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Extreme Seahawk Makeover: Move That Roster!
35 Plays8 months ago
Tristan and Miles talk about transforming a team in one week of transaction madness.
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Transcript
Seahawks' Transformation Begins
00:00:00
Tristan Amundson
Miles, when we last left the audience, we were talking about Wojtek, the Polish bear, the World War to hero. um And now, is it safe to say things have gotten grisly around the Seahawks organization, Miles? is that Is that too much of a dad joke? I don't know, but holy moly, we we just learned that Clint Kubiak, where we left everybody off,
00:00:30
Tristan Amundson
We just got introduced to Clint. We have this new offense. What's it going to mean for the team, Miles? What's it going to mean that Clint Kubiak's the OC? What's the future look like with Mike McDonald?
00:00:43
Tristan Amundson
And I don't know. I think it's been a pretty quiet. We're coming to everyone right now. It is Monday, March 10th. All's quiet on the Western front, right? that Nothing's going on.
00:00:55
M dub
Tristan, the Seahawks have about half a year until they play of a football game. What could possibly be going on? Well, Tristan, let me tell you, spring is about to spring, sprung here momentarily.
00:01:09
M dub
And if you spent the last few evenings starting to get your garden set for the next year or do some spring cleaning, boy, you have missed that the Seahawks have completely they It's completely different.
00:01:23
M dub
If you took a week off here just from ah refreshing profootballrumors.com every three to four minutes, then you've missed that. This is a completely different Seahawks team than the one that existed on March third
00:01:35
Tristan Amundson
So let's let's start for March 3rd. So again, we come to everyone today. It is Monday, March 10th. Can you just start us, Miles? What happened March 3rd, March 4th?
00:01:47
Tristan Amundson
bring us Bring us up to speed and and maybe we just kind of talk through each one.
00:01:51
M dub
Absolutely. And here's the thing. It is March 10th. It's about the afternoon. and this is how crazy this business of the NFL is, Tristan. we We locked down the recording studio, our virtual recording studio, and said, let let's close all the other tabs. Let's focus in here.
00:02:09
M dub
Who knows what could be awaiting us on the other side when when we stop recording this episode? The listener knows it. you know, in the future and we don't know it. That's that's how quickly this business works. But afternoon, March 10th, the team has changed directions every couple hours in the last week.
00:02:29
M dub
And we go back starting with a the first the first stage here was a bunch of releases way back in the ancient days on March 4th and March 5th.
Impact of Player Releases on Team Dynamics
00:02:40
M dub
The team released five veteran players. ah Roy Robertson Harris, Rayshon Jenkins, George Fant, Draymond Jones, and Tyler Lockett. Tristan, I kind of missed it last offseason. We described this free agent class signed by John Schneider as the take your vitamins and go to bed early free agent class. We thought there were a lot of subtle little moves that that really helped plug some specific holes.
00:03:07
M dub
It is kind of crazy how much that was not the case. and No holes ended up being plugged overall. I'm talking specifically the two free agents here were Rayshawn Jenkins and George Fant.
00:03:21
M dub
Rayshawn Jenkins, I thought, was a good player. Kind of got injured in the middle of the year. Came back healthy, but had lost his job to Kobe Bryant. George Fant, just a total lost year for him, unfortunately, last year due to health.
00:03:32
Tristan Amundson
He was great.
00:03:34
M dub
Only plays 30 snaps on the season. ah And then Roy Robertson-Harris, you might remember, we covered...
00:03:41
Tristan Amundson
he was great
00:03:43
M dub
We covered this man's travel tenure in October when he was traded from Jacksonville. This man was all over the doggone world to Jacksonville and London and back. Comes to Seattle. The team does give up a sixth-round pick to acquire him.
00:03:57
M dub
He ends up only playing 188 snaps for the team. Now, they were good. They were good snaps.
00:04:02
Tristan Amundson
Solid player. Yeah, I think he filled a role. I think that was actually a pretty good signing at the time, right? We needed him to play a role. He played a role. Would it shock you?
00:04:13
Tristan Amundson
You know, I'm looking at your notes here. 6.6 million bucks in saving by cutting him. Would it shock you if if we saw him back on the team for three or four million? it He seems like the sort of guy that, hey, bro, you know, we love you.
00:04:27
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. like not at this number, but test free agency. And maybe you come back. I mean, not to say that he has any major Seahawks loyalty. He, he was with us for 188 snaps.
00:04:38
M dub
Justin, this is how fast this doggone business is moving. Roy Robertson Harris, already in New York Jet, signed for two years and $10 million.
00:04:44
Tristan Amundson
Get out of town.
00:04:46
M dub
dollars So $5 million dollars a year, just a little bit below what the Seahawks would have owed him.
00:04:47
Tristan Amundson
Well, that's,
00:04:51
M dub
But that that is the the cap casualty nature of this business. On the on the his old contract that he had with the Seahawks, none of it was guaranteed. So he is not incurring a dead cap hit whatsoever.
00:05:03
M dub
And yeah, he's already across the country with the Giants.
00:05:06
Tristan Amundson
Well, that's great, though, because he can join Devontae Adams over there and he can hang out ah with Aaron Rodgers. And that that will be a good.
00:05:13
M dub
The Giants. The Giants.
00:05:15
Tristan Amundson
oh Oh, he went to the Giants. Well, well, still, still, it's the same thing as neither of those guys are there.
00:05:17
M dub
The Giants. yeah
00:05:21
Tristan Amundson
That was going to be a funny joke if I didn't screw that part up.
00:05:22
M dub
what
00:05:24
Tristan Amundson
He can hang out with Danny Dimes.
00:05:25
M dub
In the Meadowlands.
00:05:25
Tristan Amundson
How about that?
00:05:26
M dub
In the Meadowlands.
00:05:27
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, yeah. Okay, fair enough. Okay, so so Roy, you're telling me he's not coming back. you're Well, maybe. Maybe he gets cut again and suddenly he comes back. Maybe we trade for him again. Hey,
00:05:37
M dub
yeah Another six-pound pick in 2026. Why not? Yeah. it It worked before.
00:05:43
Tristan Amundson
Just keep making this a thing. i'm George Fant, to your point, you know, i good player. yeah i I think we were both happy with that signing. it seemed like a solid signing at the time, but, you know, just bad luck, I think, from ah um an injury perspective.
00:05:58
Tristan Amundson
um Draymond Jones is a bit of a... yeah i How do you feel about that one, man? I always have mixed feelings about Draymond. You know, he's one of those players that...
00:06:10
Tristan Amundson
you like the signing, you felt like he was going to be able to be impactful. And he was, you know, it wasn't that Draymond was bad. It just, he never quite did what we were hoping he could do. He always seemed like he, did did he feel to you like always the odd man out ah ah in the rotation, in the conversation, in the excitement of the defensive line?
00:06:32
Tristan Amundson
Hey, we have all these guys. Oh yeah. And Draymond Jones too. And man, if we can figure out a way to use this guy, that'd be great. But it just never happened. it didn't seem to click for
Tyler Lockett's Legacy and Financial Implications
00:06:41
Tristan Amundson
whatever reason. I'm not, I'm not entirely sure why I've heard Brock, you would say he's an in-betweener body wise.
00:06:47
Tristan Amundson
it's hard for me to know that, but it just, something wasn't right with him for whatever reason.
00:06:52
M dub
You're absolutely right. It didn't click. I don't know the reason. And it it kind of looked and felt like when the Seahawks acquired Michael Bennett, I guess the smaller guy on the edge.
00:07:03
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:05
M dub
And something about, I guess I was in part blinded by his high price tag and just thinking like, oh, if this guy's earning this much money, he has to be great you know at this at this position that can be you know subtle to to find and and understand the impact of.
