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Seattle Seahawks News & Rumors

Pete Carroll Hints At Career-Ending Injury For Chris Carson

June 9th, 2022 at 8:48pm CST by Ely Allen

Running back Chris Carson knows a bit about adversity in football. From community college to being a late-round pick to early competition and injuries, Carson overcame quite a bit to become a starting NFL running back. According to Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Carson may not be done dealing with adversity. Jude reports that, in comments this week, head coach Pete Carroll seemed to hint that Carson may be looking at the end of his career, following a neck injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2021 season. 

Carson transferred to Oklahoma State after two seasons at Butler Community College and, after two so-so seasons of college football, Carson was five picks away from going undrafted in 2017. Even after getting selected by Seattle near the end of the final round of the draft, Carson was set to compete with veterans Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy for playing time. Carson won the starting job before having his rookie season cut short by a broken ankle.

A quick recovery helped Carson return to become the Seahawks’ leading rusher for the next three years, despite only playing 12 games in 2020. In the offseason before the 2021 season, Carson re-signed with Seattle on a two-year deal. In Week 4 of the season, though, Carson suffered a neck injury that would require surgery and end his season. The updates on Carson’s status have been few and far between in the last eight months. Carroll’s comments, this past Thursday, gave us one of the first looks into Carson’s status, albeit an ominous one.

“Our guys love this game that they grow up playing, and when they sense that there may be an end to it, it’s hard. It’s difficult, and it’s real,” Carroll said. “And we’re going to love (Carson) through it and help him as much as possible, if that’s the case, like we do with everybody when it comes to the end of it. It’s inevitable. It’s coming, but it’s always too soon, so we’re trying to fight that off.”

With Carson sidelined indefinitely, Rashaad Penny sits atop the depth chart. Penny has his own history with injuries, failing to play in more than 10 games in a season since his rookie year and only appearing in 37 of a possible 65 career games. Penny did have the best season of his career last year, rushing for 749 yards and six touchdowns, despite only starting six games.

Seattle has a bit of depth behind Carson and Penny. Since drafting Carson in 2018, the Seahawks have drafted a running back every year except for 2021. This past draft, the Seahawks drafted Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III in the second round. In the years before 2021, Seattle drafted Miami Hurricanes running backs Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas in back-to-back drafts.

Carson is reportedly scheduled to meet with his doctors and surgeon in the coming weeks. The meetings should provide a clearer picture of Carson’s potential for a return.

“He’s battling. He’s doing everything he can,” Carroll told reporters. “He wants to compete all the way to the last word. And so he’s going for it.”

Seahawks Restructure Shelby Harris’ Contract

June 9th, 2022 at 12:02pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Seahawks re-worked the contract of one of their newest acquisitions. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the team has agreed to a restructure with defensive linemen Shelby Harris. The move creates $3.26MM in cap space. 

ESPN’s Brady Henderson details that, to create that added space, Seattle converted just over $6.5MM of Harris’ 2022 compensation into a bonus (Twitter link). As a result, his cap hit for the upcoming season is $4.78MM. The move also has an effect on the final year of his deal, however. Henderson’s colleague Field Yates tweets that $2MM (out of a base salary of $8.5MM) has also been converted to a roster bonus for 2023. That year, Harris’ cap hit is scheduled to spike to $12.2MM.

The 30-year-old played sparingly with the Raiders, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2014. He found much more success in Denver, however, becoming a full-time starter with the Broncos in 2019. Expressing his desire to finish his career in the Mile High City on multiple occasions, Harris signed a three-year, $27MM deal last March. He continued to play at a high level in 2021, totaling 49 tackles and six sacks. However, his tenure came to an end this offseason when he was included in the package Denver sent to Seattle for Russell Wilson.

As a result of this restructure, the Seahawks now rank in the top 10 in the league in terms of cap space, with just over $17MM available. Long mentioned as a potential landing spot for Baker Mayfield or, to a lesser extent, Jimmy Garoppolo, Seattle also has the matter of a D.K. Metcalf extension to attend to. The latter task may have become more complicated by the wideout’s current unexcused absence from minicamp. In any event, they have some added flexibility to work with for the remainder of the offseason.

