Seahawk Addicts
I really hope Bobby ends up going the "a contract is a contract" route, shows up day one and works his 35yo ass off to earn an extension next season. I would love for Engram to retire a Hawk and mentor the young guns on this team...but he definately needs to earn it. I think he has earned it and I hope Ruskell agrees in the future.
I hope Engram shows up and kicks ass all over the football field, then leaves for greener pastures, like NEw Orleans or New England, and wins a super bowl.
Meanwhile, Team Ruskell and Mora will try to make Logan Payne fill bobbys shoes, which wont work for several years...
Can you say Ice Fisherman II?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Bobby will be at training camp for sure, and possibly be our top-performing WR again this year.
Slave,
Sorry, but you have to be called out on this one. Whats with the attitude? Why would you want that? Are you a Seahawks fan, or just a Ruskell hater?
The difference between Hutch and Engram is rather dramatic, I don't think the two can be compared.
Hutch was in his prime with no real replacement available, Engram is 35!!! with a whole stable of young WR's who need playing time. It is just as likely that a young guy turns out to be a star as it is that Engram will decline.
How many people used to say that Shaun would be fine after 30 because he didn't ever take big hits. Nope. Oops. Most running backs decline around 30, Shaun was no exception. In general, most players decline by their mid 30s. I am not sure why there is so much hostility in waiting a year before handing a new deal to a guy in his mid 30s who missed 10 games two years ago because of a non football related health issue.
It seems a wait and see approach is pretty smart business here. Not sure why you want Bobby to leave and win a Superbowl with another team. I definitely don't understand how you could be so bitter at the management of the team, especially when they have won 4 div titles in a row and should have won a SB. Only two other teams have had that type of success this decade.
I do not understand the hostility towards Tim Ruskell either. Seattle really did not start to be successful until TR got here. Holmgren did get Seattle to the playoffs but did not win. TR comes has an outstanding first draft and Seattle has been very good since he has been here.
It seems obvious that Ruskell and Mora have no intention of keeping Engram around after this season. On that assumption, I would be happy to see him leave for a competitive team and a nice contract at the end of this season, and win a Super Bowl.
Also, I really dont see Mora and Ruskell making a Super Bowl run in Mora's first season. Especially not if they change offensive coordinators, which seems unhappily likely.
So, given that Bobby can still play at a high level, the Hawks dont seem to want him around, and the probability that the hawks will not be competing in the Super Bowl in 2010, I hope Engrams new team wins it all. Simple.
I dont see Logan Payne picking right up where Bobby has left off, not without a legitimate number 1 WR on the team (and dont even say Branch is a number 1--he just isnt) to take the pressure off. It will take him a good couple of years to get close to Bobby. By then, Hasselbeck will be aged.
I use the ice Fisherman as a comparison due to the effect I think not having a happy Engram could have on the seahawks this year, their one big chance to win the BIG ONE.
WHich, if we dont win this year, will be as big a deal as losing the Ice Fisherman was in 06 and 07.
I dont like Ruskell. I think he is a fine GM, a very smart man, and a hippocrite. He does not have the loyalty towards his players that he expects them to show the team. Loyalty is a two-way street. Ive stated my logic on this many times, so I wont go into detail here.
He has done too many things to anger and frustrate Holmy, and while I think Mora is ok, I dont think that the way to win a Super Bowl is to build the Tampa Bucs that won years ago...the game has moved on, and Timmay! doesnt seem to get it...
Some of Timmays! policies have me nervous, and the Engram situation is making me flashback to early 2006.
I firmly believe that Ruskell could have, and should have won a Super Bowl or two with Holmgren. I believe that Ruskells monumental arrogance and a few costly errors cost us, and will continue to cost us, untill his ego is brought to rein.
I dont see how wishing Bobby well, and hoping that he shows up Ruskell and the Hawks has anything to do with having an attitude. I still love the Hawks, even if I think Ruskell has a fat head, and I want them to win. I just dont think we will be competing for a Super Bowl in 2010, and I hope Engram does.
Slave,
There is one scenario you have obviously not considered. Bobby comes in and starts having a solid season and the team signs him to an extension. They just said they would not re-negotiate his existing contract. There has been nothing said about an extension.
Thats kinda what I am hoping for. And it is pretty clear that Bobby wants to stay here. I am upbeat that it will all work out of the best. And I am certainly not quite willing to concede the 2010 season just yet. I think I will wait until I see how the next two free agency periods and drafts go.
makes me wonder if the glass is even there sometimes, let alone "half full"
STBM
This team will compete for many years in the playoffs. Defense is too young not to.
I agree, anything can happen. I would love to see Engram play well, and get a two-year extension. That would be for the best. I dont see it as likely, thats all.