00:07:20
M dub
But yeah, I think this just, especially I'm thinking about it with Rayshon Jenkins as well. Sometimes it just doesn't work. And I don't really think it's the team's fault. don't really think it's the player's fault. This is not the end of Draymond Jones' career.
00:07:33
Tristan Amundson
Nope. Yeah.
00:07:34
M dub
i think i think it just happens sometimes, maybe a little more often than we give it credit for. And maybe nobody knows. you know Maybe even Draymond himself or or John or Mike McDonald, maybe nobody really knows why.
00:07:46
M dub
But yeah, it just never quite clicked.
00:07:47
Tristan Amundson
It just wasn't right. So, so all those guys get, get cut and then the Seahawks have a day of a grace period day there.
00:07:57
Tristan Amundson
Right.
00:07:57
M dub
Well, we got one big one last cut to talk about, saying farewell to ah franchise legend.
00:07:57
Tristan Amundson
So.
00:08:01
Tristan Amundson
Well, Well, yes, but all of those guys get cut on one day, right?
00:08:06
M dub
Oh, sorry. You're right. You're right.
00:08:08
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:08:08
M dub
I forgot.
00:08:08
Tristan Amundson
And then yeah you thought I was going to forget about my boy Tyler.
00:08:09
M dub
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. um so sorry sorry so
00:08:12
Tristan Amundson
No. And then all of Seattle, everybody knows, listen, this is the day that Tyler Lock is getting cut. Don't Don't you know go out and try to break news. Don't do anything else.
00:08:27
Tristan Amundson
this They called Julio Rodriguez. They said, Julio, don't say anything down in spring training today because this is Tyler Day.
00:08:31
M dub
you
00:08:34
Tristan Amundson
Oh, got it. No problem. you know what We called everybody. Ken Griffey Jr., don't do anything. Okay, got it. No problem. Matt Hasselbeck, we know you got breaking news. Don't break anything. Okay, everyone's on the same page. Sean Alexander, we're all going to behave miles.
00:08:50
Tristan Amundson
It's Tyler Lockett's day, right? We're going to cut Tyler Lockett and everyone is just going to honor Tyler Lockett for one day. And that's exactly what happened, correct?
00:09:02
Tristan Amundson
Everyone got the memo? did You didn't forget to send it to anybody, did you? Everyone kind of knows, hey, it's not all about me today. It's about Tyler. Yes? Are we good?
00:09:13
M dub
You know, I heard the general manager of the Seahawks, Mr. John Schneider, talk about this idea that the team really did actually kind of plan these cuts ah to create kind of a Tyler Lockett day.
00:09:26
M dub
Call me a party pooper. i was I was a little bit confused because the team is cutting him. You know, he's not retiring on the one-day contract, which, you know, i get it why it happens, even though that's kind of silly. But this isn't even that. This is cutting him. But...
00:09:42
M dub
Anyway, that that's not what happened on that day. The team did cut Tyler Lockett and then ah the memo got to everybody but one individual.
00:09:50
Tristan Amundson
DeKalen, and I think what happens is we're not on his, he has a couple of different cell phones, I think is what happens. And we're not on his main cell phone. And so it the the text that we sent, ah really it's on us because John asked us, make sure you let DK know.
00:10:09
Tristan Amundson
And yeah we should apologize to Seattle. we We didn't send the text to the right cell phone and DK just missed it. He missed the text message that, you know, he, he wanted it to be about Tyler too.
00:10:21
Tristan Amundson
i think you're, I like what you're saying though, because what you're saying is a little counter to, well, certainly counter to the Seahawks narrative, but it does speak. There is like a bit of a lack of sincerity. Like if someone's going to fire me and then they're like, we want this to be Tristan Amundsen day. And it's like, well, hold on, man.
00:10:42
M dub
yeah yeah that's a great
00:10:42
Tristan Amundson
You're you're you are firing me.
00:10:43
M dub
Actually, it is.
00:10:46
Tristan Amundson
So, um yeah, it'll be interesting to see if if Tyler plays for another team this year or not. I mean. It's hard to imagine Tyler playing next year. after like Towards the end of last year, um you just don't see a lot of wide receivers get the ball and immediately dive to the ground put like to save themselves from getting and hit. like he's He's in a different place in his career, I think. So that will be interesting. But listen, you and I both loved Tyler last year. you know he was obviously...
00:11:16
Tristan Amundson
um the headliner of Lock It Watch and our our favorite segment um all of last year. Sad to see Tyler go. He is... class personified. he's He's one of those players that you just love to watch and you love to root for and and did it the right way. And from, you never know with with people you don't actually know when you say they're good people, but man, if there was any indicators of a guy who just seems like a good guy, it's Tyler Lockett. If we find out Tyler Lockett's a jerk, we can just lose hope for mankind probably and just move on.
00:11:56
M dub
Absolutely. And looked I looked down in the franchise record books and Tyler Lockett, among all Seattle Seahawks, he is second in reception, second in receiving yards, and second in touchdowns, coming ah second to Steve Largent and all those categories.
00:12:08
Tristan Amundson
crazy And
00:12:12
M dub
Second best receiver in franchise history. i mean, there's nothing to do.
00:12:17
Tristan Amundson
yeah, and he did it. He, he did it in the most understated way. Anyone could ever do it for that long of a career. It's, I mean, it's, it's, it's an old trope because we've talked about it so many times, but just the best and and wishing him nothing but the best um moving on. So, okay. So that yes,
00:12:36
M dub
can i get Now that we've had our sentimental moment, can I crunch some numbers here?
00:12:37
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:12:40
M dub
the the The dollars and cents?
00:12:41
Tristan Amundson
Oh, sure.
00:12:42
M dub
Because that's what this season is all about.
00:12:42
Tristan Amundson
Sure.
00:12:44
M dub
you know So as we mentioned, Roy Robertson-Harris doesn't leave anything in terms of a dead cap hit.
00:12:45
Tristan Amundson
Be the maker.
00:12:50
M dub
Just for a little reminder from salary cap school, these dead cap hits are the portions of the player's signing bonus from when they started their contract that are distributed across the years.
00:13:02
M dub
Because that money has been paid from the team to the player, it has to register on the team's salary cap at some year or another. It cannot be moved. Roy Robertson Harris didn't have any guarantees on his deal, so he doesn't have a dead cap hit.
00:13:16
M dub
Every other player, though, does incur a dead cap hit. Rayshon Jenkins and George Fant, was relatively small, 2.5 and 1.8, respectively. Draymond Jones and Tyler Lockett, those were much bigger deals. So there is a a salary cap savings from from each cut,
00:13:34
M dub
ah In the case of Draymond Jones, it was $11.5 million in savings. In the case of Tyler Lockett, it was $17 million in savings. They still also leave a significant dead cap hit behind them.
00:13:46
M dub
$14 million for Draymond Jones, $13.8 million for Tyler Lockett. Those are pretty big percentages of the salary cap, given a player who is not on the team anymore.
00:13:58
M dub
Nonetheless, as I think we'll build to over the course of this episode, I think John Schneider has done a really great job of turning this ship around and the somewhat dour salary cap situation that we were breaking down in the last episode. I think it looks really different now.
00:14:14
M dub
And I think there is a big piece of the Seahawks taking their dead cap medicine in 2025. That's something that we're going to have to remember this year.
00:14:22
Tristan Amundson
Oh, interesting. Yeah.
00:14:23
M dub
They are...
00:14:25
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:14:26
M dub
how Last I looked, and who knows how this has changed in the few hours since I looked, but they were first overall in the league in terms of the dead money on their salary cap.