Latest On Seahawks’ LB Situation

June 4th, 2022 at 1:28pm CST by Adam La Rose

The most significant departure from the Seahawks this offseason was Russell Wilson, but the team also lost a future Hall of Famer at the middle linebacker spot. With that position being a significant talking point, analysis from ESPN’s Brady Henderson sheds light on the team’s 2022 plans. 

Especially with Bobby Wagner now in Los Angeles, the door would seem to be open for a reunion between the Seahawks and K.J. Wright. The 32-year-old has made it clear he wishes to return to Seattle; “I just want to go back home” he said last month. “I think it’s that simple. Seattle knows that I want to come back. They know how much they mean to me.”

However, Henderson writes that while the two sides have “discussed a possible return”, general manager John Schneider has indicated that such a reunion “would probably be in a non-playing role”. Wright spent last season with the Raiders after a decade in Seattle during which time he was a key member of the ‘Legion of Boom’.

Assuming he doesn’t return to the field, that would point to Cody Barton assuming the starting role alongside 2020 first-rounder Jordyn Brooks. The 25-year-old has made 48 appearances across three seasons in Seattle, but only registered five starts during his tenure, including two in place of an injured Wagner last year. That is likely to change, given that the team didn’t sign a starting-caliber ‘backer in free agency, and elected not to draft one in April.

A Brooks-Barton pairing would represent a further turning of the page on defense for Seattle, a unit which will be led by new DC Clint Hurtt. If the former can build off of his highly productive season in 2021 (in which he made 184 tackles), and the latter can handle a starter’s workload, though, the absence of both Wagner and Wright could be mitigated.

Nine Teams Gain Cap Space From Post-June 1 Cuts

June 2nd, 2022 at 3:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although early June no longer serves as a stretch in which a wave of veterans are released for cap-saving purposes, June 2 still serves as an important calendar date for certain teams annually. Nine teams qualify as beneficiaries this year.

Eleven players were designated as post-June 1 cuts this year, via CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. Due to a longstanding CBA provision, teams that designate players as post-June 1 releases see the dead-money burden lessened for that year. Teams can designate up to two players as post-June 1 releases each year.

Here are 2022’s post-June 1 cuts, along with the belated cap savings the teams picked up Thursday:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

As detailed in PFR’s glossary, post-June 1 cuts spread dead-money hits over two years. These teams will be taking on dead money this year and next. A few of the 2023 hits are substantial, but the league’s cap-space hierarchy changed significantly Thursday as well.

Because of multiple restructures, Raiders will carry $9.9MM in Littleton dead money next year. The Cowboys will take on $8.7MM in 2023 for cutting Collins, while the Titans will be hit with $8.4MM for their Jones release. Cleveland, which just gave David Njoku a $14.2MM-per-year deal, will carry a $7.5MM dead-money cost next year due to shedding Hooper’s eight-figure-AAV deal early. The Eagles will be tagged with $11.5MM for their Cox cut, with Corry noting that is the net difference because of a $3.2MM salary cap credit regarding Cox’s 2022 bonus proration. Philadelphia re-signed the perennial Pro Bowler on a one-year, $14MM deal.

Hooper’s release pushes Cleveland’s cap space to beyond $40MM; the Browns’ overall cap-space edge is now a whopping $15MM. That should help the team address multiple needs ahead of training camp. Other teams have more options now, too. As of Thursday, the Raiders hold the NFL’s third-most cap space ($22.5MM, per OverTheCap). The $10MM the Cowboys saved moves them up to fourth in cap space ($22.49MM), while the Bears ($22.2MM), Commanders ($18.4MM) and Seahawks ($17MM) now sit fifth, sixth and seventh.

A handful of this year’s post-June 1 cut crop joined Cox in taking advantage of the modern setup, which allows these cap casualties to become free agents immediately — rather than waiting until June to hit the market. In place since the 2006 CBA, this adjustment let veterans loose early while keeping their cap figures on teams’ payrolls through May. Collins quickly joined the Bengals, while Littleton landed with the Panthers, Hooper signed with the Titans, and Phillips returned to the Bills. The remainder of this group remains unsigned. The savings this lot of teams inherited Thursday may help some of these players’ causes in free agency.

