MVN - Most Valuable Network

Bobby Engram Threatens Holdout

The Seahawks have been struggling through a unique and difficult offseason. First, a team built around men of character watched two of them get arrested within a months period. Now, the ultimate team player, Bobby Engram says that holding out of training camp is a possibility. In his time in Seattle, Bobby has never missed a voluntary workout. Now he is threatening to miss mandatory ones.

Engram is 35 years old and coming off a career year. He is not asking for your typical large guaranteed money contract. What Engram wants is a two year extension. He wants to know that he is in the Seahawks plan for the future. Here in lies the problem. The Seahawks are not even sure if Bobby is part of their future. Jim Mora takes over next year, and the team will likely be hiring a few new offensive coaches as well. Who knows how Engram fits in?

The other element to this is that the Hawks have four good young wide receivers that they want to hold on to; Ben Obamanu, Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne, and Jordan Kent. Because of Deion Branch’s torn ACL, these four guys are going to have a chance to show if they are going to live up to the current praise being heaped on them. If these wideouts show they are capable, the team might be ready to go young. Not much space for 35 year old during a youth movement.

The fans seem split right down the middle on this issue. There are three main takes. Pay Bobby. Let him holdout. And anger because the Hawks took a chance on Bobby when he had a career threatening thyroid condition. All three have merits. Bobby outplayed his salary last year. He also underplayed his contract when the thyroid condition took 10 weeks to get under control. In the end, though, the team should call Bobby’s bluff. If he wants to hold out, so be it. He will be fined, and possibly have to pay back some of the bonus he received as part of the contract the Hawks gave him after the non football injury shortened year. This decision can’t be made until there is more info available. Will Bobby slow down because of age? Will the young guys be ready? The answers to these questions won’t be available until mid season at best.

Bobby has handled this poorly. He has very little leverage, despite the Seahawks uncertainty at wide receiver, which he is attempting to exploit. The better play would have been to show that he is anything but a headache, have another outstanding year, and guarantee himself a contract offer next year, whether it be from the Seahawks, or somebody else. After this, it may have to be somebody else. Too bad he is more valuable to the Seahawks than other teams. Who needs a 35 year old who has to learn a new system? We may find out.

Michael Steffes writes primarily for Seahawks fan site, Seahawkaddicts.com. If you are interested in up to the minute news and analysis please visit the site and read more of Michael’s work.

Running Back Options

If you watched the Seahawks play last year, you know that their running game was, at times, atrocious. I became accustom to screaming at the TV and stomping around every time the team failed to gain even a single yard on both 3rd and 4th and short, sometimes right in a row. It was a frustrating, mostly because teams knew the Seahawks couldn’t run, yet they could still pass the ball effectively. Just imagine how good the offense could have been had there been any type of ground game to keep defenses honest. But alas, we move on to 2008.

The team headed into this offseason with the explicit goal of revamping the running game. After 2006, General Manger Tim Ruskell faced a similar situation with the safeties. He held no punches in replacing both starters and the secondary coach. This was rewarded when the team allowed the lowest number of touchdown passes, despite allowing four in the meaningless game in Atlanta during week 17. Now Ruskell has done the same with the running backs. In are Mike Wahle, former Pro Bowl guard, Julius Jones and TJ Duckett to tote the rock, and Mike Solari and Mike DeBoard to coach the guys up front. We will wait and see if the results are as grand, but in the meantime it worth looking at how this new lineup might be used. Read the rest of this entry »

Owners Opt Out of Labor Deal

Today at the spring owners meetings, things kicked off quickly when the owners unanimously voted to terminate the current CBA agreement early. In the short term, all this will do is influence contract negotiations. However, while 08′ and 09′ remain covered, this opens the door for 2010 to be an uncapped year and then possible labor unrest.

This doesn’t have anything to do specifically with the Seahawks, but it is an important issue for the entire NFL. Expect the next year to filled with lots of posturing by both sides, but in the end, I expect a deal to get done before 2010. The parties involved aren’t fools. They have created several safeguards that will bring both sides to the negotiating table sooner rather than later. While the term “uncapped year” makes it sound like a financial windfall for players, it could actually be the reverse. Lets take a look.

First off, there are really only a few owners who have shown the willingness to operate will little financial constraint. Dan Synder and Jerry Jones are the two that come to mind. What often gets glossed over is that with an uncapped year, the minimum spending amount disappears too. Far more teams have shown that if given the chance, they will be more than willing to put a lesser product on the field to save money and turn a profit. Tampa Bay was 40 million!!! under the cap this year. They looked around like they would be big players in free agency, but overall spent very little. Mike Brown, owner of the Bengals, will be the name kicked around a lot when this is talked about. He is notoriously thrifty, and would probably be happy to field a low payroll team over a winning team if given the chance. I know Bengal fans feel he already is. The point is that an uncapped year will likely be a cash windfall for a few, but a financial squeeze for mid level guys. This is something the union should be aware of. Read the rest of this entry »

Is The Seahawks Superbowl Window Closing?

Most of those who follow the NFL subscribe to what can only be called the “Superbowl Window Theory”. The premise of this theory is that because of turnover, competitive balance, and parity, a team usually has a very small window in which to win the big one. There has been a lot of talk amongst Seahawk fans about their Superbowl window. Ever since 2005, the talking heads of the national media have been trying to slam it shut. Is this the year that one of upstart teams of the NFC West who are picked to win year after year, finally ends up on top? We will find out, but in my opinion the Seahawks seem to be getting stronger and even harder to beat. John Clayton labeled them the most improved team in the division on Friday. So I ask the question…When will the window shut?

If you take a look at the Seahawks since 2005, there has been an extraordinary amount of turnover. The team looks dramatically different these days. But maybe, this is for the best. If you looked at the Seahawks after that season, it was clear that they were going to go through a transition. The last two years may have been the rest of the NFC West’s best shot to take the top spot. It would appear the Seahawks have reloaded their core with a mix of draft picks and free agents and are now a younger, more balanced team.

Lets start with the offensive line. This unit was arguably one of the best offensive lines ever. No matter what, the line was going to change. Last year allowed two important cogs of the future to get valuable starting experience. Sims and Spencer struggled at times, but they will be better for it. With those two and Sean Locklear, this team has created some young core players that will make the transition to the next left tackle much easier. Walter Jones is one of two key pieces yet to be replaced. The best part is that they have at least a couple of years to find their next left tackle and get him ready. By then, the other members of this line will be savvy vets Read the rest of this entry »