From the Seattle PI article today:
Tobeck, 35, will return for a sixth season with the Seahawks. The former Washington State center played his first six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.
Undersized at 297 pounds, Tobeck compensates by taking excellent angles and using leverage to make his blocks. But his real value is his ability to make the pre-snap calls for a line that allowed Pro Bowl running back Shaun Alexander to lead the NFC in rushing last season while reducing the number of times quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was sacked to 30 -- down from 42 in 2003.
Tobeck will sign a two-year, $1.785 million contract today, a deal that includes a $250,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $765,000 and $770,000.
Seahawks | Bannister Re-signed - from www.KFFL.com
Wed, 30 Mar 2005 19:08:36 -0800
Mike Sando, of the Tacoma News Tribune, reports the Seattle Seahawks have re-signed WR Alex Bannister to a multi-year deal.
According to the Seattle Times article: Bannister reportedly will make $4 million over four years, including a $1 million signing bonus."
Dude, I had you beat but my wife interrupted me then when I hit publish yours was mere moments before mine. Kinda funny.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this can only be seen as two very good resignings. Obviously our special teams suffered last season without Bannister and we really need Tobecks leadership on the line no matter what we do in the draft.
BTW, isn't it obvious that Seahawks.com is being toold what's happening first intentionally? I mean, they are notoriously slow then suddenly Ruskell comes on board and rumors that he threatened them to get their crap straight or they'd no longer be the official web site, then poof, they are beating everyone to the punch on breaking news. They are even suddenly posting great stories and insider interviews. Ruskell is so obviously behind this. Obviously the rumors were true. Good! It's nice to see the "official" seahawks web site finally become a place worth visiting, it sure as heck never used to be! It used to be that I would check every other Seahawks site first before going there for anything because the news was SOOO old and the features and stories sucked ass. Maybe if Ruskell can have this kind of effect on a web site, he can do even more with the team! Pass me some more of that kool-aid Ruskell, oh yeah!
ReplyDeleteSee, I told you this was a competitive site!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely good news and two more "character" guys to the locker room.
Monkey -
ReplyDeleteI'll be Ruskell is part of the fire under Seahawks.com, but we should take some credit too.
I know there was a FO insider lurking on the ST forum, cuz they called the Mili and Pork Chop signings a day ahead of the news breaking anywhere.
I'm sure there are folks lurking on other sites too, and we've all been brutal in our assessment of Seahwaks.com, so apparently, the message got through.
It's also no coincidence that the Bucs and Falcons have pretty well designed and information packed sites.
God it's good to be a Seahawks fan again!!!
Agreed alba, I believe you're right. We can take some credit.
ReplyDeleteWe ourselves have been very consistently quick in breaking news, we are often beating almost everyone. I know I scooped the Dilfer trade long before anyone else and I know that ever since you've come on board I've been beaten to the punch three times now, where I had the story all done, hit publish and there is my story right on top of the one you just published seconds before. We're doing good when we beat all the major network sites like we have been sometimes by hours. Heck we've even beaten KFFL to the punch several times.
The Bucs and Falcons really do have very nice web sites, it can't be coincidental.
You know, there is really only one possible negative with these two signings, and that's with Alex being so useless as anything other than a special teams guy. I can't help but wonder if signing him for 4 years isn't too long and if he might not be taking away a spot from a better reciever just because he's such a stud on special teams. Actually this leaves us with two recievers who are useless as recievers but are great special teams guys with JP Darche or whatever his name is.
ReplyDeleteI guess my concern is that Urban keeps getting pushed further and further back. I know people will say that if he earns a bigger role in training camp and practice he'll get it, but I'm just not convinced that's always the case. Let's face it, there have been numerous examples of players whose careers never seemed to go anywhere then when given a real opportunity they flourished. I just don't wnat to see Urban not be given his chance.
I believe that with the current administration, the best players will truly rise to to the top. Urban will be given a chance, and if he grabs the bull by the gonads he will have a good spot on the roster.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Bannister is so valuable in special teams coverage, that be could be the seventeenth receiver on the roster and have a spot. Heck, call him a linebacker, or a QB or something, just get him on. There is a little flexibility that way. His value on ST is much greater than his value as a receiver.
I concur, this is awesome news!
