Sign the stars, cut the veterans and rely on young talent. This seems to be the motto for John Schneider and Pete Carroll once again after the signing of Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner.
The Seattle Seahawks are doing what has been nearly impossible: keeping together the stars of a championship team. Yes, not every good player on the Super Bowl championship team is still on the Hawks, but the core group of pro bowlers and all pros keep getting re-signed.
How is it the Hawks are able to re-sign guys like Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson to mega contracts year after year? In the last three years, they have re-signed nine players with a minimum average yearly salary of $5,000,000.
Space has to be made for all these signings which means good players get cut or are let go in free agency. During the same period of three years, the Seahawks have cut Zach Miller, Red Bryant, Sidney Rice, Chris Clemons and most recently Tony McDaniel. They have also had to let players like Golden Tate, Brandon Browner, and James Carpenter walk in free agency due to the price.
Schneider can justify cutting and letting these caliber of players go when he has a track record drafting young players to take their place for a much lower cap hit.
McDaniel was cut because they have a younger and cheaper Jordan Hill waiting in the wings; he had a breakout second half of the season last year. The Hawks let Carpenter go last year, knowing Alvin Bailey could fill the role after he filled in for several games last season. They drafted Kevin Pierre-Louis last year to train behind and eventually replace Bruce Irvin when he hits free agency after this season.
You may be thinking this is great, we have re-signed a bunch of players but where does that leave us for the future? Will the Hawks be able to sign another star if needed? According to Over The Cap, a resource that tracks salary cap information, the Seahawks currently have just over $5,000,000 in space for the 2015 season. This will be used for minor additions during camp and as a emergency fund in case a veteran is needed to fill a whole left by injury.
For the 2016 season, the Hawks only have $15,000,000 in space. More room may need to be created if they want to re-sign Russell Okung or J.R. Sweezy, whose contracts expire.
Using the formula laid out of cutting veterans for cheaper replacements, we can identify a few positions Schneider can save money next year.
I have identified three players who could be cut or let go in free agency to save space based off of previous decisions made by Schneider and Carroll.
The first is Jermaine Kearse, who is a free agent and could get offers the Hawks are not willing to match just as Golden Tate did. If Chris Matthews and Kevin Norwood continue to progress this year, the loss of Kearse would be minimal.
Another receiver who could be playing his last year in Seattle is Doug Baldwin. With the draft picks of Paul Richardson last year and Tyler Lockett this year, Baldwin’s spot could be in jeopardy. Lockett so far has received nothing but praise and has already been compared to Baldwin. If he does progress into a solid option at receiver, Baldwin’s cap hit of $5,600,000 could be too steep to keep around. Cutting Baldwin would save $4,000,000 after dead money which could go towards a bigger need like re-signing Okung to keep the offensive line together.
The last casualty is Steven Hauschka (Hausch Money). The only reason he made the list is his cap hit for 2016 is $3,525,000, which is a lot of money for a kicker. While they would not get the same caliber of kicker, the Hawks could draft one and save $2,700,000 cutting Hauschka.
So while the complimentary pieces of the Seahawks will change over the next couple of years, the core group of stars will be around through 2017. This gives the Seahawks good opportunity to win another Super Bowl or two before things begin to change.
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