Seahawks fans rejoice

[JAG]

Seahawks have signed DE Grant Wistrom to a multiyear deal. No details as of right now.

[dawgfan]

I'm cautiously excited - we definitely needed an upgrade at end, and Wistrom is a pretty damn good end. I'll wait to see the salary numbers first before I get too excited though...

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Excellent. They sure needed that upgrade. I am glad they took him over Kearse. Cheaper (I'm guessing), can play the run better, and takes a good player away from a divisional rival!

[AgPete]

Seahawks fans rejoice. Now that's a sentence I don't read or hear often.

[JAG]

Details:

The Seattle Seahawks on Thursday signed defensive end Grant Wistrom to a six-year, $33 million deal, including a $14 million signing bonus, ESPN's John Clayton reports.

Including the signing bonus that is the largest in Seahawks history, Wistrom will receive $21 million over the first three years of the contract.

[primelord]

I'm cautiously excited - we definitely needed an upgrade at end, and Wistrom is a pretty damn good end. I'll wait to see the salary numbers first before I get too excited though...
You must have been watching a different Grant Wistrom than I was in St. Louis these last couple of years. :} I would say Wistrom is a solid DE, but not a damn good one. He is a great club house guy and plays hard every down, but he has a habit of always getting to the QB 3 steps too late. He is however pretty good against the run which is getting rare for DE's these days, but overall probably not worth the price tag the Seahawks paid for him.

I like Wistrom, but for that kind of money I am glad the Rams didn't get involved and let him walk.

[dawgfan]

You must have been watching a different Grant Wistrom than I was in St. Louis these last couple of years. :} I would say Wistrom is a solid DE, but not a damn good one. He is a great club house guy and plays hard every down, but he has a habit of always getting to the QB 3 steps too late. He is however pretty good against the run which is getting rare for DE's these days, but overall probably not worth the price tag the Seahawks paid for him.

I like Wistrom, but for that kind of money I am glad the Rams didn't get involved and let him walk.

Well, he may not be the pass-rusher that Kearse is, but he also doesn't have the injury history of Kearse. He plays the run pretty well, which has been a weakness for the 'Hawks.

And he can't always be 3 steps shy of the QB - he's racked up 38.5 sacks in his 5 years as a starter. Not earth-shattering numbers, but not bad either (and better than incumbant Lamar King).

The salary and bonus numbers look a little scary, but I don't know that they're way out of line given the established market.

[stevew]

Not a bad deal, really. Im willing to bet even in the "expensive years" his hit doesnt exceed 7 million. Not bad.

[primelord]

Well, he may not be the pass-rusher that Kearse is, but he also doesn't have the injury history of Kearse. He plays the run pretty well, which has been a weakness for the 'Hawks.

And he can't always be 3 steps shy of the QB - he's racked up 38.5 sacks in his 5 years as a starter. Not earth-shattering numbers, but not bad either (and better than incumbant Lamar King).

The salary and bonus numbers look a little scary, but I don't know that they're way out of line given the established market.
He peaked in 2000 when he had 11 sacks. He followed that up with 9 or so the year after and then suffered a foot injury and just hasn't quite been the same since. He did up with around 8 sacks this year, but most of them were in garbage time. Little was making the sacks when it mattered.

Over the past two years he has been about 3 steps late more or less anytime it mattered. Again he plays very hard and his run defense is a plus, but if you were looking for a good pass rusher I just don't think you got it in Wistrom. With that being said I hope I am wrong and he does well for the 'Hawks. He has always been a great team guy and you just like to root for guys that give it their all whenever they are on the field.

[Travis]

Well, adding Wistrom with Okeafor should make us able to leave Brown at LB on passing downs, increasing our blitz options. Not sure what the deal with Hand is right now, but if he's back and healthy, our run D should be very solid up the middle (please let us draft a stud MLB!) and with Bernard, Moore and Palepoi all developing, our pass rush should/would/could be a lot better.

Really though, until we get a MLB that can play the run and good coverage so that we can blitz Simmons and Brown with more regularity and consistency, we're going to be lacking.

[WSUCougar]

I totally agree with primelord's comments. Wistrom is a solid, complimentary DE, but not really the guy you want as your #1 pass-rushing end. But he is indeed a great team player who plays hard every down. I hope he exceeds expectations.

Go Seahawks!

[MizzouRah]

Well, WSUCougar summed it all up. I think he'll be great for the Seahawks, he brings leadership, toughness, and a great attitude. He's not a sack leader, but he can play and I'll surely miss him. :(

Did the Chiefs miss the boat?


Todd