A little good news/bad news for Seahawks fans: Minnesota, in desperate need for a quarterback after twice doing what some many fans think is a brilliant, unprecedented move: taking mid and late round flyers on marginal quarterback prospects, is on the verge of trading a fourth round pick for another marginal, but much older and semi-accomplished, quarterback: Sage Rosenfels. Rosenfels is known for his exceptional ability to both throw to Andre Johnson and the guy completely open opposite Andre Johnson. Johnson, much to the future surprise of (hated) Vikings GM Rick Spielman, is not included in the trade. Rosenfels is also very different than Gus Frerotte because duh and like whatever. He's also old but less old. Doddering rather than decrepit. Feisty rather than ambulatory.

The good news is that this probably doesn't solve Minnesota's quarterback problem and makes them again only a marginal contender despite their abundance of maximal talent. The rest of the good news is that this likely takes Minnesota out of the running for both Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez. The Vikings being a dark horse contender to trade up and draft one of the two. That's kind of the bad news, too. Minnesota is no longer a potential trading partner for Seattle's fourth overall pick, a pick Seattle should do its damnedest to trade down from, no longer a destination for Seneca Wallace, every bit Rosenfels' equal but fast, and no longer a destination for Matt Hasselbeck should Seattle decide on the complete teardown. Another dead opportunity; so it goes.

Except, of course, Tim Ruskell and Rick Spielman hate each other.

As anyone with two functioning lobes can tell you, only one Hawk was elected to the Pro Bowl, Walter Jones, and he doesn't deserve it and he won't attend. Seattle's most deserving player is Brandon Mebane. John Carlson is the Hawk most likely to be awarded a spot after the normal wave of injuries and refusals. Should either make it to Hawaii, awesome, otherwise BFD.

Old news by now, so let's rip right into what exactly this trade means.

Miami is building for the future and Taylor wanted out. There's little to discuss on their end. Less still your average Seahawks fans should care about.

Seattle faces Washington this season, so this trade does have some immediate impact in that regard. Football Outsiders projected Washington at 6.9 wins and 75% of their projected seasons ended somewhere between Loserville (4-6) and Mediocrity (7-8). The projection is probably a bit optimistic. The team started hot, posting the fifth best pass defense in the NFL through week 9. When the season concluded, the Skins had the 7^th best pass defense in football. That sounds impressive, but it's full of holes.

That same unit, minus only the very talented LaRon Landry and the suddenly and perplexingly overrated Fred Smoot, posted the 32nd ranked pass defense in 2006. The Skins late season surge was dubiously accredited to the spirit of Taylor, but had more to do with two games: The week 16 matchup against the Vikings in which Gregg Williams figured out Minnesota's offense, stacking the box and daring Tarvaris Jackson to pass. Much to Minnesota's detriment, he did and sucked with gusto. Williams is gone and that's not a repeatable strategy. The week 17 matchup against Dallas in which the Redskins, with everything to play for, clobbered a Cowboys squad taking the field in between tuckin' small bills. Football Outsiders applied their backups adjustment, but I wonder what adjustment can be applied for not giving a damn. Minus those two games and Washington's pass defense is exposed for what they are, a good secondary, too old at the corners, with very little pass rush.

The Redskins are old and thin on both lines. They spent this last draft loading up on skill position players. When week 12 rolls around and the Skins travel into Seattle, Jason Taylor could be playing for a worse overall team than the one he left. If he plays out of his mind, repeats his DPOY showing from 2006, Taylor could conceivably add another win. That should be enough to push Washington's next 4-12 season to 2009.

The two most annoying things in the NFL, ESPN and Brett Favre, have teamed up to spawn the third most annoying thing in the NFL, the story entirely substantiated by an undisclosed source. Given the juicy details and Fav-RAY petting that concludes the story--

Ooohh!

He appeared to be in excellent physical condition and threw the ball with ease, even throwing a football 50 yards "on a rope" with high school receivers. He has been throwing and running with the team for more than a month.

I'd guess the source to be Favre or Favre's agent, Snaky McCashRegister.

All due respect Packers fans, this makes a lot of sense. We've all known for some time the fact, the destiny, written in God's library that Bret Favre must die on the field, throwing a pick.

Anyway, here's hoping that wherever he lands he sucks. I've never been a Favre-hater, but one can stand only so much of  this circus sideshow--and I can't standz no mo!