Seahawks Sign First-Round T Charles Cross

June 1st, 2022 at 9:35am CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks’ highest draft pick in 12 years, Charles Cross is now under contract. The Seahawks and the No. 9 overall pick agreed to terms on the customary four-year rookie contract Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Cross was the last unsigned top-10 pick from this year’s class. Only five first-rounders remain unsigned. The Mississippi State-produced tackle can be kept on his rookie deal through 2026, via the fifth-year option. The slot deal is worth $21.4MM; that amount is fully guaranteed. This transaction is rather unusual, with Rapoport adding Cross is the highest-drafted player to enter the league without an agent.

The Seahawks are hoping for a long-term partnership with Cross, their first top-10 draftee since Russell Okung in 2010. Okung, who became his own agent as his career progressed, stayed with the Seahawks for six seasons. In 2017, the Seahawks traded for Duane Brown, who stayed on as their left tackle through last season. Brown remains a free agent, while the Seahawks reinvested in this prime position.

The two-year Mississippi State starter was the third tackle off the board this year, following Ikem Ekwonu (No. 6, Panthers) and Evan Neal (No. 7, Giants). Despite being closely linked to the Giants throughout the pre-draft process, Cross fell to the Seahawks, who used first- and third-round picks on tackles this year. They selected Abraham Lucas in Round 3.

A 6-foot-4 blocker, Cross will make an interesting transition in going from Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense to one of the NFL’s most run-oriented attacks. Post-Russell Wilson, Seattle’s offense — which added a second-round running back (Kenneth Walker) to the equation in April — could shift further in this direction. Discounting three games played during his redshirt year in 2019, Cross only played for the Rebels under Leach, who moved from Washington State to the SEC program in 2020. The former five-star recruit declared for the draft after his redshirt sophomore season, when he earned first-team All-SEC acclaim.

Browns Will Not Release Baker Mayfield

May 29th, 2022 at 11:18am CST by Rory Parks

The Browns have no intentions of cutting quarterback Baker Mayfield, a league source tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. So if clubs like the Seahawks or Panthers want to acquire the former No. 1 overall pick, they will have to trade for him.

We heard earlier this month that Mayfield suitors believe Cleveland will ultimately release the former No. 1 overall pick, and there are two reasons for that thinking: 1) the Browns and their would-be trade partners have not been able to agree on how much of Mayfield’s $18.9MM salary for 2022 the Browns will cover, and 2) the Browns would rather cut Mayfield than keep him and risk a toxic locker room culture.

It could be that Cabot’s report was based on information leaked by a Browns front office eager to swing a trade and resolve the Mayfield situation, and that a Mayfield release actually remains an option. But from a purely financial perspective, there is no real reason for Cleveland to take any action until it receives a trade offer to its liking. Even with Mayfield’s full cap charge on the books, the team has just shy of $25MM in cap space, good for second-most in the league.

And, in order to avoid a distraction, the club and Mayfield can work out an arrangement much like the one the Texans had with new Browns QB Deshaun Watson last year, whereby Mayfield either works out at the team facility — but not alongside Watson and fellow signal-caller Jacoby Brissett — or simply gets his work in away from the team. Since Mayfield will not take another snap for the Browns, as Cabot confirms in a separate piece, it really wouldn’t matter either way.

In her breakdown of the Mayfield affair, Cabot cites a recent report from Jonathan M. Alexander of the Charlotte Observer, who wrote that trade talks between the Panthers and Browns broke down during last month’s draft because Carolina wanted Cleveland to pay $13MM-$14MM of Mayfield’s salary, something that Cleveland wasn’t willing to do (we had previously written that the salary divide was the reason that the discussions stalled, but we did not have the specific numbers). But the Panthers actually have more cap space than the Browns, and perhaps an even bigger issue than the financial consideration is the fact that Carolina simply does not have an organizational consensus on Mayfield at the moment.

