Several things stuck out while I was watching the presser.
1) The atmosphere here in Seattle - the fans, the coaching staff, the fellow players, the competitive environment - played a rather large role in Richard Sherman wanting to stay a Seahawk. It was very obvious the whole time that he gave tremendous value to it. John Schneider's remarks when talking about how they considered "breaking from their strategy" and getting some other big name players to sign here also spoke to that some. The environment here is very special right now, and it is going a long way toward keeping us competitive in the league.
2) They really didn't want to talk about the details of the contract, and in fact pushed that question off, saying they'd address it sometime later, which might indicate it's a little more unique than we're used to seeing. To me, that might signal a bit more money up front, or a deal that is cap friendlier than we're used to seeing. Someone with more knowledge on salaries and cap space and what money counts and doesn't count could address this better than I, but it sure sounds like they set it up to be team-friendly well into the future. This is very good for us.
3) Sherman was treated very similarly to how Wilson was in the draft. He was rated much higher by the front office, but they waited until the fifth round because they were fairly certain he'd fall that far. I get the feeling he wasn't as much of a known entity then, and so they weren't as obviously worried about not getting him as they were about Wilson, but it was much the same situation. And I get the feeling a lot of guys are every year for them. It's just how they do the draft.
4) The front office's strategy for creating and maintaining a championship caliber team is a plan they're sticking to very tightly. All of these major contracts were well anticipated, and were well a part of this plan for quite some time. That tells us that when Wilson is due his fat payday next year, it'll happen about the same way. They have the core in place right now to compete indefinitely, and that is simply amazing as a Seahawks fan.
5) The Legion of Boom between '12 and '18 is poised to become one of the greatest, most legendary units in football. The major components are young, healthy, and signed long term. Better still, they love it here, and their "always compete" mantra shows no signs of letting up. Quite astounding, if you think about it, to consider that 40 or 50 years from now, the Legion of Boom will be part of NFL lore as one of the all-time greats ever to take the field.
Man, it's good to be a Twelve!
Grats to you aswell, what are you studying?