00:14:37
M dub
But they have kind of they're taking they're taking it all this year and none
00:14:44
Tristan Amundson
Got it. Okay. So yeah you have to pay the Piper. Let's just pay him now and and and move on. So, okay, good, good. And that's, listen, yeah, to your point though, for this year, I just, i look at that 14 million, basically 14 million for both Draymond and Tyler, 28 million bucks.
00:15:00
Tristan Amundson
That's, that'd be a pretty great player, right? I mean, that's, it's that's a, that's a high flyer.
00:15:07
M dub
And hey, 2.5 for Jenkins, 1.8 for Fant. Those are veteran free agents that are not coming in because those are dead cap hits for those guys as well.
00:15:16
Tristan Amundson
Yep. Yep. Okay. So, so that was the first round, first round, March 4th through 5th. We, we have all those guys leaving, including Tyler. ah What happens next?
00:15:27
Tristan Amundson
Keep, keep going in the story.
00:15:29
M dub
March 6th, we retain a player. And Tristan, although there are much bigger moves, I do think that dollar for dollar, this is this is the best move that the Seahawks made. It won't be the most impactful overall, but I was astonished at the price. It took a little while for the terms of this deal to come out.
00:15:47
M dub
but the team re-signs cornerback Josh Jobe for one year and $2 million. dollars Tristan, week 18 against the Rams, Jobe is out for that game due to injury. Seahawks are giving up all sorts of yards to Jimmy Garoppolo, give up their most passing yards on the season, and I do remember saying at that time, I think Josh Jobe earned himself a lot of money.
00:16:08
M dub
On this day. And to be sure, $2 million dollars is a lot of money where I'm coming from. But in the scheme of the NFL, the Seahawks, I think, signed a very team-friendly deal here.
00:16:20
M dub
It is a short-term deal. It does give... Job's going to be looking to earn his way out of out out into a bigger deal for 2026. But I thought this was a great piece of business. This is a starting player.
00:16:31
Tristan Amundson
Starting player, role player, a guy who is a contributor to a really good defense. So, and there's a lot to be said. And as we're going to continue on through this list, a lot to be said for continuity when it comes to defensive players. And and Josh is certainly one of those. So yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a solid, solid move by the Seahawks. Happy about that.
00:16:55
Tristan Amundson
Here we go.
00:16:55
M dub
I mean, Tristan, if they said it was a one-year $7 million dollar deal, I mean, would you have blinked? He kind of would have gone like, well, yeah, he's a starting player.
00:17:04
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, I mean, I guess so.
Geno Smith's Trade and Its Ripple Effect
00:17:05
Tristan Amundson
i is That's a tough one because i just don't know the numbers well enough, I guess. But, you know, I'll i'll take i'll take two over seven. I mean, i can do that math, Miles. That's easy.
00:17:16
M dub
You've been to salary cap school.
00:17:18
Tristan Amundson
I have been a couple weeks ago. All right, man. Take us into the meat of this conversation now because we we we had to do some housekeeping, some crazy stuff going on, and then March 7th hits. And...
00:17:32
Tristan Amundson
And it's the first really big tectonic plate that was going to move in this kind of free agency trade, whatever you want call it off-season frenzy. and And this was the big one.
00:17:46
M dub
The Seattle Seahawks trade quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for one third-round draft pick. Tristan, we left with a lot of good vibes about the Raiders situation last episode and Pete Carroll joining the Raiders.
00:18:00
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:02
M dub
And boy, are those there's there's like a Raiders-Seahawks alliance this year, is there not? I mean, isn't this the feel-good trade ah ah given the circumstances? How could it work out any better on ah you know an emotional narrative level?
00:18:17
Tristan Amundson
Well, you know, so can I give you a a bit of ah a hot Raiders take here? I don't know. but Hot take probably.
00:18:25
M dub
Incoming. Incoming.
00:18:26
Tristan Amundson
the This is my my theory on this pick for the Raiders. um So I was texting with one of my good friends, one of my old college roommates, who's a massive Raiders fan.
00:18:37
Tristan Amundson
And when this went down, he was the first guy to text me. And he instantly just – he – Voiced his displeasure with the, with this trade um felt like the Raiders overpaid for Geno didn't quite understand the, the pick and my response to him. And I think this is true. I think this is what I believe about it.
00:19:00
Tristan Amundson
My response to him was Gino is a Pete Carroll guy. Pete has to fix your culture. Pete has to fix the Raiders culture. And Gino is going to be a big part of, of being a mouthpiece of Pete's to be able to say, this is how we do it now.
00:19:18
Tristan Amundson
His response was, that's a lot of that's a big draft capital to pay for a guy who's who's helping to change a culture. And I thought about that answer, and it's an interesting answer from an NFL fan because the that the way that we would like to look at trades and draft picks and players is they are going to fill this need on the field for us, right? Which is logical.
00:19:42
Tristan Amundson
This player is going to do this thing for me on the field I want X plus Y to equal Z and and we're we're off. I think in this case, though, the Raiders culture is so putrid.
00:19:58
Tristan Amundson
It's so bad. They have such there is there is such a monumental task for Pete to fix what's going on it with the Raiders culturally.
00:20:10
Tristan Amundson
that I wonder if Pete's kind of saying, listen, man, before I can fix the football, and Gino will help me fix the football a little bit too, but we really have to like tear this thing down. like There are rotten boards in this house that we we have to tear out these rotten two-by-fours and completely redo the foundation and what other construction ah analogies we can make here.
00:20:32
Tristan Amundson
I just wonder if if in some ways this is pointing towards the amount of work that Pete feels like he has to do. And yeah, you know what? It's worth a third round pick because there's this much there's this much work that has to be done. Like the Raiders culture is this toxic and this bad.
00:20:52
Tristan Amundson
that's ah Let me leave it there. Does that make sense to you at all? Because if this is just, is Geno worth a third round pick? I'm not sure if I can make that argument. Is Geno with Pete worth a third round pick for a team that really needs structural repair culturally?
00:21:12
Tristan Amundson
Is Geno the right fit? How does that feel to you?
00:21:18
M dub
um It is so tempting to talk about these Raiders. that the name are I do think you're right. I think you're onto to something. I do think this goes ah the elements of this trade go beyond the the straight accounting sheet and and the two columns. you know do Do they balance out?
00:21:36
M dub
ah Yeah, I do think it's a good move for the Raiders. I think something that was has been a little underrated in terms of the quarterback talk, and you know the quarterback musical chairs, there's really only so many.
00:21:49
M dub
and a very small number of limited options to you to get a competitive quarterback on your team without spending a huge amount of resources. We saw the Denver Broncos do it. they They spent a huge amount of resources to get Russell Wilson on the team.
00:22:04
M dub
Then they turned around again, a first round draft pick with Bo Nix. That's a huge resource as well. So you can get a quarterback on your team basically at any time, but for just like, you know,
00:22:17
M dub
It's expensive, and there's only so many quality moves that are relatively inexpensive. And believe it or not, at this point in the NFL, Geno Smith on his $35 million a year contract is is ah is a is is an intersection of high quality and relative relatively inexpensive. And we'll get to that idea later, back to the Seahawks. But um yeah, I do think this i think this is a win a win-win move for both sides, to be honest.
00:22:47
Tristan Amundson
i am I agree with you, and i'm I'm thrilled by it. And it's weird to say that when you like a player. Geno has been nothing but good to us. When Russell Wilson was traded away, the Seahawks had no right to have a good quarterback replace Russell Wilson.
00:23:02
Tristan Amundson
like there is that It should have been the worst thing ever. and Instead, Geno comes in, and everything's fine for the last couple of years. I mean, Geno...
00:23:14
Tristan Amundson
he he they they You put him at the helm and he just kept the ship moving and we were competitive with Geno Smith. Geno has been excellent.