Playoffs yes, but I personally dont feel that the Hawks will seriously compete for a Super Bowl in 2010. Hopefully, things go well and I change my mind at the end of this season.
Slave,
your rationale is okay, and you certainly are entitled to your own opinion...no doubt. You are obviously just more pessimistic than most around here, which is fine. However, I do not understand how a Hawks fan can find fault in Ruskell's policy to not re-negotiate existing contracts with veteran players. I think if you begin doing that, you really open a terrible can of worms. Granted, they did that with Tatupu but that is different- Tatupu was playing under his rookie contract and did not do anything like holding out, or missing OTA practices.
I think any team, any year, is capable of making the Superbowl, just as they are capable of being terrible. But with the Ruskell/Holmgren formula, the Hawks cahnces are better than most. Sure, there are pitfalls with their roster, just like there are for every team, every year. Its just a matter about how players and the team steps up during the season. I mean- did the Giants look like a Superbowl Champ after week four this past season? No- But they kept working to improve on their weaknesses and got it done.
Will the young WR's improve and be big playmakers? We don't know, probably to some extent..you just don't know.
On a personal note- if Bobby shows up to camp on time without holdout... I will be sporting a #84 Jersey this season. I have not updated my #12 jersey since the opening of the new football stadium, only certain players are worthy.
Typical Salve! Be a pessimist and negative about our team and if things go well, you wont be let down. Typical.
TR is not a hipocrate. He is a very bright football mind that is and has built a consistent contender in Seattle. What more can you ask for in todays game.
I for one, love TR and hope he stays here for many, many years!!!!
Slave,
How can you say that TR should/could have won a Super Bowl with Holmgren. He has only been here for 3 seasons?!?!? If I am not mistaken Holmgren had issue with the previous GM that almost made him retire early. I can only remember 1 issue they had where they were at odds and that was the Hutch thing that we all remember and try to forget. Under TR it has been like this:
1st season - Super Bowl (which I still feel like we were screwed)
2nd Season - Injury marred and still made it to Divisional round 1 or 2 plays short of another Conference Championship
3rd Season - No run game, one-dimensional offense, Divisional round. With a defense built for speed not power, playing in the snow can hurt ya...
Before TR we had drafts filled with alot of busts and malcontents. Since TR, I think the draft has looked rather well and I am pleased.
I still don't get your dislike of TR.
I still don't get slave's comment about the Saints being a "greener pasture". TR is one of the best GM's in the league; since he took over we have had outstanding draft classes. Outside of Hutch he has done a great job, and if I remember the Hutch deal was considered illegal by some so don't fully blame TR for that.
Also with the money we saved from Hutch (who wanted left tackle money) we got J. Pete, Kerney, Grant and Russell to name a few. We may have lost one outstanding player, but we got a bunch of very good ones.
Think about where TR was in 05, do you reward the NFL MVP or a guard? Either way he would have lost in some people's eyes. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place; you can't pay everyone.
To correct a couple more inaccuracies that STTBM stated. Ruskell was not in charge of building the Tampa Bay team. That was Rich McKay for whom Ruskell worked in Tampa Bay and for whom he also worked in Atlanta before being named the Seahawks President and GM.
Seattle is Ruskell's first opportunity to put his personal philosophies to the test as far as the type of player he wants on the team and the importance of finding players who fit the proto-typical size, weight, and height marks versus finding players who have proved they can make plays and have been successful college football players regardless of size and speed. Tatupu is the best example of that type of selection.
He has also brought high character into the mix sending a lot of Seattle players packing for not having the character he requires of his players. Ruskell type players are also known for their above average football intelligence and for playing with non-stop motors. You don't see Ruskell's hand picked players taking a play off even occasionally.
That is what Ruskell has brought to the Seahawks and I'd say right now, he's as much the master of the NFL right now as anyone for finding talent and developing chemistry among his players. The players all rave about how great the team gets along and how they hang together off the field as much as on. The players whom I've heard interviewed all say they love playing for Seattle for a lot of reasons such as I've detailed above here and all speak very highly of Seattle management which is in direct dispute with STTBM's assertion that Ruskell is not liked by his players because he's not fair to deal with. I would challenge him to find players who will support that allegation other than Jackson or Engram who have had conflicts with him over wanting to renegotatiate their contracts before the contracts are finished.
I've heard interviews with Weaver, Peterson, LoJack, O. Schmitt, Trufant (twice), Grant, Russell, Wahle, Spencer, Sims, Carlson, Bryant, Tatupu, Bernard, Terrill, Kearney, Tapp, Mebane, JJ, Mo Mo, Duckett, Engram, Burleson, as well as Holmgren, Marshall, Haskell, Solari, Mora, Gilbertson, and Zorn before he went to Washington that I can remember over the last year and I heard nothing but good things about the Seahawks organization and it's management. Engram recently seemed to be indicating that he'll be there when he's required to be and Trufant had nothing bad to say about his experience with negotiating with Ruskell even though he got a substantially lower contract than he was seeking. Tatupu cited Seattle's management as one of the reasons he wanted to stay with Seattle for his whole career.
