I'm usually not that big on meta-narratives on teams, I don't care much about how players talk about coaches or vice versa, reports on locker room dynamics, or other nuggets from the Nuggetmeister, Peter King. Not because I think it doesn't matter, but because I think it's very hard to get a good grasp on what's real behind all the PR and spin, and because I think those kind of tidbits serve as crutches on reporting for pundits too lazy or incompetent to do any actual analysis. Y'know...the Nuggetmeister.
But sometimes you get signals about the way players feel about their team or organization that are too strong to ignore. It already become pretty clear the Seahawks as a team are pretty upbeat despite losing their final two games, a justified attitude in my opinion, as those two games change very little about the excellent direction this franchise is heading in. The most important thing to take from those games (aside from some additional questions on our defensive scheme) is, as Danny already stated, "the NFC West is getting to be pretty competitive". A good thing in my opinion. Always fun to look down on the NFC East and AFC West.
We do have some free agents that are hitting the open market unless they are resigned before the market opens (March 14th, I think), but two of them provided some nuggets that are very lofty indeed. RB Marshawn Lynch said he "would like to come back" and on hitting the free agency market he stated: "Hopefully I don't have to. Hopefully I can get taken care of where I'm at." DE Red Bryant similarly noted he's not interested in hitting the market, quoted as saying "It's not always greener on the other side...I have a desire to be here."
That's pretty awesome. Assuming they're being honest (and there's no real reason to assume otherwise), it's pretty clear - if unsurprising - that our players like playing for this team, and like the direction we're heading in. Shouldn't be news to anyone, but it's good to hear from impending free agents.
For comparison's sake, now-Redskin OT Sean Locklear expressed disdain at the way the Redskins wrapped up their season. Not that they're expected to bring him back anyway, but that's no way to built good worker-employee relations.
Meta-narrative aside, Lynch and Bryant are both interesting free agents. Should the Seahawks be wary of paying Lynch after a career year coinciding with a contract year? Should the Seahawks move away from the Leo End/Red Bryant experiment to a more traditional front, try to re-sign Bryant as more of a situational player, or just stick with Red and our current scheme? Discuss!
Addendum: More comments in this piece by Curtis Crabtree, including similar comments from David Hawthorne.