00:23:25
Tristan Amundson
He's been one of the best stories in the NFL. I couldn't be more happy for him that he's going to be able to make even more money with the Raiders. I think it's a i think that's a great story in and of itself, ah that he's turned his career around the way he has.
00:23:40
Tristan Amundson
But I also know that Geno is not the future for the Seahawks. And I know that he's not. Geno was like Moses, like he was never going to be able to make it into the promised land.
00:23:52
Tristan Amundson
And so the idea that, hey, let's let's now move on. Let's get that third round pick and we can we can move on into what the future is, according to Mike McDonald, I think is is really, really cool. So I think it's a thanks to Geno. And I think it's a great pick for us.
00:24:09
Tristan Amundson
Talk me through the numbers. How did the numbers work on on this one?
00:24:13
M dub
but Before I get to the numbers, I do want to say, i think the NFL community has missed out on just that Geno Smith is a cool player. For whatever reason, Geno tends to be incredibly divisive. He is in this tier of quarterback where it could kind of go either way if he's a you know, playoff winner?
00:24:31
M dub
or Is it a mediocre thing? And there there tends to be a lot of debate around Geno, both, I think, within the Seahawks community, the Seahawks nest. I understand it's not a nation.
00:24:41
M dub
The Raiders are the one true nation.
00:24:43
Tristan Amundson
Certainly. Certainly. Yep.
00:24:44
M dub
Learn my lesson. ah But within the NFL, the Seahawks community, the NFL community, there seems to be a lot of debate about like, is Geno this anchor that keeps you in a mediocre place? Or is he a good player? And I really think everybody has missed out on, this is a really cool guy. And he did a really cool thing where his career got to a place where usually in the NFL, it's dead.
00:25:06
M dub
His career got to a place where and careers tend to not come back. And he brought it all the way back. And he's a cool guy while doing it. i really think I really think that ah we we've missed out on this. Just a cool player. And I always enjoyed having him as the quarterback. And I think the Raiders will as well.
00:25:29
Tristan Amundson
Totally agree. Totally agree. um Yeah. No, wish him nothing but the best. and And I think it's going to be a fun. Listen, we'll be watching plenty of Raiders games this year. um No doubt. And I can't wait to watch it.
00:25:41
Tristan Amundson
It'll be fun to see Gino with that great young tight end and um an interesting new direction for, for the Raiders.
00:25:52
M dub
Last thing in the Seahawks record book, number one in quarterback yards per game in Seahawks history, Geno Smith.
00:25:58
Tristan Amundson
wow
00:26:01
M dub
Number one in the yards per game. Anyway, crunching the numbers here. One of the confusing things about this trade that I haven't figured out so far is all sources are reporting that the Seahawks hold pick number... So the third round pick received from the Raiders.
00:26:17
M dub
Everything I'm seeing says that this is pick number 92.
00:26:21
M dub
But I'm also seeing other things that said pick 92 belongs to the Jets from a previous trade with the Lions. so um and And the Raiders seem to only own picks number 68 and 73 in the third round before this.
00:26:35
M dub
So that's a pretty that's a pretty big difference from 92 to 68 or 73.
00:26:36
Tristan Amundson
Huh. Yeah.
00:26:38
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:26:40
M dub
So um maybe the Raiders did acquire that number 92 pick and in the fury of these last couple days. But... um I'm interested to see how this works out. I know it's a minor deal about everything going on, but I was confused about like, and pick number 92 never seemed to belong to the Raiders.
00:27:00
M dub
In terms of the salary cap, the Seahawks did save $31.5 million dollars off their salary cap. That's a pretty big number. And a comparatively small $13.5 million dollars dead cap hit.
00:27:15
M dub
That does come back in part from a restructure that Geno and the Seahawks did at this time last year. But all of a sudden, at at this moment in time, on March 7th, the Seahawks went from having this negative salary cap space seven to ten days earlier to among the league leaders in cap space very quickly.
00:27:36
Tristan Amundson
With one move. Yeah, that's incredible. um yeah Now I'm going to do my own research because I was, I had just taken pick 92 at face value. So I am kind of curious because listen, yeah, that's a pretty big difference. If we're looking at 68 or 73 versus 92, that's, I mean, that, that could make, that'll make a difference on draft day. So we'll, ah we'll keep watching that.
00:27:59
Tristan Amundson
um Yeah. Massive, absolutely massive news though. ah You know, That was really the first big piece of news that broke over the weekend, right? That really got this thing going and, and you know, started making us kind of look over our shoulders a little bit. So, okay. So Gino, March 7th.
00:28:19
Tristan Amundson
Now let's let's talk about some some additions or or at least some ah status quos here.
Key Player Retentions and Strategic Moves
00:28:26
M dub
Some status quo. Sunday, March 9th was a long day in Renton, I think. A lot of stuff happened. and We're talking 2 a.m. m transactions here, which is that the Seahawks bring back two of their free agents who were on the team last year.
00:28:42
M dub
One of them, Ernest Jones. Very important. they You would have said this was the number one priority.
00:28:47
Tristan Amundson
100%. Yep.
00:28:48
M dub
coming into the off season, team Kate takes care of business before he had become a free agent. The deal is three years for $33 million, dollars only $15 million dollars of that guaranteed.
00:28:59
M dub
That seems like a very team friendly deal to me. and also the, and, almost ageless, it seems at this point.
00:29:05
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:29:06
M dub
I mean, this is pretty deep in his career. Also bring back Jaron Reed on a three-year deal. I mean, that's ah that's a longer commitment for a guy who's north of 30 for $25 million dollars total.
00:29:17
M dub
And yeah, Jaron Reed's been with the team for a really long time at this point.
00:29:20
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, it's fun to see that um this this extension with Jared Reed keeping him in the fold now, you know, kind of long term. And it looks like this will allow him to finish his career as a Seahawk. oh Although you you never know. After all that we've just seen, we have no idea what will happen in the future. But Jared certainly was a great piece of that rotation last year. So it's nice to have that secure.
00:29:43
Tristan Amundson
Ernest Jones, man. I mean, that guy... it changed the defense when he came on board. So to have Ernest secure. um so that will be a total as was a three year extension. We already had him for the next year, right? So is that, do we now have Ernest Jones for a total of four years? Is that, is that correct?
00:30:00
M dub
We're going to hit the books on that. I thought he was ah pending free agent. but um That's a busy day.
00:30:04
Tristan Amundson
Oh, is that right? Is that right? So, okay. So either way though, nice having um Ernest locked up here ah for a while. And then that was it, right? I mean, just a quiet Sunday. no Not a lot else going on that day.
00:30:17
M dub
That's a lot of money.
00:30:17
Tristan Amundson
Oh, yeah you're right. No, you're right.
00:30:18
M dub
To move around, transferring it around, that's that's a busy day.
00:30:18
Tristan Amundson
You're right.
00:30:23
Tristan Amundson
Ernest Jaron, good to go. Glad you guys are sticking around. Now John Schneider's.
00:30:27
M dub
Getting prepped for free agency.
00:30:29
Tristan Amundson
John Schneider's is on his way to the Metropolitan Grill. He's going to have a nice steak dinner and call it a night, I think. I don't think he's going to do anything else on Sunday. It's Sunday.
00:30:37
M dub
White Lotus was on.
00:30:39
Tristan Amundson
you don't you don't work on Sunday.
00:30:41
M dub
ah Tristan, that afternoon, the Seahawks trade DK Metcalf, wide receiver to the Pittsburgh Steelers. They receive a second round pick, pick number 52 in return.
00:30:53
M dub
And immediately, it is crazy how quickly these deals come together. The Steelers are prepared. They signed him to five-year $150 million dollar extension right away.
