plan in my opinion. Seriously if this team had just an average OL they are 14-2/15-1 as of right this second hunger or no hunger. And I don't think this team isn't hungry at least most of them. It's all about a truly horrible OL.

 

[RolandDeschain]

There's changes every offseason. This will be no different than other years.

Anguish should be proud of me.

 

[nash72]

When Pete/Schnieder first took over it was rebuild time. Not this team!! Sorry to disagree.
And honestly, re:XLIX-Denver got their asses handed to them by us and two years later they won.

With a new coaching staff.

 

[SoCalSeahawk]

I'm glad to see some in agreement. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Counterpoints?

My view is that the team is always churning a bit and that our one and only glaring problem is the offensive line, specifically LT. Our run this year would have been much different if we had not lost three of our playmakers in Prosise, Lockett and Earl. I think a fairly easy argument can be made that if just Earl had not been injured then we would have had a playoff bye and home field advantage through the playoffs with the Dallas loss. In other words, we make it to Houston if Earl was not injured. We would have been the favorite if Prosise and Lockett were healthy as well.

This team is stable, successful and a far cry from rebuilding. We need to add youth and depth, but that's part of the Carroll and Schneider standard ongoing philosophy. Improving the o-line should be as easy as signing an average LT in free agency like Okung or one of two or three older tackles available. Let Fant continue to develop if that's the eventual plan, but get a player who can show him how to succeed at the position through example. Also, draft a G/T in 2nd or 3rd round to play as back-up and eventually take over for Glow or Gilliam, or for Ifedi if he moves out to RT.

The D is still elite and I beleive will be reignited after three of our first four draft picks are on that side of the ball. Special teams must improve on the FG and punting units. Way too many blocked and rushed kicks this season. The offensive line cannot be worse. Even if the personnel were to remain the same which it almost assuredly will not, they will have had another preseason to improve and cohese.

Oh, and that guy Russell Wilson will be healthy again. He's pretty good.

 

[seahawkfreak]

When Pete/Schnieder first took over it was rebuild time. Not this team!! Sorry to disagree.
And honestly, re:XLIX-Denver got their asses handed to them by us and two years later they won.

With a new coaching staff.

And 3 huge defensive free agent acquisitions.

 

[Anthony!]

I don't think it is a hunger thing, I think it is a frustration thing. For the last several years we have had a good enough defense to win, a good enough Wr corps to win, a good enough TE group to win, a good enough QB to win, but the area that has been and still is holding us back is the oline. I think the players on both sides are frustrated they have seen what this team can be with a healthy and protected Wison, yet we fail to solve the problem. I think they a frustrated,

 

[Maelstrom787]

I hope we see more coaching changes next year if we have consistent trouble offensively and get bounced early after an underwhelming year. I know calling a 10 win season underwhelming is a bit wacko, but I think this is the most talented roster in football and the team is trending downward the past few seasons.

Always compete. Bring in some fresh minds on the coaching staff. Give the roster something new to buy into.

Roster-wise, the offensive line is the biggest issue, of course. I think one good draft would have us in the big game again. One decent contributor on offense at a skill position, a good lineman, and a good CB2 would be a dream. Also, I'm really excited to see Jefferson healthy next year. He could be a big contributor on the defensive line.

 

[Maelstrom787]

I think a real issue here is the massive drought of productive players gained through the draft. 2013-2015 are abysmal and we didn't get much depth at all from any of those drafts.

Pete's philosophy starts to crumble if the team isn't reloading with players that can at least be coached up to average. There are so many misses in those 3 drafts.

This is why I'd prefer to see them bring in coaches from college ranks for whatever roles there may be - their insights in the draft room could (emphasis on could - scouting departments are no joke. They scour the country and do great work) give us a leg up again when it comes to bringing in great players through the draft.

 

[Maelstrom787]

A reason for optimism: to my eyes, this draft is loaded. I hope we can capitalize on that. I don't think there's as much room to miss on this one.

 

[Seahwkgal]

A reason for optimism: to my eyes, this draft is loaded. I hope we can capitalize on that. I don't think there's as much room to miss on this one.

This draft is loaded with DB talent for sure. Drafting for DB is a must not only for the side opposite Sherman but also for CB and Safety depth. OL on the other hand, is not very good in this draft which sucks for us.