2012 Seahawks Off-Season: Free Agency

"I can haz contract?"

In:

Marshawn Lynch (RB) – You don’t need me to tell you this was easily the most important re-signing of the off-season. Lynch didn’t just showcase his talent by becoming the top rusher last season after week 6, he helped to vindicate Pete Carroll’s strategy of reviving the run game.  His punishing style of running gives the offense a gritty smash mouth identity. I really think this signing was a best-case scenario too as the front office didn’t overpay or have to resort to an expensive franchise tag. A $31 million 4-year contract describes Lynch exactly for what he is: an above-average unique RB that isn’t elite. This signing will be even better if the FO can maximize his NFL life expectancy by acquiring another similar power-RB that can take some carries and absorb hits.

Matt Flynn (QB) – I said Lynch was easily the most important re-signing.  Not the best overall signing. The cheap acquisition of Matt Flynn makes that case hotly contested. Going into the off-season I was really expecting some impulsive front office to break the bank on Flynn and pull a Kevin Kolb II. As it turns out the rest of the NFL was paying attention to what the Cardinals did last season and realized it’s not a good idea to gamble big money on quarterbacks who only started a few games in highly developed offenses. For perspective on how bad of a signing that was, even T-Jack had a higher career passer-rating than Kolb when the Cardinals traded for him. Flynn, on the other hand, has a cumulative 92.8 passer rating and signed a contract 2.5 times cheaper (and that doesn’t factor in the 2^nd round pick and Pro Bowl CB the Cards threw in too). Say what you want about the talent on Green Bay’s offense that accommodated him, but throwing 6TDs and 480 yards against the Lion’s defense passes some kind of reasonable litmus test. An NFL debut of 3TDs-1int 254 yards to keep pace against Tom Brady isn’t chump change. It’s a small sample size – but its one hell of a sample size! He simply doesn’t have the physical tools to develop into an elite quarterback but his high football IQ gives him a good shot to become a superior point-guard type QB that Pete Carroll values. Although it’s unlikely Flynn will become our quarterback of the future, if he plays half as well as he’s expected to in this offense then he’ll still be a good upgrade over T-Jack at a relatively small cost.

Red Bryant (DE) – Big Red was arguably the second most important player to re-sign after Lynch. He’s an integral part in containing the run (perhaps even in defending the pass as he had a pick six last season!), huge player on special teams with blocked field goals, and maintains a significant leadership role on the defense. That being said, I was a bit nervous when I read his contract entailed a staggering 5-year 35 million deal. Bryant now makes much more than Mebane (who last year signed a contract worth $25 million) despite not playing a position as critically important as nose tackle. Yes, Bryant is valuable and his contract reflects this year’s bull market for DEs, but he hardly even plays a majority of defensive snaps as PC switches him out with a pass-rushing DE on passing downs.  On the other hand, the good news is that he’s only guaranteed $14.5 million and much of his contract pertains to future seasons where he can be cut should his value decline. I’m happy to have him back and it was ultimately a good re-signing but not at a bargain deal for the franchise.

Jason Jones (DT) – After adding Flynn, Jones is the best free agent acquisition from another team. He should provide additional pass-rush from the interior of the line and I expect him to be a solid upgrade over Anthony Hargrove (who himself had a good 2011 season). He was highly sought-after by other teams yet signed a reasonable 1-year deal worth $5 million. Jones is only 25 years old right now too and very compatible with the young talented defense PC wants to field. If he has a good upcoming season then this gives the front office an inside opportunity to re-sign him for the long-term.

Michael Robinson (FB) – Robinson was re-signed on a $5 million 2-year contract. This might actually be one of the more underrated signings this off-season. Most of the credit for last season’s successful running game went to the improving o-line under Tom Cable. As well it should but Robinson’s FB blocking was a big part of that as evidenced by him being named a first alternate to the Pro Bowl. He was also very productive on special teams forcing and recovering fumbles. Maybe this season they’ll actually take advantage of his college experience as a QB and involve him in trick plays as the QB instead of Marshawn Lynch.