Do yo guys think that a special teams player who never gets on the feild otherwise is worth a 4 year 5 million dollar deal? That is what I'm reading isn't it? I'm a little bit surprised by the amount. Heck he's making as much as Tobeck is. Something's got to be wrong there. Maybe they are planning to use him more often in recieving sets? That's the only thing I can figure would make him worth that kind of money and that long a contract. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad we signed the guy, I'm just a bit surprised at how much we are paying for a special teams player. Either they are planning on expanding his role with the team or they are overpaying him I think.
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me, now that we know the figures on these most recent signings, where are we slary cap wise, anyone know for certain? My own quick (and probably bad) math tells me that we now have 0$ left, we are now cap strapped, so that unless Chad Brown or someone like that restructures his contract, that's it for free agents. Yet Ruskell hinted the other day that they are still looking at some players, they are still talking to Dyson for example. Interesting. They must be planning on some restructuring with someone. What do you guys think?
Josh from Kent, Your right Darche is the long snapper. That is an important position.
ReplyDeleteMonkey, the $1M signing bonus is reportedly included in the $4M contract, so the base contract is really 4 years at $3M, or $750,000 per year, which is around league minimum.
ReplyDeleteTwo things that make this a good signing. First, they brought in a FOCUSED Special Teams coach, and probably wanted to provide him with a star and a captain to build his unit around.
Second, if there's one thing that can describe the Seahawk moves since the beginning of FA it would be "depth". While I believe they'll have Bannister focus on STs, he still provides depth and experience at WR.
There's also a rumor on the PI board of a trade of SA and K-Rob to the Vikes for picks. While there may not be much to back it up, it may be an indication that team Ruskell may ship out some of our less than reliable veteran WRs, so we may need Bannister to round out that core. (that's just me speculating)
I don't know where we stand overall on the cap, but I'm confident that between Ruskell and Reinfeldt, we're in good shape.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear about some contracts being restructured now that free agency activity has ebbed to a drizzle.
Mr. Brown, Mr. Winstrom, Mr. Jackson...Tim and Mike will see you now!!!
I have often wondered about the Vikes getting interested, the problem is that thye have five rb's who have all started for that team and each did a good job when Tice pulled his head out and featured him. The last thing the Vikes need is another RB. Of course, having said that, the Vikes RB's are probably very tradeable since none of them would require a first round pick to move. The other thing of course, is that they only need a reciever because they moved Moss who is extremely talented but is also a distraction inhte locker room, just like Robinson. So why let go of Moss citing his attitude and go out and get one who is even worse than Moss and far less talented? That just don't make no sense.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, now that oyu explained about the signing bonus it makes a bit more sense to me. Like I said, I wasn't complaining per se, I was just surprised at the amount for a 7th string reciever special teams guy. especially considering the deal we got on Tobeck, that contract was an absolute steal!
I certainly hope that those contractas you mentioned do get restructured, Wistrom's is incredibly stupid. We vastly overpaid for him (way to go Bob Whitless) D Jack also is getting WAY overpaid and until Brown can ever stay healthy he isn't anywhere near earning that paycheck. IF we could restructure these contracts then we still could go out and steal away some free agents like the ones Ruskell described, guys like Dyson.
One last thing, is it just me or has Reinfelt already earned exec. of the year? My GOD what he has been able to do in a very short period of time after coming into confusion central with an uncertain contract status. He has to be the Exec. of the year in my book. Anyway, here's hoping that Ruskell can continue to add pieces like he has so far, pass me some more of that kool-aid Ruskell!
From the Len Pasquarelli article on ESPN.com
ReplyDeleteAt 6-foot-4 and 297 pounds, Tobeck makes up for his lack of bulk with superior mechanics, use of leverage and knowledge of the game's nuances.
Only in America can someone 6 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 3 pounds shy of 300 be described as havig a "lack of bulk"!!!
From todays PI:
ReplyDelete"You need more players like Robbie Tobeck," said coach Mike Holmgren, who also credits Tobeck with having his best season last year. "He has that ability to cross over, to pull the locker room together. And he's not afraid to make fun of himself."
As Tobeck's assessment of the Seahawks trading backup quarterback Trent Dilfer to the Browns proved.
"Now that Trent's gone," Tobeck said, "he was really my only competition for being the best-looking guy on the team."
How can you not love this guy?
C'mon, Pavillion.
ReplyDeleteHe may be a handsome guy, but LOVE is such a strong word!!!