If, as the summer unfolds, it becomes clear that Mayfield would be an upgrade over Panthers QBs Sam Darnold and third-round rookie Matt Corral, Carolina could revisit trade discussions, though that is far from a sure thing. And the Seahawks, the other team that has been most connected to Mayfield, recently bid adieu to one of Mayfield’s biggest supporters, Alonzo Highsmith, the former Browns exec who had been working as an advisor to Seattle GM John Schenider and who just accepted a job as General Manager of Football Operations for the University of Miami.

Cabot says, and Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times confirms (via Twitter), that the Seahawks would be interested in Mayfield if he is cut, but it does not sound like Schneider will be engaging in trade discussions at this point. And if Carolina and Seattle are both out of the trade picture, then Browns GM Andrew Berry will just have to wait until another club faces an injury or underperformance, even if that wait takes him to the trade deadline.

Apparently, that suits Berry just fine.

Jody Allen Unlikely To Sell Seahawks In Near Future

May 29th, 2022 at 8:16am CST by Rory Parks

Russell Wilson‘s new team, the Broncos, are on the market and are expected to sell for roughly $5 billion. Wilson’s former team, the Seahawks, are not expected to be sold anytime soon, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reports.

Seahawks owner Jody Allen, 63, inherited the team from her brother, Paul Allen, who passed away in October 2018, and rumors of a sale have cropped up periodically since Jody took the reins. For instance, Condotta cites a story that NFL.com published a month after Paul’s death in which it was reported that the club would ultimately be sold, and that Paul had filed a succession plan with the league directing that the proceeds from such a sale be distributed to the Paul G. Allen Foundation.

A recent report from Portland-based writer and talk show host John Canzano has brought the conversation back to the foreground. Per Canzano, the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers — which Jody also inherited from Paul — are in line to be sold within the next six to 18 months, and the Seahawks could be on the auction block shortly thereafter.

Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Jody has been selling other family assets in recent months, including a parcel of property in Los Angeles and a nearby compound, which fetched a combined $110MM. That, according to Canzano, is in keeping with the directive of Paul’s trust, which provides that all assets, including his sports franchises, must be sold.

Even if Jody does eventually sell the Seahawks, nothing is imminent on that front, according to Condotta’s own source. The team is not currently for sale, and that is not expected to change in the near future.

Like her brother, Jody had kept a low profile during her first several years as owner, but she began to reverse course as her franchise neared a crossroads late in the 2021 season. As the ‘Hawks were entering the home stretch of an uncharacteristically poor campaign, Jody became “very involved” in the team’s operation, which signaled that major changes could be on the horizon.

At the time, the Seattle futures of head coach Pete Carroll, GM John Schneider, and Wilson were decidedly uncertain, as Jody reportedly did not believe that the Seahawks’ poor 2021 performance was a mere blip in the radar. Ultimately, of course, Wilson was traded to Denver while Carroll and Schneider were retained, and Carroll said during last month’s draft that Jody told him and Schneider that they are “back in your wheelhouse,” meaning that they again have the necessary draft capital and salary cap space to build a legitimate championship contender.

Indeed, although Jody has still not given an interview, her statement in the team’s press release following the Wilson trade — in which she indicated that Wilson himself wanted out of Seattle — was a strong one. And she was plenty visible at the draft, when she was seen in the Seahawks’ war room during the first round and in photos posted on the team’s website.

All of that paints a picture of an owner who is engaged and in no hurry to sell. Plus, as Condotta posits, there is absolutely no reason for her to be in a rush. Per a piece published by Forbes Magazine last fall, the value of NFL teams has increased by 14% over the past five years, and the fact that the Broncos are poised to sell for around $5 billion — more than double what the Panthers sold for in 2018 — suggests that Jody should be content to wait to put the Seahawks on the market.

Latest On Seahawks’ QB Situation

May 27th, 2022 at 7:15pm CST by Ely Allen

Seattle made headlines in early March when they agreed to trade Russell Wilson to the Broncos in exchange for multiple draft picks, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, and tight end Noah Fant. After losing their starter of the last ten years, the Seahawks are going through the motions now of determining who will be taking snaps from under center when the season starts this fall. 