Once again I'll also point out that Tim Ruskell came into Seattle in 2005 just prior to the draft taking place and only had around three weeks to put together his draft board and his plan. Other than five players from that draft, every player Ruskell has drafted since is still with the team and there's a very good chance that all the draft choices from this year will either make the 53 man roster or be placed on the practice squad (if they can clear waivers). That's an impressive run of choosing players and underscores his main philosophy which is to build the team through the draft so you're always replacing older players and those lost in free agency with younger players from the draft who are much cheaper on your payroll and keeps your salary structure in line under the cap. It also has the big advantage of keeping the team competative year after year since you're never in cap trouble and always able to hire a free agent like Kearney if you need him.
I'll ask everyone a general question. Especially for you long time Seahawk fans like me. When have you ever seen the Seahawks have better chemistry, a better winning attitude, better overall players, better backup players, higher expectations, and lastly, better results than you've seen over the last 4 years? Even though coach Holmgren has a lot to do with that success, don't you think you have to lay a large share of that credit to Ruskell? Remember how everything was working with Whisitt before Ruskell came on board.
While I don't understand STTBM's obvious hatred of Ruskell even after reading all of his postings on the subject, I can respect that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion of the situation and how everything is meshing with the Seahawks. I certainly have nothing but great things to say and feel that we've been blessed with having Ruskell here putting together his first dynasty in the NFL. I think that the further we go the better things are going to get with Ruskell keeping the team stocked with quality football players and high character guys. I only hope Mora comes into his sophomore Head Coaching position with the necessary blend of experience learned from his first job and watching Holmgren operate for two years coupled with an open mind to continue to learn what it takes to be able to use all the talent that Ruskell brings to the table to keep the Seahawks in control of the West. Right now Ruskell is one of the Seahawks biggest assets and should be treated as such.
Great post BillT, as always.
Lets not forget that Engram is essentially holding out so that he can stay in Seattle longer. He is afraid the team is going let him go when his contract is up and he wants to stay. He could be holding out because he likes the organization (and city) so much. What a inner conflict?!?
Guys, I dont hate Tim Ruskell! The guys is, as I have said many many times, a fine GM. I think a couple times, a couple huge mistakes (caused largely by Ego) kept the Hawks from winning a Super Bowl the last two years. And I feel the guy is a hippocrite. WHich most of you dont agree with. Thats ok.
There was no need to do anything except Franchise the Ice Fisherman. He promised Holmy, then got cute over a half million bucks--peanuts on a 100 million dollar payroll. Then, he made his worst mistake two years in a row--he did NOTHING to fix the bleeding wound in our line.
He overpayed for Branch, who has never done anything for us late in the season, and has proven that the Pats were right--even when healthy and playing well, the guy is not a number 1 WR.
He has done numerous small things that I dont feel were right, including dumping Urban, and even Hasselbeck reamed his ass out over that one. And I still believe that to be so, even after hearing that the foot injury has flared up and is costing Jerheme Urban his number 3 spot on the Cardinals.
Ruskells determination to build a one-dimensional defense was a large factor in the ass-whupping in Green Bay. Ruskell built a team to contend in the NFC, but he should have been building a team that could compete with ANYONE. (To give him credit, that is what he is trying to do now--I hope!)
Ruskell drafts well for defense. Everyone knows this. The jury is still out on whether he drafts well for offense.
I am glad he is our GM, I realize as much as any of you, just how great it is to be in the playoffs for 5 straight years. These could be our best years--but I dont want them to fade away without a Super Bowl victory.
But that doesnt mean I will look away when the guy makes mistakes, or anoint him Saint Ruskell, for one Super Bowl appearance.
I dont think I am such a pessimist, I just tend to overanlayze stuff. And Im one of the few who are expecting (hoping for?) a 12-4 season and a Super Bowl victory this season. Because I think Ruskell holds himself to a lower ethical standard than he holds his players, and I am sceptical of a 2010 Super Bowl appearance, that makes me a pessimist?
WHen the Hawks went 2-14, I thought they were gonna go 6-10. But everyone I knew told me what a pessimist I was. Guess they were right. Right?!
I was worried about 2010 without Engram and Holmgren. Now, with all of the reports of Mora possibly losing/dumping many of Holmy's best coaches, I am growing increasingly sceptical of the Ruskell/Mora teams first season.
But I reserve the right to change my mind, as more information comes to light. That was my opinion of the moment, given what I had for breakfast, how much sleep I had, and the latest Hawk news. Ask me next week, or half way through the season, and I probably will think differently.
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