Marcus Trufant (CB) – Seahawks fans can rejoice that Tru will be with the team for at least another year after agreeing to a 1-year deal. The bad news is that this signing was mainly driven by the reportedly slow recovery of Walter Thurmond who is likely to miss the first 6 games of the season on the PUP list. Now I don’t think it’s particularly likely that he’ll be a starter at the nickel. More than anything I think the signing is about assuring veteran depth in the secondary in light of Thurmond’s health problems. If Trufant can stay healthy –and this has been his main challenge the last few seasons– then there are much worse things than paying cheap money for a veteran Pro Bowl corner who still might have some juice left in him and loves being here. Welcome back, Tru.

Roy Lewis (CB) – Although Lewis hasn't been a huge play-maker yet I think he's been contributing passively though quality coverage and assignments. Assuming Thurmond goes onto the PUP list, I would think Lewis would be the most likely to start at nickel at this point.

Heath Farwell (LB) – Our special teams coverage at the beginning of last season was a bigger liability than holding a mortgage backed security in 2008 (wasn't that clever?) until we signed Farwell in October. He doesn’t have any value to add to the actual LB corps on defense but gives us some needed insurance on special teams.

Kregg Lumpkin (RB) – I’ve never heard of him but I'm pretty sure Kregg Lumpkin is the NFL incarnation of Tom Bombadil from The Lord of the Rings books:

“Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!”

Speculations on his Middle-Earth origins aside, what we know is that he's s a bigger powerback acquired from Tampa Bay and after reading the comment section at Bucs Nation it’s evident he certainly was not a fan favorite! He could just be training camp fodder. I hope he’s not the other starting powerback meant to complement Lynch.

Deuce Lutui (OL) – O-line depth signing. I don’t know much about him other than he played for Caroll at USC and was literally too fat and out of shape that the Cardinals cut him last season. Please stay under 400lbs and pass the physical, Deuce.

Frank Omiyale (OL) – Bears fans nicknamed him the ‘revolving door’ which should tell you all you need to know about him. On the other hand, the entire o-line of the Bears has been so atrocious these last couple seasons that my feeling is that it had as much to do with the coaching as the personnel. Again, just another depth signing.

Barrett Ruud (LB) – Who? 

Out:

David Hawthorne (LB) – Losing Hawthorne to New Orleans sucks as a fan and it’s kind of a mixed bag for what that actually means for our defense. To be sure, he led the defense in tackles last season so that’s a lot of production to account for and shouldn’t be taken lightly. The current LB corps is in an overall weak shape* with just KJ Wright (solid with upside), Malcolm Smith (unknown), and Barrett Ruud (who?) as our potential starters.On the other hand, Hawthorne never personally struck me as a LB talented enough to ever reach pro bowl caliber level like Lofa Tatupu. If PC thinks KJ Wright has a higher upside and is beginning to ascend from his solid first season then it makes sense to move him into MLB as a cheaper and more effective replacement. Moreover, the conventional NFL wisdom is quickly becoming that the LB position is one of the easiest ones to find plentiful talent in the later draft rounds. It’s just not one of the more highly skilled defensive positions and the turn-around time to developing drafted LBs into starters is relatively quick. Even the MLB once hailed as the ‘QB of the defense’ is much less crucial with the widespread use of wireless radios in helmets. As things currently stand at the LB position, letting Heater walk could potentially be the biggest mistake the FO has made this off-season. How successfully the FO addresses the LB corps in the draft will be what really vindicates the decision not to re-sign him.

*Note: Leroy Hill (solid with no upside) hasn’t been re-signed. EDIT: Leroy Hill and Matt McCoy were re-signed to 1-year deals just hours after posting this.

John Carlson (TE) – Carlson was fun to watch back in 2009 and 2010 but fans shouldn’t be surprised at all to see him go. Despite not playing last season due to injury he still displayed enough athletic talent at the position in the last 2 years to command decent market value. A value this FO wouldn’t match when we haven’t even utilized our primary TE, Zach Miller, in the passing game enough to begin with.

Anthony Hargrove (DE) – Also not a big surprise here as Hargrove was clearly brought on last year as a “plug ‘n play” signing meant to help get us through the season until we can acquire more long-term pieces on the defensive line. However, Hargrove played pretty well and contributed with some big plays to where I wouldn’t have minded having him back for another season.

In conclusion, I think it’s important to emphasize that a very active free agency is not necessarily correlated with success next season. Just look at the Cardinals from last year who were making big splashes and the 49ers who were very quiet overall. We all know how that turned out. That being said, I can’t help but interpret it as a success thus far when we’ve re-signed existing critical players and upgraded the QB position at a reasonable cost with a player who possesses good upside.