Answering that burning question, when will Seattle play the teams we already know they'll play?

And here we go.

Week 1: 10 @Buffalo, Avoiding the weather

Week 2: 1:15 San Francisco, Good setup for a spanking

Week 3: 1:05 Saint Louis, Welcome home Josh Brown (Brutusformer friend)

Week 4: Bye, early Bye, not too fond of that

Week 5: 10 @NYG, Destroy the champs to move to 4-0

Week 6: 1:15 Green Bay, Savor revenge, move to 5-0

Week 7: 5:15 @Tampa Bay, Good for them

Week 8: 1:15 @San Francisco, 7-0 a real possibility

Week 9: 1:15 Philadelphia, This should be shortly after McNabb is put on IR

Week 10: 10 @Miami, Next

Week 11: 1:05 ARZ, This game could be epic

Week 12: 1:15 WAS, Watch Seattle spank the old, crumbling Redskins

Week 13: 1:15 @Dallas, DAMN RIGHT! I'm already hyped for this

Week 14: 5:15 NE, 4th game of a really tough stretch

Week 15: 10 @StL, A patsy to refresh against

Week 16: 1:05 NYJ, Another snoozer

Week 17: 1:15 @ARZ, This could be for the division

Two tough stretches: 5-7, 11-14. Man, Thanksgiving indeed!

Okay, this doesn't matter much, no matter how the NFL hypes it. What does matter, though, is that Seattle completely avoids bad weather stadiums in bad weather months. In the Divisional Round against the Packers, Seattle's fast, but small defense was defanged by the falling snow. They couldn't explode off the snap, sapping the pass rush, and the aggression that made them so formidable stuffing the run became a liability. Without solid turf to plant and cut, misdirection ate up Seattle's front seven. This is a real break, and could mean wins in the standings. Now the Hawks have to step up and earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

So the NFL contacted SBN and wants us to link to his press conference (already in progress). I will say this: I greatly appreciate the NFL broadcasting key events on its website. I think it's very progressive of it--something that the NFL has long been ahead of the curve at. I've never had particularly strong feelings about Favre. I will forever remember watching him play like a man possessed the day after his father died. My former roommate Ian and I were simply in awe. True, non-hyperbole, non-conventionalized, awe. I think sentimentality sets in some age older than I. So watch this now, laugh, crack wise, rolls your eyes, but remember, no matter how frothing some of his supporters were, Brett Favre was a once-in-a-lifetime player.

More than half of the Seahawks 2008 schedule was affected by yesterday's free agent frenzy. Let's center in on the NFC West for now.

Brown Out

The hated, but adorable in a kitten sort of way, Rams signed Josh Brown. Brown is a good kicker, but is joining a terrible team with little foundation for future success. Old, thin, Jim Haslett...you get the point.

Niners Sign Justin Smith: 6/45, 20 guaranteed

Smith didn't sack Matt Hasslebeck on a botched block by Rob Sims in week 3, but he enabled Mike Meyers to. That little horror show was Smith's only highlight from week 3. Not long ago, Smith was considered a well rounded defensive end, capable of providing pass rush and stuffing the run. By all indications Smith dropped off considerably in 2007.

Traditional Stats: 2 sacks, 3 Stuffs, 78 tackles, 3 Pass Defenses, 0 FF

FO Line Stats: 32nd Ranked Adjusted Sack Rank, 27th ranked on rushes behind left tackle, 7th ranked on rushes around left end

Without a wealth of tape, I eschew judgment, but Smith will be 29 by week 4, is leaving one of the worst defenses in football and is coming off the worst season of his career. It's not that I think he won't rebound on a new team with better surrounding talent, it's just that I question throwing money at a declining veteran. The front three was an otherwise talented D's greatest sore spot. Talented, but far from effective (28th). Nevertheless, The Niners defense just improved and it's not farfetched to think they can crack the top 15. A top 15 ranked defense, a bottom 5 offense--that should be good enough for a 6-10 season. Maybe.

Niners Sign Isaac Bruce: 2/6

I don't think I need to say, the difference between the Niners offense and competence was Isaac Bruce. Mike Martz, already paying dividends.

Rod Graves is the Worst GM in Football

I wrote this spring and summer of last year.

Enjoy yourself Cards fans.