00:31:04
Tristan Amundson
Wow.
00:31:05
M dub
And he already had He did have one. He was not a penny free agent. He did have, he was under contract for 2025 already. So five year extension on top of that.
00:31:17
M dub
is a stealer.
00:31:18
Tristan Amundson
That's crazy.
00:31:19
M dub
ah boy do We have a lot of thoughts on this one.
00:31:23
Tristan Amundson
It's absolutely crazy. Um, So I'll just say, you let me just start with my quick reaction, and I want to hear what you have to say. My quick reaction the second I got the text was, that's great.
00:31:34
Tristan Amundson
Like, I'm um'm very happy for this. And again, similar to Geno, DK is awesome. Like, DK has been so much fun to watch over the last few years. I'm a big believer, especially when it comes to wide receivers, but but this is true for a lot of positions. In fact, this is true, I think, for almost all positions save the quarterback and barely save the quarterback.
Evaluating the DK Metcalf Trade
00:31:57
Tristan Amundson
Your NFL lifespan is very short. And the first two contracts are the most valuable from from a um from a value to the team that you can get. You are absorbing, you are claiming the best years of that player's life with their rookie contract and with their second contract.
00:32:17
Tristan Amundson
Whenever I see that my team is signing one of our rookies to a lucrative second contract, I'm always happy. That's always, it it's never a bad deal, right? That second contract, it's always a pretty good deal.
00:32:30
Tristan Amundson
And you're locking in a young player for the prime of his career. DK currently 27, going to be 28 when the season starts. Still a super young guy.
00:32:42
Tristan Amundson
I feel like this is, if we're talking about when it's time to to kind of move on, I mean, I guess this is the Bill Belichick way, right? Trade when an asset is still high.
00:32:53
Tristan Amundson
I feel like it's a great time to do it. I say that with all due respect to DK. He's awesome. I have nothing bad to say about DK Metcalf. He's been a pleasure to watch. But I do think this is also one of those, it's time to... um It's time to build this team in the image of Mike McDonald. And I think this was a ah really logical place to start.
00:33:13
Tristan Amundson
And the value, a second round pick, that feels pretty great. Pick 52, that feels pretty good to me.
00:33:19
M dub
I had an appreciation for this trade after hearing just a couple days earlier, John Schneider do his weekly half hour springtime show with Bob and Wyman. And i do think one of the strengths that we can forget about with John Schneider is you really feel like this is a guy who just loves being a part of football and loves being a part of the business. And he's kind of you know what I mean? And he's kind of stoked on it to be there.
00:33:46
M dub
he, As he talked about this DK deal, because this his trade request had already come out, so they they asked him about it.
00:33:51
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:33:53
M dub
They were very direct about it, which I appreciated. He was direct in his answer. He was direct in his answer, but he was also cool with it. There could have been a stance where he, you know, there's I'm sure there's most general managers, I think, in NFL history would have gotten on a bit of a soapbox about like loyalty to the team or, you know, what about love of the game or not about money or, you know, we're trying to build something here.
00:34:17
M dub
John gets it. He understands where DK is in his career. He understands what DK wants to do. And he knew that this was business and this deal did not get personal.
00:34:28
M dub
He really, and I think that's um proven by the Steelers having this contract extension ready to go right away. So that's kind of part of the trade negotiation. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't just like, get this guy out of here. Cause he, you know, ah asked for a trade. It was, let's get this guy to, you know, the place that has the contract that, that he wants to get.
00:34:50
M dub
And so, yeah. Yeah. I really appreciated just how, just John's philosophy behind that. There are some recurring bugaboos he has that it is a little wild how long they've gone on for. But i this whole deal did make me realize just what a strength that that is of him as a general manager of Just understanding the business and and being cool with it that it it doesn't always, everything's not always 100% Seahawks getting a monster bargain deal every step of the way.
00:35:24
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, and it's kind of cool about it. I just looked this up to to confirm it. um Do you off the top of your head, i can't imagine you would, but maybe you got a crazy brain over there.
00:35:35
Tristan Amundson
Do you remember when DK was drafted?
00:35:39
M dub
Well, was looking at at some of his, he was drafted six years ago.
00:35:42
Tristan Amundson
Yep. Well, and i I mean, what pick? Because I'm just thinking value for value, right? He was the 64th pick in the draft when we drafted him and we're getting a 52nd round pick or the 52nd pick back in exchange.
00:35:58
Tristan Amundson
That's pretty great. I mean, that's, you know, if you just talk about, let's know Russell Wilson, crazy value, right? Where we were getting multiple firsts for a guy that we spent a third on, but still pretty great when you can think about this.
00:36:11
Tristan Amundson
You buy an asset for at a third round pick or you you buy an asset at the 64th pick in the draft. So I guess that actually literally is the last pick in the second second round.
00:36:23
Tristan Amundson
You have that asset. You have this player for um two contracts. You have this player through the prime of their career. And then you trade that player and you get ah better pick back in exchange.
00:36:37
Tristan Amundson
That's... To me, that feels like really good business. That just feels like just if I'm if I am Jody Allen, if I'm if I'm the CFO of the Seahawks, I look at this trade I'm like, good job, guys.
00:36:48
Tristan Amundson
You you you're making us money on this transaction. That just seems like a good business pick from the Seahawks perspective.
00:36:57
M dub
It is good business from the draft perspective. Now, because the team had restructured DK's contract a couple times and pushed money into the future, this was the biggest dead money hit of all.
00:37:03
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:37:08
M dub
$21 million dollars in dead money and a comparatively smaller $10.8 million dollars in savings. those are Those are the hardcore numbers. I did also look up DK's place in the Seahawks all-time record book.
00:37:21
M dub
Six years, not that long, but he made a a really big dent into the team's all-time receiving numbers. Seventh all-time in receptions, sixth all-time in yards, fourth all-time in touchdowns in just six years.
00:37:34
M dub
And DK, 51st all-time, all-time among all players in receiving yards per game. That's pretty wild.
00:37:41
Tristan Amundson
That's pretty cool. No. and And listen, I mean, again, what a fun guy to watch. What a, what a cool athlete. We'll never forget him running down Buddha Baker and preventing that touchdown from happening.
00:37:53
Tristan Amundson
What may be the single coolest thing I've ever seen on an NFL football field, watching him chasing down Buddha Baker at full speed and actually being able to catch him.
00:37:53
M dub
you
00:38:03
Tristan Amundson
ah you know, just moments like that where you just were wowed by DK and by his abilities. um So, yeah, sad to see him go. Excited to watch him, you know, play for another team next year.
00:38:16
Tristan Amundson
i think, again, a lot of these things are are bittersweet. It's sad to see a guy like him go because he is a great player. i think it's the right thing for the team to do right now because it's time to move on.
00:38:27
Tristan Amundson
And to your point, good just to take all of this dead cat medicine right now. You know, it's it's going to make it a little bit rougher this year, but nice to be able to kind of just flush all this out of the system.
00:38:40
M dub
Now, from the Steelers' perspective, I am a little confused. the ah the The good vibes I was feeling with Gino to Las Vegas, I am a little bit confused about what the Steelers are thinking here.
00:38:54
M dub
ah The Steelers also, and I'm not the first person to point this out on the internet, Steelers also have George Pickens, a wide receiver, who is incredibly talented. and is also wildly inconsistent.
00:39:05
M dub
And it'll be very interesting to see, just as we kind of had this A to B comparison when Russell Wilson and Geno Smith were both starting quarterbacks. ah How's Russ when he's not with Pete? you know How's another quarterback with Pete?
00:39:20
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:39:21
M dub
I think we're going to be looking very closely at how things go, just kind of vibes-wise, attitude-wise, unsportsmanlike penalty-wise, when DK...
