Earl Thomas IS Seattle’s top offseason priority

NJSeahawk · Feb 3, 2014

http://nfl.si.com/2014/02/02/earl-thomas-seattle-seahawks-offseason/?eref=sihp

“I think Earl Thomas might have one of the highest football IQs I’ve ever heard of, and he studies the game to a T,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said last week. “He studies it day, night, night and day. In the morning, at night — he’s probably studying it right now. You’ve got Kam Chancellor, who does the same thing, he studies the game to a T. So when you see [strong safety] Kam Chancellor going downhill to make those huge hits and those huge plays, and Earl going to make those, it’s because they know the play is coming. They’re not guessing out there. It’s a real testament to us as a group.”

Locking up Sherman will also be a priority, according to Rapoport, which isn’t a huge surprise given the importance each player has in Seattle’s NFL-best defense. The Stanford graduate, taken by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, is also poised to be a free agent in 2015. Sherman led the NFL with eight interceptions in 2013, and he’ll make just $1.329 million in base salary in 2014.

main · Feb 3, 2014

Locking up Thomas, Sherman, & Wilson will be a must in the near future. No way can Seattle let those guys go. We have to build around them.

Shadyhawk182 · Feb 3, 2014

I thought Bennett was the top priority for this offseason?

Anthony! · Feb 3, 2014

Shadyhawk182":1og4rqgx said:
I thought Bennett was the top priority for this offseason?

He will be as well, and then Tate and Balwin

w00t · Feb 3, 2014

Re-signing E.T and Sherm is a must for our defense. Kam, E.T and Sherm's work ethics sets the tone and everyone else follows on defense. I'm happy we got a super bowl ring for Mike Rob, Clemons, Miller and Rice. I have a feeling those guys might not be on the team next year because of salary cap reasons.

AgentDib · Feb 3, 2014

Pete Carroll does a lot of great things, but if you had to pick his best attribute it would probably be developing and coaching secondary players. It will be tougher going forward with the entire league trying to copy us, but we could lose our entire secondary and you just know that Carroll could coach up a new set of stars. As a result, it doesn't make a ton of sense for us to pay expensive open market FA prices. Of course we will jump at the chance to extend contracts if the player is willing to give up a bit money in order to get guaranteed money sooner, and/or to give us a bit of a hometown discount.

w00t · Feb 3, 2014

oh yea and also.. we need to LOCK UP John Schneider. He's a GREAT General manager.

Let's not mess this up.

DavidSeven · Feb 3, 2014

Kam, Earl, and Sherm are now the "prototype" players at their positions. If you think of what you want at each of those positions, those three guys represent it exactly. Do you guys realize how crazy it is to have all three in the same secondary? Need to lock-up the LOB. These guys deserve to play with each other for many more years.

Shadyhawk182 · Feb 3, 2014

With all this "priority" talk, are we going to end up letting Avril walk? I think that would be a pretty big hit to the defense if so
*edit*
I forgot Avrils contract is 2 years, I'm pretty sure anyway.
I thought he was on a 1 year contract like Bennett

Brithawk · Feb 3, 2014

I think Clemons gets released to make cap space, no chance of Avril going

Shadyhawk182 · Feb 3, 2014

I just looked at a list of the FAs coming up...there is some key D lineman in that.
I didn't know Hauschka was a FA too.
Along with Tate...this could get scary.

Tokadub · Feb 3, 2014

We have so many guys I want next season. I don't know all the specifics of all our contracts but I really hope we don't lose some of our key players. We have so many key players it seems hard to keep them all unless they willing to take less money to stay here, I guess it's a good type of problem but still a little worrisome.

HawKnPeppa · Feb 3, 2014

w00t":1mo9uj2f said:
oh yea and also.. we need to LOCK UP John Schneider. He's a GREAT General manager.

Let's not mess this up.

