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July 2009
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| February 2007KING 5 just talked to Josh Brown about the franchise tag. The kicker is extremely pleased with it. He likes the Hawks future. Brown believes Seattle can be a contender for the next 3-4 years for sure. He's still looking for a long term deal. You can hear the conversation tonight on Northwest Sports Tonight 9:30 on Northwest Cable News and 10:30 on KONG. Plus, I'm hoping to put up the whole conversation on the web later tonight. So check it out. ...The Seahawks have put the Franchise tag on kicker Josh Brown. I guess they couldn't agree to a contract deal before today's deadline to franchise or transition any player. The franchise tag for Brown means, if he signs a 1-year deal, he'll earn just over 2 million dollars a year. Also, by putting the tag on Brown, the Hawks buy more time to come to a long term deal, in which he could earn even more. Oh, by the way, Brown can still sign an offer sheet with another team. But if he signs with that team and the Hawks don't match it, said team owes Seattle 2 first-round picks. I can't see any team paying 2 first round picks to see what can Brown do for them. ...Thursday's Deadline is coming fast. The Seahawks can designate someone with the "Franchise player" or "Transition player" tag. Remember, this whole process came to bite the Hawks in the butt when they gave Steve Hutchinson the "Transition" designation. But that's history I don't want to mess with anymore. I know people still want to talk about it, but it's over. (Cue Bluto from Animal House: "Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is!") So who should we tag and with what? Is TE Jerramy Stevens worth a Transition tag? We've spent a 1st round pick on him. He's shown promise when healthy. I'd hate for the Seahawks to lose him and watch him shine on another team. But if the Hawks tag him, he'll earn 4.3 mil as a franchise, or 3.6 mil as a transition. What about K Josh Brown? He did kick 4 game-winning field goals. Here's the price tag for kickers: 2 mil for franchise, 1.9 for transition. If Adam Vinatieri grabs a 3.5 mil bonus and 2.5 mil for at least three years this past season, then two million for Brown is a bargain. In my opinion, The Hawks need to sign Brown to a long term deal. Whether they franchise him or come to terms, he's about as automatic as Vinatieri. The next big date is March 2nd. Free Agency begins and the money will start to flow. Seattle has 22 guys left unsigned with about 17 million under the cap to spend. By the way, here's the Times list of the Hawks top free agents. And here's a place you can find the whole list. Tell me what the Hawks should do. Play GM and give me your off-season moves. ...Good News for Hawks fans on 2 fronts. San Diego hired Norv Turner as their new head coach. Norv tutored 49ers QB Alex Smith this past season. He was widely considered the reason for Smith's marked improvement. Obviously, San Fran came on this past season, beating the Hawks twice. Norv had a pretty big hand in their success. Then the other big move comes from one of the biggest threats in the NFC, the Chicago Bears. Da Bears decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. To me, this doesn't make much sense, but I'm sure we'll learn more about in the upcoming days. ESPN reports that it had to do with contract negotiations. Rivera had been interviewed for 9 different head coaching jobs over the past 2 seasons. Lastly, it sounds like Patriots QB Tom Brady is going to be a dad. A rep for actress Bridget Moynahan says she's prego with Tom's offspring. The two broke up two months ago after three years of dating. Moynahan is reportedly three months pregnant. Hmmm. Brady is currently canoodling supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Looks like the 3-time Super Bowl champ will have to do some scrambling on and off the field. ...True to their word, the Seahawks have quickly hired a new vice president of football administration. Former Arizona Cardinals executive John Idzik will take over for Mike Reinfeldt. He'll perform the same duties as Reinfeldt. Idzik will be in charge of player negotiations, the salary cap, and some day-to-day operations. The hiring kind of comes as no surprise due to Idzik's history. Hawks President Tim Ruskell worked with him in Tampa. Here's Ruskell's take: “John is very talented and well respected in league circles. He will step right in during this important period and play a key role in our continued success.” ...The Seattle Times reports Seahawks long snapper Derek Rackley re-signed a one-year deal. That probably means J.P. Darche's days are numbered in Seattle. The canadian long snapper has been with the Hawks since 2000. He hurt his hip in the season opener and never returned. Darche has been a training camp favorite of KING-5. He did a story with us in Cheney back in 2005. Darche showed us he could long snap the ball to anyone through anything including a moving car, a drive-thru window, and much more. The Tennessee Titans introduced Mike Reinfeldt as their new GM. Reinfeldt was the Hawks VP of football operations. The Hawks lost a salary cap guru in Reinfeldt. He's been credited for getting Alexander, Hasselbeck, Jones, Peterson and more, signed and cap-friendly. ...NFL.com reports that Mack Strong will return for his 14th season with the Seahawks. That pretty much confirms what Strong said after the season ended. Strong told us that he wanted t comeback, but didn't know for sure what the future holds. I think somewhere Shaun Alexander is breathing a deep sigh of relief. Obviously, nothing is