00:39:32
M dub
He's had Tyler Lockett there on the on his shoulder those entire six years.
00:39:36
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:39:38
M dub
Lockett's not there anymore. Lockett's not there anymore. Geno's not there anymore. Russ is not there anymore. We don't know who the quarterback in Pittsburgh is going to be. We have George Pickens. Also, Mike Tomlin tends to get a lot of credit for kind of like straightening out these guys.
00:39:53
M dub
Right? These kind of problem players. But I was just looking back on it. and that's the That's the kind of feeling he has that he's like handling it. But just looking back, Martavis Bryant suspended for the entire 2016 season.
00:40:07
M dub
There was a moment where i was like, oh, is Martavis Bryant like the fifth best wide receiver the NFL?
00:40:12
Tristan Amundson
yeah Yeah, absolutely.
00:40:12
M dub
He's suspended for a whole year. um Mike Wallace leaves the team after four years and 4,000 receiving yards. Le'Veon Bell, they can't figure it out. He sits out for all of 2018. Antonio Brown does request a trade away from the team 2019.
00:40:27
M dub
ah twenty nineteen None of these guys have really succeeded outside of Pittsburgh, but there's been tension in that wide receiver room for like a so a decade straight, and this was not necessarily a guarantee to solve that.
00:40:43
Tristan Amundson
it To me, the other funny takeaway is, i mean, I guess we're all assuming that Russell Wilson and will be the quarterback for the Steelers. But I believe as of right now, the Steelers don't have a quarterback for next year. So they have this talent, to your point, this volatile talent now at wide receiver.
00:41:00
Tristan Amundson
They still don't really know who's actually going to deliver the ball to those great wide receivers. so um But you know I didn't think of it from George and DK's perspective. Yeah, that is a bit of a volatile, um you know, maybe faster famine type.
00:41:16
Tristan Amundson
um ah Faster famine. That's not the right. That's not the term.
00:41:20
M dub
Feast.
00:41:21
Tristan Amundson
Feast.
00:41:21
M dub
Feast or famine.
00:41:22
Tristan Amundson
Feaster famine. um Kind of a feast or famine kind of wide receiver room there, right? Because George is great, too. But they also have those moments where they kind of disappear a little bit. So.
00:41:33
Tristan Amundson
um Two big home run hitters that sometimes strike out also. So kind of an interesting ah ah subtext there to the Steelers. But yeah, that'll be a fun one. um Okay, listen.
00:41:43
Tristan Amundson
March 9th. Woo!
00:41:45
M dub
Ancient history.
00:41:46
Tristan Amundson
DK's shipped off.
00:41:46
M dub
yeah well i would that was over twenty four That was almost 24 hours ago, but it's that's so far in the past. It's a whole new day here on March 10th.
00:41:53
Tristan Amundson
I can relax now. I can relax now, right? It's it's Monday. Listen, this today... I believe this is correct. Noon today was the beginning. Noon Eastern, the legal tampering period started.
00:42:07
Tristan Amundson
But we're not going to see any signings today, right, Miles? Because like they're they're just starting to talk about it. Literally at 9 a.m.
00:42:17
Tristan Amundson
this morning on the West Coast, they just got the green light to make the very first phone call. You couldn't tamper legally prior to 9 a.m. So it's not as though any of these deals could be locked and loaded in the chamber. So I believe free agency begins on Wednesday. So we we have a little bit of time here as they're just starting these conversations around the league, correct?
00:42:42
M dub
ah Tristan, believe it or not, that is
Seahawks' Offseason Strategy
00:42:44
M dub
not correct. And today really got me thinking, and I kind of can't believe I've never really thought about this before, but I wonder how different the NFL would be.
00:42:53
M dub
And if if teams would get in such a hopeless hole that they can sometimes, if it was like, oh you signed your contract on April 7th, well, it will expire next April 7th. You signed it on March 18th, it'll expire next March 18th. And it kind of like marches along instead of this I mean, it's great it's like most of the team's money for the year is like out the door in like six hours. I mean, of course, crazy bad decisions get made.
00:43:23
Tristan Amundson
It's good point.
00:43:23
M dub
I mean, it must be absolute mayhem. oh Oh, you're you're going to the Giants? Okay, well, we've got to get defensive linemen. I'm hanging up the phone and I'm signing the guy next. You know, like it it has it's crazy.
00:43:37
Tristan Amundson
It's a fever pace for sure. So what, listen, tell the people what happened today. I mean, this was another big day.
00:43:44
M dub
Just in despite the frenzy that I just described, I do think the Seahawks made a really, really great move here. It has a lot of layers to it. I think this is a really great move.
00:43:56
M dub
The team signs Sam Darnold, an impending free agent from the Minnesota Vikings. The key here is the contract. It's reported as, i saw either $100 $110 million
00:44:09
Tristan Amundson
Yep, I've seen both.
00:44:09
M dub
across three years ah for a relatively low, to be honest, $55 million dollars in guarantees. that was Those were the key numbers aside from just getting Sam Darnold as the quarterback.
00:44:23
M dub
Here's why I like the move so much. Going back to what we mentioned earlier, there are only so many competitive options at quarterback. This was really the Seahawks' only move to sign a quarterback that could keep the team competitive I'm not saying Super Bowl winning, but t keep the team competitive for 2025 without completely letting all sorts of resources go out the door. This was really the only option.
00:44:52
M dub
I mentioned to you I had gotten enamored with the idea of Justin Fields as like a buy-low rebuilding quarterback. The Seahawks tend to spend less of those resources at quarterback than anybody. I really like that idea.
00:45:05
M dub
i imagine Justin Fields, though, is going to cost about $10 million dollars a year. He ends up signing with the Jets for $20 million dollars over two years. This is a really good deal. and I think something else that people are missing, because it's not –
00:45:20
M dub
the The Seahawks are not favorites over Patrick Mahomes or the Chiefs with this deal, but it's still a really good deal. And i I think what people are maybe missing is like, you do not have to be set for the next six to 10 years at quarterback for it to be a good deal.
00:45:34
Tristan Amundson
Exactly. like
00:45:35
M dub
That's not what the Seahawks are doing. where the We're not saying 2034, like Sam Darnold needs to be the quarterback. This is a three-year contract. It's only about half guaranteed. this was This was the best deal available to the Seahawks at this time, and they made it.
00:45:52
Tristan Amundson
If you fall in love with a quarterback next year's draft, right? If the Seahawks have a guy and they're like, this is who we want. We're in love with him. We're going to draft, you know, whoever it is out of whatever university.
00:46:06
Tristan Amundson
This deal does not stop you from doing that, correct? This deal does not stop you from from getting the next quarterback. On the other side, Sam Darnold, 27 years old, just had an unbelievably great year with the Vikings.
00:46:21
Tristan Amundson
Bad end of the year. it It didn't end the way that it was for most of the year, but... Listen, I heard Daniel Jeremiah say multiple times, I heard a lot of ESPN guys, and I should just say NFL analysts over the course of the year say, no, this looks for real to us. Sam Darnold isn't doing anything out of his mind. Like this looks like just really good quarterback play.
00:46:43
Tristan Amundson
if you combine that with the idea that the Seahawks want to be dedicated to running the football, that they want to be a defensive team, defensive minded head coach that runs the football and utilizes bootlegs and play action, right?
00:46:58
Tristan Amundson
If, if you say to me, Tristan, the plan is not to win games with Sam Donald Darnold's arm. Like the plan is to, um to run the football, to establish the run, to use play action, to use bootlegs, and to sprinkle Sam in kind of la Russell Wilson in years past, this seems like a pretty great um solution to me.