That's something that has me uneasy. Pete has recently been heaping public praise on Schneider. From the moment that started, I've been thinking oh, oh, we must be in danger of losing him. He has so many ties to the Green Bay area and is the logical replacement for Ted Thompson. That job would give him complete authority over personnel decisions. I hope somebody can convince him to stay.

volsunghawk · Feb 3, 2014

HawKnPeppa":bh33ojxo said:
w00t":bh33ojxo said:

oh yea and also.. we need to LOCK UP John Schneider. He's a GREAT General manager.

Let's not mess this up.

Click to expand...

That's something that has me uneasy. Pete has recently been heaping public praise on Schneider. From the moment that started, I've been thinking oh, oh, we must be in danger of losing him. He has so many ties to the Green Bay area and is the logical replacement for Ted Thompson. That job would give him complete authority over personnel decisions. I hope somebody can convince him to stay.

We already extended Schneider through 2016. It was after the 2012 season, if I remember right.

Now, obviously that doesn't prevent him from interviewing for the GB gig if it opens up, but it's clear the team knows his value.

niveky · Feb 3, 2014

one of the things that we can probably bank on happening with a lot of the rest of the league going after the big bodies in the draft for secondary....some of them will just be drafting guys because they are big. As Pete said in his presser this morning the guys they get have to be big and they have to be able to run, to be fast..if they aren't they won't make it. They will already be scratching off players that other teams are going to jump all over before the draft even starts.

AgentDib · Feb 3, 2014

The_Z_Man":3t2jvit5 said:
But you CANNOT replicate the unique talents of Thomas, Kam, and Sherman...

Nor find guys that athletic and also that intelligent and addicted to game study very often..

Nobody is a bigger fan of those three then I am, but I think you are overlooking how good Pete Carroll is on this front. Kam and Sherman were late round picks because they were raw and they have become stars under Carroll's tutelage.

The evidence is too strong on this front to dismiss his influence - every time we have a new defensive player called on to play they do great and that speaks to the coaching staff. Even the most optimistic fan was disappointed by the loss of Thurmond and then the loss of Browner, but Maxwell came out of nowhere to play even better if anything and when called on Lane has done great as well. Kam went out for a few plays yesterday and DeShawn Shead held down the fort admirably until Kam could get back in. Heck, Malcolm Smith was the 31st LB taken that year and he now has a Superbowl MVP trophy.

Earl is perhaps a bit different as he was a high first round pick for a reason and his closing speed cannot be taught. And unfortunately Carroll will not be our coach forever, but as long as he is around this team is going to have great players on the back end and it doesn't really make sense to pay open market FA prices for the area we have a competitive advantage in.

Osprey · Feb 3, 2014

AgentDib":2kr6cryr said:
The_Z_Man":2kr6cryr said:

But you CANNOT replicate the unique talents of Thomas, Kam, and Sherman...

Nor find guys that athletic and also that intelligent and addicted to game study very often..

Click to expand...

Nobody is a bigger fan of those three then I am, but I think you are overlooking how good Pete Carroll is on this front. Kam and Sherman were late round picks because they were raw and they have become stars under Carroll's tutelage.

The evidence is too strong on this front to dismiss his influence - every time we have a new defensive player called on to play they do great and that speaks to the coaching staff. Even the most optimistic fan was disappointed by the loss of Thurmond and then the loss of Browner, but Maxwell came out of nowhere to play even better if anything and when called on Lane has done great as well. Kam went out for a few plays yesterday and DeShawn Shead held down the fort admirably until Kam could get back in. Heck, Malcolm Smith was the 31st LB taken that year and he now has a Superbowl MVP trophy.

Earl is perhaps a bit different as he was a high first round pick for a reason and his closing speed cannot be taught. And unfortunately Carroll will not be our coach forever, but as long as he is around this team is going to have great players on the back end and it doesn't really make sense to pay open market FA prices for the area we have a competitive advantage in.

Not a popular stance, but I think you have to let Sherm go in FA. He will want to be paid as the top corner and we don't need to invest that much cap in the secondary assuming we lock up Earl for the long term.

