2024-25 NFL/Seahawks Season Thread

[South Pender]

With all the 2023-24 football over now, and the NFL Combine coming up next week, it's a good time to turn the calendar to the upcoming season.

The big news for the Seahawks is the almost-complete turnover in the coaching staff--new HC, OC, DC, and many position coaches. The hiring decisions in Seattle have been and will be made for the first time by GM John Schneider. Previously Pete Carroll had final say on all hires.

Unlike last year's off-season, where much was known and predictable and the general offensive and defensive philosophies were known, things are really uncertain with the 'Hawks this time around. Everything will be different to some extent, with a new head coach and coordinators. Offensive and defensive philosophies will change. The Seahawks have a number of important decisions to make about their players--whether to extend them, cut them, franchise-tag them, trade them. These decisions, along with the ideas/thinking of the new HC and coordinators, will determine the team's success in the 2024-25 season.

So it's very early days at this point. I think the first newsworthy happenings will be during the free agent period which will start in about two weeks. I think a lot of important information will become available during this time, with some player churn likely. Stay tuned.

[South Pender]

Here is Peter King's Football Morning in America (FMIA) column for this week. After writing this piece every week for the last 27 years, King announces his retirement, and so this will be his last edition of FMIA, This is really a shame, as King's depth of knowledge about the NFL is absolutely unmatched.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... t-its-time

[South Pender]

Denver Broncos to cut Russell Wilson.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/den ... rcna141766

And there's this from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... ell-wilson

This will save the team $37 million in 2025, but they're still on the hook for $39 million owed for 2024. I think it's safe to assume that Wilson will be picked up by a QB-needy team now--as their starter. Despite his drop-off with the Broncos, Wilson has had a great career, with top-5 QB ratings of over 100 in seven seasons of his twelve years in the league. Even this past season, his QB rating of 98 was 7th among all starting QBs. Although he might not have been worth the gigantic contract he got from the Broncos, he is still a legitimate NFL starter, and I think the Broncos may now be in for a period of mediocre offensive results. We'll be watching for trades and a possible draft pick.

To some extent, it seemed that the problem in Denver was HC Sean Payton's relationship with Wilson as well as his general offensive strategy with the Broncos. Payton, who has been regarded as an offensive specialist, came in with a pretty hard attitude regarding Wilson, and I don't think that his relationship with Wilson was conducive to getting the best from him, nor did he get his offense to play up to its potential.

Edit. Still on this topic, here's a piece that discusses some landing spots for Wilson. Just speculation obviously at this point.

https://predominantlyorange.com/posts/r ... -to-best/4

[South Pender]

The player rebuild begins in Seattle.

Today three players were cut--safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and tight end Will Dissly.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/396 ... ndre-diggs

The release of Adams has been expected. He came to the 'Hawks in a very expensive deal in terms of draft picks lost. He had one good season (his first) when he racked up something like 9 QB sacks from the strong safety position, but has been plagued with several injuries, and his play has dropped off somewhat. His release will free up a lot of cap space.

I was a little surprised that Diggs is being released. He has been the Seahawks' free safety for 4 1/2 years and has played well, although it began to look as if he'd lost a step or two last season. Releasing Diggs will also save a lot of cap space.

Dissly has been a 'Hawk for six seasons. He has been the team's best blocking tight end and has contributed some as a receiver. He lacks the speed to be a really effective pass-catching tight end, and his contract was too rich for the team.

For Seahawks fans, it will be tough to see Diggs and Dissly leave--not so true for Adams who has displayed erratic and dysfunctional behaviour at times with the 'Hawks.

[South Pender]

Free agency in the NFL begins today, and there have already been a lot of surprising moves--starters moving to new teams, like Saquon Barkley to the Eagles and Kirk Cousins to the Falcons, among many such first-day transactions.

One move of interest is Russell Wilson to the Steelers--as their presumptive starter, I'd imagine. Here's Mike Florio's take on this development. Wilson will take home $39 million in 2024, with the Steelers paying only $1.2 million of that. As Florio notes, It will be hard for the Broncos and their fans to stomach paying the Steelers $37.8 million, particularly if Wilson plays at the level he did in Seattle.

