Seattle Seahawks – Curiouser And Curiouser

The Seattle Seahawks recently made a couple of intriguing moves, adding to their offseason roster depth. Welcome back, Sidney Rice and welcome to the team, former Oakland Raider Terrelle Pryor.

Now what?

Starting material?

Based on their contracts, neither should be expected to be starters. Rice, the Seahawks’ erstwhile No. 1 wide receiver, jettisoned earlier this offseason in a cost-cutting move, is a curious returnee. Having been cut and re-signed, he’s an example of two common Super Bowl champion phenomena: roster defections and champion discounts.

Super Bowl winners often experience roster defections as other teams raid their winning talent. Super Bowl teams also often find themselves priced out of retaining their own players as players with championships on their resumes seek to maximize their own earning potential. More often than not Super Bowl free agents find new homes that want to experience their Super Bowl gleam first-hand.

The converse of that phenomenon is the champion discount. Some free agent or imminently tradable players seek to join champion or championship-caliber teams at any cost. Especially for older veterans, the window of opportunity for winning a championship often outweighs any contract dollars.

While the Seahawks certainly saw their share of post-Super Bowl defections, Rice (one of the first to go) was strictly a cost-cutting move. His contract called for a 2014 salary of $7.5 million — far too rich for his lack of health and productivity in his Seattle years. According to The Seattle Times, Rice’s return engagement with the Seahawks will come at a far more reasonable price: $1.4 million, including incentives.

Naturally, health (knee) is a major question mark for Rice and will ultimately determine his roster status. He was cleared for full cutting on his repaired knee only last week. He will be 28 years old when the 2014 season kicks off against the Green Bay Packers on September 4.

Pete’s new toy

Health is not a major factor for Seattle’s other new acquisition: Terrelle Pryor. Seattle clearly went bargain shopping by acquiring Pryor, who has one year remaining on his rookie contract at $705,000. The Seahawks traded a 2014 seventh-round draft pick to the Raiders for the rights to Pryor, which (probably not incidentally) prevented Pryor from going to the San Francisco 49ers, who were said to be interested in grabbing the former third-round pick. Having also resigned backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson for a reasonable sum, Pryor looks to be angling for the third-string quarterback role, at best, and will have to fend off B.J. Daniels and a likely draft choice.

If Pryor sticks as the Seahawks’ third quarterback, the Seahawks will enter the season one more time with a ridiculously low outlay for the quarterback position. Pryor’s contract ($705K), Jackson’s contract ($1.25 million) and starter Russell Wilson’s third year of his rookie contract ($662,434) add up to less than what Joe Flacco will make on average through two games ($6 million salary, $15 million option bonus).

While Seattle’s cheap quarterback ride will, no doubt, come to an end next season as Wilson will then be eligible to renegotiate his deal, this year it means the Seahawks can once again invest in other positions — with far more freedom than any of the remaining 31 NFL teams.

What a difference a year makes

So far, Seattle’s offseason signing spree has amounted to not much in terms of name players or cash.  They acquired Pryor at bare minimum and re-Riced themselves for not much more. Rice and Pryor are it, unless the names Greg Van Roten, Jorgen Hus and Stephen Schilling get you excited.

The 2013 champions began the 2014 offseason program officially on Monday. While a handful of key veterans have moved on, the new faces of note in the VMAC have yet to arrive. Although you can never tell what Coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider are up to, next month’s NFL draft will likely be the biggest splash the Seahawks make in terms of adding new notable faces to the 2014 roster — in stark contrast to last year.

It is curious that the Seahawks have only bargain-shopped at this stage. While these two additions don’t likely alter Seattle’s draft strategy much, they do offer intriguing depth possibilities as the Seahawks brain trust crunches the numbers that will hopefully allow them to re-sign defensive superstars Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman for what will likely be top-of-their-positions contracts — either before this season starts or in the season’s early stages.