Normally I'd say it makes sense to accept a lower level of production in exchange for the cap savings. No disrespect to Sherm, but with this coaching staff/Front Office I think there's at least a chance we don't see a drop off.

acbass · Feb 3, 2014

Osprey":16af16wn said:
AgentDib":16af16wn said:

The_Z_Man":16af16wn said:

But you CANNOT replicate the unique talents of Thomas, Kam, and Sherman...

Nor find guys that athletic and also that intelligent and addicted to game study very often..

Click to expand...

Nobody is a bigger fan of those three then I am, but I think you are overlooking how good Pete Carroll is on this front. Kam and Sherman were late round picks because they were raw and they have become stars under Carroll's tutelage.

The evidence is too strong on this front to dismiss his influence - every time we have a new defensive player called on to play they do great and that speaks to the coaching staff. Even the most optimistic fan was disappointed by the loss of Thurmond and then the loss of Browner, but Maxwell came out of nowhere to play even better if anything and when called on Lane has done great as well. Kam went out for a few plays yesterday and DeShawn Shead held down the fort admirably until Kam could get back in. Heck, Malcolm Smith was the 31st LB taken that year and he now has a Superbowl MVP trophy.

Earl is perhaps a bit different as he was a high first round pick for a reason and his closing speed cannot be taught. And unfortunately Carroll will not be our coach forever, but as long as he is around this team is going to have great players on the back end and it doesn't really make sense to pay open market FA prices for the area we have a competitive advantage in.

Click to expand...

Not a popular stance, but I think you have to let Sherm go in FA. He will want to be paid as the top corner and we don't need to invest that much cap in the secondary assuming we lock up Earl for the long term.

Normally I'd say it makes sense to accept a lower level of production in exchange for the cap savings. No disrespect to Sherm, but with this coaching staff/Front Office I think there's at least a chance we don't see a drop off.

I see your point, and if it came down to it, I think you're right. However, if they can get something done with Thomas now, they still have a year on Sherman. He can renegotiate now, but he doesn't have to. I think with the unloading of some big contracts and little creativity, they should be able to keep those two.

kidhawk · Feb 3, 2014

NJSeaHawk":2f4tqrt2 said:
http://nfl.si.com/2014/02/02/earl-thomas-seattle-seahawks-offseason/?eref=sihp

“I think Earl Thomas might have one of the highest football IQs I’ve ever heard of, and he studies the game to a T,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said last week. “He studies it day, night, night and day. In the morning, at night — he’s probably studying it right now. You’ve got Kam Chancellor, who does the same thing, he studies the game to a T. So when you see [strong safety] Kam Chancellor going downhill to make those huge hits and those huge plays, and Earl going to make those, it’s because they know the play is coming. They’re not guessing out there. It’s a real testament to us as a group.”

Locking up Sherman will also be a priority, according to Rapoport, which isn’t a huge surprise given the importance each player has in Seattle’s NFL-best defense. The Stanford graduate, taken by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, is also poised to be a free agent in 2015. Sherman led the NFL with eight interceptions in 2013, and he’ll make just $1.329 million in base salary in 2014.

Earl Thomas is a long term priority, but not a "First thing to do this off season" Priority. Thomas is making over $5 million this year. He isn't going anywhere. There are Free Agents we need to work on first. I'd guess that some of these guys will get extensions, and I expect Thomas to be one, but I would think his would come closer to the pre season and not too early in the off season

aawolf · Feb 3, 2014

I'll say it again in this thread: THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ALL SEASON OUR OFFENSE HAS BEEN 100% HEALTHY THROUGH AN ENTIRE GAME. And, you see what they did to the Broncos. I like the pieces of this team so much and it hurts to think we are losing anyone. But, the NFL business is business, and I see we will probably let go of a few. I can't wait till the offseason to see how JS handles it. My offseason priorities are:

1. Kam
2. Get Tackle (right or left) in Draft.
3. Find a way to keep Bennet and Avril.
4. Restructure Sherman Contract and keep him
5. Keep as much of the roster in tact as possible.

Earl Thomas IS Seattle’s top offseason priority

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