Through Phase II of their offseason program, returning Seahawk Geno Smith has been taking the first snaps in drills, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Breer still expects Lock to emerge as the starter, in time, once he’s had the opportunity to make up ground as a newcomer to Seattle’s system.

The 31-year-old Smith returned to starting duties this past season for the first time since 2017 and for the first time in multiple games in a season since his sophomore year with the Jets all the way back in 2014. Smith signed with Seattle in 2019, spending two years as Wilson’s backup while only making an appearance in one game. Last season, though, saw Smith relieve Wilson when the latter suffered a finger injury in a Week 5 loss to the Rams.

Smith finished the game for Wilson and, when Wilson was put on injured reserve, Smith started the next three games for the Seahawks. Smith performed admirably in Wilson’s stead, completing 68.4% of his passes for 702 yards while tossing 5 touchdowns to 1 interception. He also added 42 yards and a touchdown on the ground in 9 carries. Even though the team went 1-2 with Smith as a starter, he kept the Seahawks competitive, not only proving that he still has some gas in the tank but showing some of the best football of his career to date.

Lock was a second-round pick for the Broncos back in 2019, a backup option to then-newly acquired starting quarterback Joe Flacco. Lock suffered a preseason thumb injury that landed him on injured reserve, returning to practice in mid-November. Flacco suffered a neck injury that would require surgery and after three games of Brandon Allen, Denver turned to their rookie coming off injured reserve.

Lock took the NFL-world by storm, winning four of the Broncos last five games of the season. In that stretch Lock completed 64.1% of his passes for 1,020 yards, throwing 7 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. Lock took on full-time starting duties in his sophomore season. His completion percentage dropped to 57.34% on the year and his interceptions caught up to his touchdowns as his touchdown-interception ratio read 16-15. In his 13 starts, the Bronco went just 4-9. Last season saw Lock lose the quarterback competition to Teddy Bridgewater. Lock appeared in injury relief in two games before a concussion to Bridgewater in Week 14 handed Lock the keys to the offense for the rest of the season. The Broncos would lose all three of Lock’s starts, in which he would show more of the same from his full season as a starter.

Breer sees Lock emerging as the starting quarterback because of reports from 2019 that general manager John Schneider “really liked Lock coming out” of college, adding that the inclusion of Lock in the trade deal was similar to Jared Goff‘s inclusion in the Matthew Stafford-trade Detroit made last year. Breer also points out that Lock’s offensive coordinator during the best stretch of his young career during that rookie season was Rich Scangarello, who ran a very similar offense to Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

Behind Smith and Lock is the young Jacob Eason who failed to impress in very limited action with the Colts last year. The job will fall on the shoulders of either Smith or Lock, with Seahawks-fans likely hoping that Lock, the younger of the two, will establish himself as their future at the position.

Seahawks’ Alonzo Highsmith To Join Miami Hurricanes’ Staff

May 26th, 2022 at 5:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

An NFL executive for more than two decades, Alonzo Highsmith spent nearly two years with the Seahawks. The former running back will wrap his Seattle tenure, however, and return to Miami.

A key figure on a few dominant Hurricanes teams in the 1980s, Highsmith accepted a position with the ACC school’s athletic department, according to Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Highsmith was a candidate to become Miami’s athletic director in December, per Hyde, and will assist new Hurricanes AD Dan Radakovich going forward.

Highsmith, 57, signed on as a part-time Seahawks exec early in 2020, following a departure from the Browns. John Dorsey brought Highsmith to Cleveland from Green Bay, marking a multiyear reunion. When the Browns pushed Dorsey aside after the 2019 season, however, their new front office plan did not include Highsmith. After serving as a Seahawks consultant during the 2020 offseason, Highsmith was one of the front office’s key figures over the past two years.

The Seahawks have lost multiple John Schneider lieutenants over the past year and change. Highsmith follows Scott Fitterer out of Seattle; Fitterer is now the Panthers’ GM. Highsmith had worked with Schneider for many years in Green Bay, wrapping a 19-year Packers tenure in 2018.

The Oilers drafted Highsmith third overall in 1987, but knee injuries limited his success in the pros. After making a transition to scouting in the 1990s, Highsmith will make another big move out of the NFL nearly 30 years later.

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