00:47:23
Tristan Amundson
And he's still a young guy. You're still buying some upside with Sam Darnold. And if it turns out that he's everything you're looking for, then that's just kind of bonus territory. But I don't think that's what we're talking about here. I think we're talking about a guy, to your point, that keeps you competitive, um which is great, gives you some upside. He could absolutely still give you more than you've seen so far um and keeps your options open going into the future so that a year from now, John and Mike can reevaluate and decide where they want to go.
00:47:55
Tristan Amundson
um I agree with you, man. And I feel like the money is right here. What I mean, the the number I've seen the most is the hundred million. That's I'm going to hope that it's that just for simplicity. We're basically talking about 33 million a year, which is going to be much less than Gino wanted. um And I mean, it's crazy to say that in 2025, this is how much like this is how much like
00:48:19
Tristan Amundson
borderline quarterbacks get paid. Like this is how much a guy with upside gets paid 33 million. But yeah, it's, I think it's a great contract. It's a good place for us to be.
00:48:31
M dub
There are probably a lot of advanced stats that people could pick at with Sam Darnall's performance with the Vikings last year. and know the last two games are underwhelming. Tristan, and I went as simple as possible.
00:48:43
M dub
The man won 14 football games last year. And I know we've gone from the 16 game season to the 17 game season, but the man won 14 regular season football games. There were three quarterbacks that did that last year.
00:48:56
M dub
ah he joined ah Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff, but there have There have only been 16 quarterback seasons in the 21st century where a quarterback has won 14 regular season games. So the three last year was really an anomaly.
00:49:10
M dub
Before that, you have to go back to 2022. Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. twenty twenty 2020, Mahomes did it. Didn't happen again until there was a gap to 2015. Cam Newton did it.
00:49:22
M dub
Rodgers did it four years before that. like These do not happen very often, 14-win seasons. And I think we have just overlooked that a little bit. Like the man took the field 14 times against an NFL opponent and won the game.
00:49:37
M dub
And like like Brady did it four times in his career. Peyton Manning did it two times. Drew Brees didn't do it.
00:49:44
Tristan Amundson
That's crazy.
00:49:44
M dub
it's pretty It's pretty rare.
00:49:46
Tristan Amundson
That's wild. That's wild. No, listen, I think it's a really, it's a good little pickup for us. I shouldn't say a little, it's a good pickup for us. It's an important position. The nice thing is that's, and I think maybe this is is as important as anything.
00:50:01
Tristan Amundson
The quarterback is no longer something we need to worry about, right? Like check, we can check that box. We can move on ah because this is going to be a really fun draft.
00:50:12
M dub
It is going to be a fun draft. And I did want to say there was a fork in the road in the last 24 hours that John Schneider and the Seahawks did have to choose because they really could have gone down the path of full rebuild, really go with an experimental quarterback or wait until the draft or what have you.
Draft Strategy and Future Planning
00:50:30
M dub
And I think that would have been a valid choice as well. It is encouraging that they saw... no, we do not need to do a complete rebuild here.
00:50:41
M dub
we're we're The Seahawks are going to be in the playoff hunt in 2025. um We can at least say that. and and That was the choice they made. And I do think it was the right choice, again, given – it's crazy given these numbers, but it's a relatively low commitment for an NFL quarterback in 2025.
00:51:01
Tristan Amundson
No, it is. And again, if you put it in context of a team that's going to be run first, a team that's going to be dedicated to the run, and a team that had a good defense last year that you only imagine is going to be better this year. Brian Murphy, better.
00:51:14
Tristan Amundson
Boye Mafe, better. like There's plenty of guys, um Witherspoon for that matter. I mean, all of these guys are on the upside of their careers. um Leonard Williams, still in his prime. So there's a lot of...
00:51:26
Tristan Amundson
great opportunity for this defense just to grow and to grow in ah Mike's scheme and then certainly to add. So listen, can I can i give us the the draft picks? Can we talk or do do you have any free, do we have any money stuff we want to finish before we get to draft picks?
00:51:44
Tristan Amundson
Any other money things, dead money stuff we should be talking about where we're at currently?
00:51:49
M dub
Not dead money, but I think and the totality of all this, what I haven't really heard discussed that much, is the Seahawks draft picks for 2025 and how they're looking right now, which which we'll get but then also the cap space for 2026. I think those are really underrated factors of what John Schneider's done in the last few days.
00:52:09
M dub
i hoping it that Listen to the pep in my step compared to last time when we were talking all this doom and gloom about the the cap things. You did take some hits to your depth chart. The team does need to sign a veteran wide receiver in the next few days, that's for sure, if not two.
00:52:23
M dub
ah i think that's pretty much certain. I'd like to see Matt Collins. but that
00:52:30
Tristan Amundson
I gotta say, I love that Devontae Adams pick or a ah um free agency pickup that the Rams did.
00:52:30
M dub
Can I put that out there?
00:52:38
Tristan Amundson
I thought that was that was pretty great. I mean, the money that they're getting him for, the the role he can play on that team, like that to me, I was like, oh, that would have been nice.
00:52:48
Tristan Amundson
Like, I get it. I get why he signs with them and play with Stafford and all that stuff. Like, it's kind of, you know, see what you can do with Matthew matthew Stafford in the last year or so of his career. But yeah,
00:52:59
Tristan Amundson
That was a nice pick. So yeah, I mean, obviously you're not going to get a pick like that or a pickup like that, but, um but yeah, certainly there's some opportunity to, to add a ah veteran to this wide receiver group.
00:53:11
Tristan Amundson
Although listen, let's not sleep on it. We still got Jake Bobo. So we're, we're probably set at a wide receiver. You got, you got Jason, you got Jake Bobo. You don't need anything else.
00:53:21
M dub
I do. Well, I do. Look, your your most improved Hawk of the year was A.J. Barner. We still got Noah Fant, who I still believe has a sleeper, but monster sleeper, late career breakout in him.
00:53:33
M dub
think people are sleeping on the tight end depth a little bit. ah Let's get to the draft picks this year, because to me, this picture looks very different.
00:53:44
M dub
And this is one of the most exciting parts of everything that's just come together the last few days.
00:53:48
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. So, I mean, listen, when we went into this, now tell me if i I'm doing this right. So the top 100, our top 100 picks. Before this crazy weekend, we held our first round pick, the number 18 pick.
00:54:05
Tristan Amundson
We held our second round pick, correct? The number 50 pick. And we held our third round pick at 82.
00:54:09
M dub
Yes, indeed.
00:54:11
Tristan Amundson
Is that correct?
00:54:13
M dub
That's right.
00:54:14
Tristan Amundson
So... Already off the bat, we had three picks within the top 100. Now, as we sit today, March 10th, we hold five picks in the top 100 of the NFL draft. So um the aforementioned pick, number 18, right?
00:54:31
Tristan Amundson
Number 50. But now we add another second round pick. um with that DK trade. So now we have the number 52. So that, listen, that's always exciting in a draft when you're looking at the draft board and two are coming back to back or or close to it. That's, there's always an interesting bit of synergy that happens on a draft board there.
00:54:50
Tristan Amundson
ah Third round pick at 82. And now obviously the additional third round pick supposedly at 92, but we'll see exactly if, if that changes over the next couple of days. Yeah.
00:55:02
Tristan Amundson
Dude, that's a lot of... When I think about, again, we've been talking about this theme for a while. Remaking the roster in Mike McDonald's image. that's To me, that's what we keep coming back to.
00:55:14
Tristan Amundson
This is exciting. The idea of having this many high picks for Mike and John to say, let's mold a young team the way we want to we want to do it.
