CB Akeem King signed to one-year deal

[tweet]https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1104115341028937730[/tweet]

This was a good move. He had a solid December. Also seems to suggest that they don't expect Justin Coleman to return.

There may also be some doubt about the return of Neiko Thorpe.

Jville":3se2xap5 said:

There may also be some doubt about the return of Neiko Thorpe.

Click to expand...

I'd say it's more about the doubt of Coleman returning. King played some in the slot last year, and Coleman's an UFA.........and we got a hell of a bargain on his 3M one year tender cap wise.

Someone's going to sign him to a decent contract, so my guess is the King signing is insurance against Coleman probably not coming back.

Personally I don't view this as insurance against a Justin Coleman departure at all, because King doesn't profile as a full-time nickel on the inside against the league's elite slot receivers (ex: Edelman, et al). King's value lies in his DeShawn Shead-esque versatility, as he's been used on the perimeter, inside (mostly opposite flexed TE's), and at safety (not to mention on ST's). His performance against the Chiefs' TE's alone (in a hybrid SS/'big nickel' role) likely earned him this contract, as he was terrific in that game/role. Pete Carroll loves guys with unique skill-sets that he can use on a match-up basis, and we saw that more and more later in the season with both King and Delano Hill, and each showed out well. This is a very underrated but key re-signing.

Doesn't mean anything roster wise.

Almost all teams resign their own RFAs. It's cheap, experienced depth. Players that make it 2-3 years have already made the roster a couple times. So they have talent. And they have zero learning curve.

Next year it means more when the cost is closer to market rate. But right now it's merely a formality. I don't even regard it as a hedge. More like it's already baked into the roster from last season.

Seems like a bit of a no-brainer. Has played a lot for us, so knows the system. Has versatility and comes at a reasonable cost. $2 mill for an experienced DB is a pretty good deal.

Hopefully they leave him at safety. He made some impact plays at safety. He gets exposed at CB.

I'm gonna withhold judgement given that they have only just begun on building the 2019 team.

King had 145 snaps on defense and 134 special teams snaps with Seattle in 2018.
Before that, he saw only 15 snaps on defense and 48 special teams snaps with Atlanta back in 2015.

It's likely that he is just warming up with his best yet to be revealed.

He had at least a couple nice games this year where he made key plays. The KC game stands out.
Mostly I recall hearing his name on a number of key defensive plays over the season, and thinking, "Hey, this benchwarmer/ST guy Akeem King is in the game, our regulars must be injured, hope the other team doesn't abuse him like Tharald Simon."

Then as the season went on, it was more like "Yeah, this King dude keeps making plays, clearly he earned his his way onto the field."

Every now and then we seem to have guys like that, who hung around on the practice squad for a season or two, occasional cup of coffee up on the main roster, back to PS rotation, and eventually developed enough to stick on the roster. And then some... just never made it there. Like that one LB guy with the great measurables who actually became a punch-line here, but was oft-injured and/or not good enough to stick. Can't even remember his name now. No, not Prosise. Before him. It was a supposed-to-be LB/TE guy. Oh yeah. Jameson Konz, "The Konz", Mr. SPARQ 150. I had to search and search for that name.

One poster child for Seahawks development was Jermaine Kearse, who worked his way up through a season or two of the Practice Squad.

Sgt. Largent":1ufh0ws5 said:

Jville":1ufh0ws5 said:

There may also be some doubt about the return of Neiko Thorpe.

Click to expand...

I'd say it's more about the doubt of Coleman returning. King played some in the slot last year, and Coleman's an UFA.........and we got a hell of a bargain on his 3M one year tender cap wise.

Someone's going to sign him to a decent contract, so my guess is the King signing is insurance against Coleman probably not coming back.

Click to expand...

[tweet]https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1105181916112846851[/tweet]

Well, that answers that.

This had to happen. Hell of an athlete who was really starting to come on last year. Better athlete than Shead and could have a similar story.