for sure until Mack and the Hawks draw up the contract. The fullback is in Honolulu for the Pro-Bowl. He's a starter. Julian Peterson, Lofa Tatupu, and Walter Jones are there as well. ...You can't make this stuff up. Apparently, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will hold for field goals during the Pro Bowl game on Saturday. Yes, you've read that correctly, ROMO IS THE NFC's PRO BOWL HOLDER. A certain fiery place must be frozen over. Next thing you know Bears QB Rex Grossman will start at quarterback in Honolulu. But then again, according to Rush Limbaugh, Grossman could succeed if we weren't so hard on him. Check out Limbaugh's wacky reason behind his conspiracy theory. ...The Dallas Cowboys are holding a presser to announce that Wade Phillips is their new head coach. Phillips was San Diego's defensive coordinator for the past three seasons. This is his third go around as a head coach. Phillips led the Bills for three seasons and the Broncos for two. Wade is not new to the Texas area. He's the son of former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips. Now for the bad news. Phillips hiring means Norv Turner will probably stay in San Fran. Turner really turned QB Alex Smith around last season. He worked his magic on Smith enough to beat the Hawks twice last year. ...WWRLD? I remember 1998 as if it were yesterday. I was finishing up at WSU. Ryan Leaf just led the Cougars to its first Rose Bowl in over 60 years. Leaf gave Wazzu alum a chance to shed some of the heartbreak of years past. NFL scouts were everywhere on campus in the spring of '98. One spring day, Leaf went through an informal workout for some NFL execs and coaches. Afterwards, I talked to then Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer. He, like many others, thought Leaf and Peyton Manning were #1 & #2, but no one knew which would be the first pick. For all his emotional or psychological faults, Leaf was a great quarterback in college. And in the right environment, a really good person. As a transfer student, I was hobbling around 6 weeks post ACL surgery and looking for a place at French Admin Building on the campus of Washington State University. Out of the blue, some guy on his scooter zooms by and stops to help. It was Leaf. He didn't have to stop. He didn't know me at all. But Leaf stopped and helped me look for the place I needed to find. The Cougars punter at the time, Jeff Banks, once told me that Ryan was the kind of person that once you got to know him, he was a great and loyal friend. That legendary 1997 season wouldn't have happened if Leaf and the most of the team didn't stay the summer before to bond and workout. My point is Leaf was a highly rated player with, at times, a pleasant personality and the ability to lead, if given a chance. The Colts could have easily taken Leaf over Manning and no one, at the time, would have flinched. Now imagine him with Indy for all these years. Would the Colts be Super Bowl Champions? Could Leaf take them to the promise land and would it have happened more often? Both started their rookie years. But Manning had Marshall Faulk for a season and then Edgerrin James for most of his career. Peyton also had Marvin Harrison for his whole career. Plus, Jerome Pathon and Torrance Small were good receivers in his early years. Then he's had the services of Reggie Wayne and career year from Brandon Stokley in 2004 (1077 yards & 10 TD's). Now I dare you to name a receiver, let alone the Chargers top receiver, during Leaf's tenure in San Diego. In 1998, tight end Freddie Jones was the leading receiver with 57 catches. The second leading receiver was Charlie Jones (no relation) with 46 grabs. In 2000, again Freddie Jones led the team with 71 receptions. His number two was, wait for it, wait for it....Jeff Graham. He caught 55 balls. Or name his running back. Natrone Means led the 1998 Chargers with 883 yards. In 2000, Jermaine Fazande was the king of the San Diego's running backs. Fazande blew the competition away with 368 yards. A career year for Fazande, unfortunately, it was his second and last season of his career. Now flip flop Peyton and Ryan. Would Leaf still sustain an injury that helped shorten his career? Or would Jim Mora and Tony Dungy guide and mentor the sometime hot-head and immature quarterback into a man that could lead an NFL team? Today, I watched Outsides the Line on ESPN. They had a segment on Leaf. Currently, he's the quarterbacks coach at West Texas A & M and the school's Golf Coach. He seemed at peace with his life. Obviously, Manning helped the Colts win the Super Bowl and was named the game's MVP. Both are at different stages in their life. But I still can't help to wonder What Would Ryan Leaf Do if he were drafted by the Colts. ...Maxim online has an article called "Kickers and Punters Gone Wild." Surprisingly enough, Hawks kicker Josh Brown is on it. It's a top 10 list. How about this list of Super Bowl Losers. Check out the top scandals surrounding the big game. Former Seahawk safety Eugene Robinson makes the list. Here's from the "No Duh" department. The NFL still isn't doing enough when it comes to concussions. From Steelers great, Center Mike Webster, to one-time Eagles defensive back Andre Waters to the current case made public. Former Patriot Ted Johnson is out of the game because Coach Bill Belichick pushed him back too fast from a concussion. Here's the NFL Commish's take and more. Finally, if you're looking for a Buffalo Wings recipe, check out Nick Bakay's blog on nfl.com. I was wondering what happened to Bakay. I always thought he was funny on ESPN, but hadn't seen him in a bit....now he's on the NFL Network. ... |