00:55:25
Tristan Amundson
This could be an absolutely massive year. It should be. I mean... This should be a draft that absolutely marks the Mike McDonald era because this should be the the ultimate restart.
00:55:36
Tristan Amundson
I believe the overall number is 10 picks in this year's draft, which is pretty cool. ah
00:55:40
M dub
That's correct.
00:55:41
Tristan Amundson
But five in the top 100, what do you think when you see this many picks? What what comes to mind for you?
00:55:49
M dub
I'm still stuck on that Packers game towards the end of the year. The Packers just completely steamrolled the Seahawks. And afterwards, I got into just the the sheer number of draft picks that the Packers have been picking up Not in one year, but like ah over a combined period of years. And this gets me excited because this this is what the Seahawks are looking at right now. What's really crazy, according to Spotrack.com...
00:56:11
M dub
because because the draft pick slot, the contracts for each draft pick slot are determined ahead of time. The Seahawks can already budget for how much, you know, I mean, obviously a million trades are going to happen on, on draft day itself, most likely, but you know, you get a rough idea and the entire cost for the 2025 cap of this entire draft class is $12 million.
00:56:22
Tristan Amundson
Yep. It's pretty
00:56:33
M dub
dollars i mean, it it really, ah really, mean,
00:56:36
M dub
i Compared to the numbers we're throwing around, you know, like i think that I think that shows why it is so important to build through the draft. Like it gives you so much flexibility elsewhere. that That's any of the cap hits we've been talking about with Draymond or Tyler, anybody. um Yeah, it is exciting.
00:56:37
Tristan Amundson
pretty cool
00:56:55
Tristan Amundson
Just gives you incredible flexibility. um But yeah, seeing all these picks and, and frankly, listen, and I'm sure you're hearing the same thing. I've heard Daniel Jeremiah say this a few times that this is a draft class.
00:57:09
Tristan Amundson
That's really heavy in the top, say one 50. um Meaning that this isn't a draft class where the top 15 is unbelievably good. I think there's a pretty quick drop off and from everything we're hearing from the pundits,
00:57:23
Tristan Amundson
you know Pick 15 to pick 35 or 45. There's not a massive difference. um It's kind of a pick your style, pick the right player for you. So the idea of how having so many bites of the apple in what looks like a very um deep draft class is exciting. And listen, if we just really quickly, I'm telling you right now, we have five very high quality draft picks.
00:57:49
Tristan Amundson
And if I tell you, hey man, in this draft, they're going to use one of these draft picks to bolster the offensive line. We're going to continue to invest in the defensive line.
00:58:00
Tristan Amundson
We're going to get a young wide receiver. We're going to, what, get another offensive lineman? Like you start kind of talking through where this team needs help. And ah these five picks are going to be massive in filling Listen, I'm not trying to say that the Seahawks don't have a lot of holes to fill, but these five picks can go a super long way in in helping any issues and you know anything that this team has that ails you.
00:58:27
Tristan Amundson
um Specifically on the O-line and continuing to invest in the defensive line, obviously we're going a wide receiver, but You know linebacker, you're feeling pretty good. Secondary, feeling pretty good. Defensive line, really, you're you're feeling pretty good. So defense, you're you're kind of set.
00:58:43
Tristan Amundson
Offensive line, absolutely needs help. Tight end, you're feeling pretty good. Quarterback, good. Running back, you're feeling pretty good. um So, yeah I mean, you you start kind of just looking at each category. Wide receiver, need some help.
00:58:56
Tristan Amundson
um You know, it's easy for me to start creating narrative that says, After this draft, we're going to be looking at a fairly healthy team, not only from long term financial perspective, but also um having young talent at the right positions and positions where we really need that young talent. So I just feel like it's a aligning right now. don't know if that's the right word, but it feels like kind of the stars are aligning the right way.
00:59:25
M dub
It does feel like it's aligning to me. And a big reason also, so I've mentioned a couple times here, taking your dead cap salary medicine in 2025. So i do I do think that the everything is aligning, but a little more towards 2026 than 2025.
00:59:41
M dub
I still think 2025 will be a year of building.
00:59:41
Tristan Amundson
Sure.
00:59:44
M dub
But what and a really underrated part of all these moves, and I think John was thinking about this as the week went on, For the year 2026 right now, the Seahawks are first in the league in their total amount of cap space.
00:59:59
M dub
Now, that doesn't mean the team should go out and sign a bunch of free agents. What it means is the draft class of 2022 is up for their second contracts, those valuable second contracts where the players really enter their prime. And as many difficult draft classes as the Seahawks had throughout the 2010s, this 2022 draft class is legitimately, it has to be one of the best draft classes across the entire NFL, across the entire decade.
01:00:27
M dub
Charles Cross, Kenny Walker, the third boy, a mafia, Abraham Lucas, Kobe Bryant. And then, uh, one pick later is reek woolen. But those are like five of your first six picks.
01:00:39
M dub
I mean, that is, that is nuts. Those are most, for the most part, players you're going to want on your team in the longterm. And, um, if I think if things kept going as they were with all this group of veterans that we've just said goodbye to, I think we would have had to say goodbye to those players as well as they departed in free agency.
01:01:00
Tristan Amundson
No, absolutely. Yeah, you got to make room for the young guys and you want to pay. um You certainly want to be paying those second contracts. So um this was a lot, man. that That was a lot to get through, but I feel better. I feel like I have a better understanding of of where we're currently sitting.
01:01:18
Tristan Amundson
and there's a couple of those that I think for most people, Josh Jobe, a few of those that probably went under the radar just a little bit. So it's kind of nice. I feel like just having... ah One definitive stop here of all that's happened over the last, you know, you might say over the last month, but really, holy smokes, really over the last six or seven days, which is kind of hilarious.
01:01:41
M dub
That's what's so funny about this thing. It legitimately is half a year or so until week one. And this was like, I think 80% of the off season is kind of done at this point.
01:01:51
Tristan Amundson
wild and And to your point, listen, we we've been recording for the last hour. um Who knows what's going on right now, right? I mean, you know we could be missing some some breaking news at the moment, which is which is hilarious. So um it's been fast and furious. I don't think we're missing anything bigger than Gino, DK, and Sam Darnold. i think I think we're good. i think those are and certainly the biggest pieces of news um but that the you know that could have happened over the last couple of days.
01:02:22
M dub
ah Let's hope so, or or else we're going to be recording right again. ah Because whatever happens, if something happened bigger than that, I don't even know what. um We'll be back.
01:02:31
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that was fun. Any concluders for you today? Or I mean, are you feeling? Are we good?
01:02:38
M dub
Tristan, we're so good. Still some more signings to come. Still some cap space out there for the Seahawks. But um and what an exhilarating flurry. it she It should still go on for the next couple days. And then... ah And then look at that draft and all those draft picks.
01:02:56
Tristan Amundson
I'm looking forward to that, man. I'm looking forward to um now digging into the draft even more. I think that this makes for a Seahawks fan, it makes this draft so incredibly entertaining and it makes the build up to the draft even more fun.
01:03:13
Tristan Amundson
Last year, we had such a high pick. um The last two years, we've had higher picks, and it's been really fun ah to kind of understand where that's going to go. i think, you know, we talked about meat and potatoes last year. I think there's more meat and potatoes to come as we continue just to build the foundation of the team um and to make the kind of just vicious team that Mike wants to this team to be. So super exciting.
01:03:38
Tristan Amundson
I mean, that's all I got for the people. Do you got anything else? Is there any anything else you can think to say?
01:03:44
M dub
i Well, there was one thing I was thinking about ah giving to the people.
01:03:50
Tristan Amundson
What's that?
01:03:51
M dub
i was I was thinking about telling them, Hawks.
01:03:54
Tristan Amundson
Go Hawks.