local columnists skewers Seahawks' signings

[dawgfan]

A little background - Les Carpenter has seemingly had an axe to grind from the moment Mike Holmgren was hired, and wrote countless articles criticizing Holmgren's dual role and the job he did as GM. I'm not sure I've ever read an article by him where he was heaping unqualified praise on the Seahawks. By extension, one could assume that he's never been happy with the way Bob Whitsitt has run the team as Paul Allen's chief lieutenant.

That said, his points in this column are valid and should be something Seahawk fans worry about. I had a bad feeling when chief cap manager and contract negotiator Mike Reinfeldt was let go, and that feeling isn't getting any better with the 'Hawk's signings. I like that they got Wistrom and that they retained Jackson, but you have to think they overpaid for both, and the re-signings of Woodard and Kacyvenski for the money they were offered are head-scratchers as well.

The article: Whitsitt's way could come back to haunt Hawks (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2001875596_les10.html)

[WSUCougar]

Interesting stuff.

I certainly concur on the Wistrom signing. It is a major mystery. But I'd like to hear him defend how the market for Jackson is gone. Although my sources of information are not comparable, everything I've seen still suggested that Jackson was a highly-sought free agent WR, at a relatively low price. It's easy to second-guess such signings when they happen, but could the Seahawks really be sure they could get him any cheaper than they did?

It's like what we face in FOF. You offer what you think you have to to land the player, and sometimes you get blindsided.

[Desnudo]

I'm not sure I've ever read an article by him where he was heaping unqualified praise on the Seahawks.
The article: Whitsitt's way could come back to haunt Hawks (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2001875596_les10.html)

At what point have the Seahawks done something to deserve even qualified praise? :D

[dawgfan]

At what point have the Seahawks done something to deserve even qualified praise? :D

You have to admit that Holmgren constructed a young offense with tremendous potential. Even with overpaying Wistrom, this is a team that should be a prime NFC contender. The problem is that while they may contend this season, those signings could put the Seahawks back in salary-cap hell like they were under Erickson, something Holmgren and Reinfeldt spent years digging out of.

[rkmsuf]

Just getting rid of Erickson get's them an atta boy...

[cthomer5000]

It's like what we face in FOF. You offer what you think you have to to land the player, and sometimes you get blindsided.
This is a very important point, and the reason we see a lot of situations where teams seemingly overpay (or "bid against themselves").

Unlike FOF, real-world teams don't really have the opportunity to see another team make an offer and then react to it. I'd imagine this leads to plenty of teams basically having to take a shot in the dark on pricing when there is a player they really want to land. They know that if that guy gets away to visit another team, it's likely over. Just watch player visits in the NFL. I would bet that 95% of the time a player leaves a visit to a team without a contract that he does not sign with that team.

[dawgfan]

Good point. Obviously the Seahawks had Wistrom as their #1 priority and wanted to make sure he was signed, sealed and delivered before he left town to visit any other teams. It may well be that they misread the market and drastically overpaid for him, but they wanted to be sure they didn't miss out on him, especially after missing on Hugh Douglas last year.

What worries me is how this affects the negotiations with Walter Jones.

[kserra]

The Seahawks seem to be the "sleeper" pick by many experts every year, yet, every year, despite their seemingly wonderful talent, they end up dissapointing...

Kevin