Good Reason For Hawks Withdrawals

I am having the worst NFL withdrawals of my life. I don’t know what to do for a fix besides listen to the same updates on Peyton Manning over and over on 710 ESPN. I feel like they are going in more circles than a Ferris wheel about him. However I feel their pain, I mean honestly what else is there to talk about? We probably won’t hear of any real offseason news until all the teams gather at the combine. Oh how I can’t wait until that circus of a rumor mill starts! This offseason is killing me and it’s only been four days since the super bowl. Last year wasn’t so bad. Despite the lockout making it easier, I also went into the season expecting a patient year of rebuilding. I even remember telling my friends that I’m looking forward to a year of possible stress free football (wow did that ever not happen!).

John Schneider and Pete Carroll really showed me something this season and just like Pete would say ‘I’m in.’ I completely buy into everything the Seahawks are doing. How fast we were able to right the ship and get things turned around nominates Carroll and Schneider for the best tandem in the league. They are really turning into football’s dynamic duo. Now if only we could get that quarterback… maybe they would get the respect they deserve. Because that is all we need! Or at least that is the one mystery in the huddle we’re waiting to catch a clue on. All the other pieces are either in place or will be solved in the draft this year. Our biggest problem right now is to decide whether we want to draft Quentin Coples or Melvin Ingram to beef up our strong side pass rush (what a problem to have right?). Furthermore we may not need to gamble on a linebacker in the draft, there are a lot of free agents who can fill that need this year. One of them that nobody is talking about is Larry Grant of the San Francisco 49’ers. For those of you who don’t remember, he single handedly ended our season by stripping the ball from Tarvaris in our final game. He could be a really good option coming at a bargain for the Seahawks. However, we did not get to see much of Larry Grant, but what we did see looked very solid. He started for an injured Patrick Willis in three games this year. Grant registered 18 tackles in those three games and made a ton of exceptional plays. Word is he is a very hard worker with a high motor.

I honestly feel this year the Seahawks will gain some stability, or rather I should say that this is the year they should find some stability. Last year we saw an influx of exciting big name free agents such as Sydney Rice, Zach Miller (who’s excitement is pending on our offensive line), and Robert Gallery be signed. However, this season I’m not expecting as much of an inflow of free agents. It’s time for the revolving door into the Seahawks locker room to stop spinning so our current players can grow as a team. What’s wrong with this equation is that we don’t have a quarterback to mature under right now. Tarvaris Jackson is hardly the answer and I don’t think anyone will argue with that. Sure he has very similar numbers to Alex Smith and could potentially have a season of improvement like Smith, but Alex is still pedestrian at best. I don’t care if he had 17 touch downs and five interceptions this season, he is still a game manager and the only improvement we can hope for with Tarvaris is game management.

Right now I really think the best options out there are Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn. These are gigantic gambles. Matt Flynn had two great games, but that’s all we’ve seen from him. Whenever I go watch the highlights I say to myself ‘Yea he looks great, but his receivers look great also, they are running wide open and getting a ton of yardage after the catch.’ Honestly I don’t see the Seahawks getting into a bidding war over Flynn. If he is available for somewhere around 7 to 9 million maybe they sign him, but he is probably going to Miami anyways. With the case of Peyton Manning a team is going to have to sign him before they know about his tricep muscle. He is likely going to be cut from the Colts in the coming weeks. The reason being that the Colts don’t want to take a 28 million dollar gamble on an arm that isn’t strong enough to keep him from getting picked off in a high school game. Furthermore any team willing to enter into the Manning sweepstakes is going to have to offer him a contract before they know if he is ready. The only plus side is that Manning will reportedly agree to an incentive laden contract receiving little to no upfront money and playing to earn his pay. However, if a team doesn’t know whether or not he is ready it means they will have to retain a plan b which never works out too well with quarterbacks.

This is why I am so anxious for the season to start. There are so many secrets waiting to be revealed by next year. The quarterback situation has me particularly restless because there is no obvious option out there. This is a horrible year for quarterbacks in the draft and I just don’t see the Seahawks signing Manning or Flynn. Pete Carroll wants his guy at quarterback. He wants someone he can groom to play the Pete Carroll way and right now we need that someone. We can afford at least one more season with no clear cut answer at quarterback, but that is it. However anxious I am I do trust Carroll and Schneider. Look at the season we had with Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback and imagine last season with a real quarterback. They know what they are doing and the building process only has a few more steps. I just can’t wait to see who we find to fill those holes.