Seahawks proving again to be the team that cares about its players

The Seattle Seahawks have had a reputation since 2010 of being a team that cares about its players and this training camp has reinforced that.

Maybe that reputation took a hit a bit in the offseason. D.J. Reed had some unkind things to say about the Seahawks free agent offer to him after Reed signed with the Jets. Seattle also released Bobby Wagner and seemed to bungle the way he was notified of the release.

But besides those two rare glitches, Seattle has apparently been seen in a glowing light among NFL players in general when it comes to organizations who see players beyond just being pawns for their use to try to win football games.

Just this past week, two former Seahawks chose to sign one-day deals with the team just so they can retire as members of the team. Plus, Seattle did see a running back walk away but clearly left that decision up to the player instead of just releasing the player because he was of no use. And then Seattle paid a young player worthy of being paid a lot of money.

Seahawks are an organization that players seem to admire

K.J. Wright and J.R. Sweezy both signed one-day deals this week. Wright – and I am still surprised no team made a good offer to the linebacker to entice him to play another year – had an emotional signing of his contract. To be fair, it’s tough to see Wright go. He was a great player and a better person.

But Wright made it known this offseason he didn’t want to play anywhere else other than in Seattle. That says quite a lot about the team overall.

Offensive guard Sweezy did the same thing. Sweezy played for eight seasons in the NFL, had two stints with Seattle and played a total of five of his eight years with the Seahawks. He didn’t have to retire as a Seahawk – he chose to. That simply doesn’t happen often in a sport that brings players in, uses their bodies in collisions and then moves on. A player who wants their name forever linked with one organization means that organization has treated the player well.

But just signing one-day deals doesn’t tell the whole story of how the Seahawks treat players. The team likely had a pretty good feeling that Chris Carson would never play again because of a neck injury. But instead of releasing Carson and saving $3 million, the team let Carson make the decision on whether to return.

Yes, Carson did fail the team’s physical but Carson chose to retire. Or as Pete Carroll said

"We took it as long as we possibly could with (Carson), he saw a number of specialists, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to pass our physical."

If this had been the Patriots, Carson would have likely been gone long ago. But Seattle sees its players differently.

Perhaps most importantly, instead of getting their feelings hurt as the Tennessee Titans did with A.J. Brown, the Seahawks worked out an extension with receiver DK Metcalf even though Metcalf decided to skip mandatory minicamp. Metcalf wanted to stay in Seattle because he knows how the team operates. Seattle wanted Metcalf to stay because Metcalf is a very good player and a good guy to have in the locker room.

Metcalf ended up signing a three-year extension through 2027 that could pay him $72 million over three years past 2022. $30 million of that was guaranteed. That contract made both team and player happy because that is the way the Seahawks choose to do business.