Actually, Wilson's 2023 season in Denver was pretty solid. He ended up with a QB rating of 98, putting him seventh among the league's starting QBs. The problem seemed to be the relationship between Wilson and HC Sean Payton. Payton came to the Broncos with what appeared to be little enthusiasm for Wilson. I think he'll do better under Steelers' HC Mike Tomlin.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... e-to-worse

[South Pender]

Just a quick update on the Russell Wilson story. He has now signed with the Steelers, but the bigger news in Steel Town is their letting the 2023 starter, Kenny Pickett, go--to the Eagles to back up Jalen Hurts. This is a surprise and goes against the "Steeler Way" of patience with their high draft picks (Pickett was a 1st-round pick in 2022). In any case, this obviously makes Russ the indisputable starter in Pittsburgh.

Edit (3/17). Russell Wilson will now be joined in the Steelers' QB room by Justin Fields, just acquired in trade with the Bears. This is something of a stunner. It had been expected that the Bears would use their No.1 overall pick in the 2024 draft on Caleb Williams from USC, but I think the expectation was that they would keep Fields around for insurance. Other scenarios had Fields going to another team as the potential starter, and one line of thought had him coming to the Seahawks to back up Geno Smith. Fields will be Wilson's backup in Pittsburgh, but he is a very talented and mobile QB, and will represent some competition for Wilson.

The Steelers have scored a tremendous coup at QB. They will be paying Russell Wilson only $1.2M (with the rest of Wilson's $39M coming from the Broncos) and only $3.2M for Fields. So they'll have a very strong QB duo for $4.5M in 2024, instead of the typical $30M-$50M cost at QB of most teams.They can see how Wilson does, with the possibility of extending him in 2025 if he plays well. And if Wilson falters, Fields, with his talent and starting experience with the Bears, gives them another option. Chances are good that they will be set at QB by the end of the 2024 season.

Here's Mike Florio's take on this development:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... other-ways

[South Pender]

Some notable Seahawks signings in free agency. What follows is not all of the signings, just what appear to be the most relevant.

On defense (where the need was the greatest), the Seahawks signed two new linebackers to take the place of Bobby Wagner and Jordan Brooks, both lost to other teams. They are Tyrel Dodson, obtained from the Bills and Jerome Baker from the Dolphins. Both Dodson and Baker were starters with their former teams and were brought in to improve short- and middle-range pass coverage, which was very poor last season. Dodson, pencilled in at the moment as the Mike backer, and Baker, pencilled in as the Will backer are both fast and pretty dynamic players.

After letting safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs walk in free agency, Rayshawn Jenkins was picked up from the Jaguars and K’Von Wallace, from the Dolphins—both seen, at least at this point, as free safeties. They will join Julian Love at safety, along with Coby Bryant.

Up front, they re-signed Leonard Williams—seen as the ‘Hawks’ most important move in free agency--and added Johnathan Hankins, a big nose tackle, from the Cowboys. This addition to the interior D-line was seen as necessary given the Seahawks' deficiencies against the run last season.

All things considered, the Seahawks appear to be stronger on defense with these signings than they were last season. However, it must be mentioned that many of the Seahawks' failings last season were due more to poor deployment and play-calling than to individual deficiencies of the defensive players. With defensive specialist Mike Macdonald as new HC, it's likely (or at least hoped!) that we'll see improvements in this area.

On offense, there hasn’t been much change. With tight ends Will Dissley and Colby Parkinson gone, they re-signed Noah Fant and added Pharaoh Brown, who's primarily a blocking tight end. With Drew Lock now gone to the Giants, Sam Howell was signed from the Commanders. Howell, although really just a rookie last season, was Washington’s starting QB. The Howell for Lock exchange is seen as pretty much an even trade off, although Howell will cost the Seahawks quite a bit less than Lock would have. Howell may have more upside than Lock. He is just 23 now, younger than some of the college QBs who will be drafted this year. He is a stocky, strong guy with a big arm, and would seem to be a potentially good backup to Geno Smith.

The one offensive area needing attention is the O-line, particularly the interior of the line. George Fant has returned (he was with the ‘Hawks in the 2016-2019 seasons) as depth at tackle, where Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas are expected to start. However, the Seahawks are currently weak at guard, and possibly also center. It remains to be seen whether Olu Oluwatimi will round into a capable starting center after his rookie 2023 campaign during which he played very little. So the most obvious remaining need on offense is at guard. It is widely expected that the ‘Hawks will use the draft to fill at least one guard spot.

So that's about it for now re the Seahawks. The Seattle Seahawks website provides the details on a daily basis.

Edit. Just for fun and for those interested, here's one evaluation of new Seahawks' backup QB Sam Howell, made when he was entering the NFL draft in 2022. Last season in Washington was a pretty rough one for Howell, but much of that was due to a very weak O-line (accounting for a lot of sacks) and mediocre play-makers around him.

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/sam-howel ... cea02da32b