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Linebackers, Depth, and the Salary Cap

So, Frank Hughes has a quick piece up over on Seahawks Insider about the implications of James Farrior's new contract extension with the Steelers.  Hughes thinks that Farrior signing a contract worth near 3.5 mil per will established the market for Leroy Hill at about 5 or 6 million per, since Hill is younger and with a higher upside.

 

Now, John's been quietly convincing me over the last year or so that Leroy Hill seems like one of the more undervalued pieces on this team.  I'm not sure he's the most significant contributor on the defense, but his versatility is extremely useful, and he's still young and developing.  We've got a good one already, and he could be great with a little more growth. 

 

We also, however, have some genuine depth at linebacker right now.  Hawthorne's emergence this preseason is giving me some hope that we're sitting pretty at the position for the next few years to come, with Lofa locked up and Muscly Arm still not that old.  Our linebackers corps might be the best in the league, and I think we can continue to keep it so, if we choose to lay out the money and keep Hill. 

 

My question for you is:  Should we?  Lofa's already making 7 million per, Peterson's making a pretty hefty amount too, if we give Hill the contract he'll get on the open market (much less the contract he deserves), that's a very large percentage of our salary cap going towards just the LB's.  Does it make sense to be REALLY great at LB at the expense of say, perhaps, Rocky?  Or should we shed either Hill or Muscly Arm next year?

 

I genuinely don't have an answer, I just know that I would hate to see Hill leave.  But, I also don't think we need to be investing 25+ million on the linebackers alone.  Oh, the indecision!

 

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Lofa says he is the best LB on the team

and I’d rather see Hawthrone replace Peterson when the time comes. Thats IF he can play OLB

Coach Owens = No Fun Zone

by Scruffy Lefty on Aug 21, 2008 4:22 PM PDT   0 recs

I could see weakside, but...

do you think Hawthorne could play strongside? That’s one of the reasons I always thought Peterson was so valuable, he fits Seattle’s fast/agile mold but is also tremendously strong.

by John Morgan on Aug 21, 2008 4:33 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Hill would probably have to slide over to Strong side in this case

I’m defiantly not saying ditch Peterson. I’d rather keep both of them. Also we haven’t seen enough of Hawthorne to really know how good he is.

Coach Owens = No Fun Zone

by Scruffy Lefty on Aug 21, 2008 5:41 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Well aren't we going into a uncapped year here soon?

Just give Hill a huge fucking bonus and low salary. Problem solved.

Coach Owens = No Fun Zone

by Scruffy Lefty on Aug 21, 2008 4:23 PM PDT   0 recs

Oh yeah

I always forget about that, how messed up is the NFL’s salary structure going to be after this one year. I imagine a lot of teams are going to lay out 200 or more million in that single season, and go way into the red for that year (it’s 2010 that’s uncapped, isn’t it?), but be set for years.

Might this launch a short-age of roster stability in the league? I can see a lot of teams giving medium level players a lot of money to stick around for cheap.

by jimmimoose on Aug 21, 2008 5:04 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Dependent

The uncapped year only happens if the owners and players don’t come to a new bargaining agreement. I think that has a pretty darn good chance of happening. I wouldn’t plan for an uncapped year.

by UW Alex on Aug 21, 2008 7:51 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

All I know is

If there is an uncapped year I’m glad our owner is one rich son of a bitch

Why? Because the Seahawks rock my socks.

by Chickadee on Aug 23, 2008 1:16 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I love Hill, but may not be wise trying to keep him

…past next year. let him kick butt in his contract year. I agree, he is up there with JP and Tatupu, but they came around first. Had he been first, he would have been locked up. Can we really have over $100 million in our starting LB corps?? I think it’s just the breaks, we wish him well and hope to God he lands in the AFC.

and just on general principle, I can’t root for even one non-capped year. Don’t think it will happen, either. The salary cap is a big reason why the league has so much parity and the owners should realize that. Just because we have Paul Allen doesn’t mean we want to be the Yankees.

by shams on Aug 22, 2008 5:15 PM PDT   0 recs

Hill was drafted in '05 with Tatupu

Peterson signed here in 06.

Also, thats an awful way to make personel decisions.

by Nate Dogg on Aug 22, 2008 6:51 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I think his point

is that Muscly Arm and Tats already have large contracts, and while Hill is a stellar player, you just can’t invest so much of your payroll in one area of the team. He’s not saying that Peterson and Lofa are better players because they got their contracts first, he’s saying they got their contracts first, so Hill just may be shit out of luck when it comes to the Seahawks.

by jimmimoose on Aug 22, 2008 8:31 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Ah.

Well, I’d still disagree. Kind of to the same tune as John’s post on TJ Duckett, you can’t let talent go just because it’s against convention to have so much wraped up in your linebacking corps. LeRoy Hill is very, very good, and he needs to stay regardless of other players contracts..

by Nate Dogg on Aug 22, 2008 9:18 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I agree

Linebackers are the core of a good defense. If you have great, versatile linebacking it means that you most likely have great pass rush/run defense and great mid zone pass defense. We’re fortunate to have Trufant. Jennings is icing on the cake, but I’d keep Hill before Jennings because teams are units, their achievement is all relative. That reason is why Tru kept on saying he only made the pro bowl because of the other guys, and linebackers, really Great line backers, create that more-so that shutdown corners. I might go so far as to say that Seattle has not only the best linebacking in the league, but I would venture to say the best in the history of the NFL. That would make many mediocre safeties, linemen, and corners look close to pro bowl caliber. Kerney gets good edge rush, yes because he has great talent, but also because you, as a defender, have to respect our linebackers. Tru intercepts bad passes because of great rush making the QB make mistakes. I believe in keeping linebacker a powerhouse position, and investing alot of cap into it will keep our defense dominant no matter what.

Why? Because the Seahawks rock my socks.

by Chickadee on Aug 23, 2008 1:28 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I suspect we...

will franchise him, and trade him for a high pick, to say, Houston… perhaps for Andre Johnson?

It is what it is...

by kidder95 on Aug 23, 2008 6:52 AM PDT   0 recs

I wish

Love Andre Johnson but Player for Player trades are rare in the NFL

Coach Owens = No Fun Zone

by Scruffy Lefty on Aug 28, 2008 10:16 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

guys, guys, guys

you can’t just not re-sign him because there is other talent in that area of the team. that is just plain dumb. if you were signing a top-tier guy when there are already 3 pro bowl starters, then yes, that would be excessive. that is not at all the situation. hill is possibly the best overall consistant linebacker on the team. not re-signing him just makes the linebacking unit good (if not still great), but not amazing (the best in the league). i would rather build the unit on hill and tatupu since they are both very young, than on julian and tatupu. it is feasible to re-sign hill and let peterson stay on until his career is over, keeping the unit intact.

by Woodinville_12thMan on Aug 23, 2008 10:19 AM PDT   0 recs

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