Just a year ago...one yard settled an annoying final stretch of the Seattle Seahawks' season. One yard gave the media something to try to exploit. One yard may of put differences between a coach and one of his star players.
No mas.
Shaun Alexander has won the Rushing Title this year, 1880-1860 over Tiki Barber by rushing for 73 yards in the final game of the regular season. Thats a nice chunk of yards, not to mention that Tiki played more overall while Alexander sat during several mopup times the Seahawks have gone through this year.
The star running back also scored his 28th Touchdown of the season, breaking the all time record of 27, by Priest Holmes.
One has to wonder, if even the obvious East Coast Bias could stand in the way of him and his earned MVP award...It would be a serious travesty should he be snubbed from it. Barber had more total yards, but the mopup explanation proved that moot. Alexander could of very well gotten 2,000 rushing yards.
The bandwagoners can scream 'Go Sean...Go Sean' all they want...but only the true Seahawks fans will be screaming 'Go Shaun...Go Shaun' as he leads the way to a possible first Super Bowl appearance with his team. They feed off of each other, and he couldn't of done these amazing feats, had it not been for his team...and his team wouldn't be the #1 team in its conference without a little bit of help from him.
Go Shaun...Go Seahawks
Basically...this is a 'woohoo Shaun and our blockers got some huge marks for this franchise' thread...
ReplyDeleteBut feel free to discuss whether or not Shaun deserves the MVP award...really no discussion unless one of you is blind and thinks someone else deserves it
I think Joe Tafoya deserves the MVP. But this is great accomplishment not just for Shaun but the whole team. I bet his agent will use all of this to get him a bigger deal.
ReplyDeletePosted by o-meezy
Thanks for pointing out the down side to all these great accomplishments. :)
ReplyDeletePosted by Vin
To put a positive spin on that:
ReplyDeleteAt least his agent isn't Drew Rosenhaus
Posted by adp
"I bet his agent will use all of this to get him a bigger deal. " Just an opinion, but doesn't the best RB in the league this year deserve a big contract? I still don't see where the cap $$$ needs to be spent besides on RB. CB and DE are the most pressing needs, and those are only if we can get a superior player. If we can't, continue to roll with Dyson and Tru, Fisher and Wistrom.
ReplyDeletePosted by Anonymous
I don't know who this anonymous guy is, but I agree with him. I know that there is a limit to the contract we can afford, but how many teams would even consider letting a record breaking, rushing title holding, MVP go in the offseason?
ReplyDeletePosted by PaulieP
I am anonymous there... sorry fellas. You couldn't tell with the rah rah Shaun post?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, why won't there be a big pile of $$$? They bump the cap up every year, I don't know the cap situation, but saying they can't afford him just doesn't make sense to me. They were able to afford him this year, thats 6 mil off the cap next year. I can't imagine his cap hit would be too much more than 6 mil a year anyway, since 6 mil was the average of the top 5 RBs last year, which includes Duece, LT, and Edge who got a bumped up franchise tag. If somebody actaully has a link that shows us in cap trouble and shows how Shauns cap hit will be much more than 6 mil a year, by all means...
Posted by JoSCh
What will hinder talks are two things, his age and the fact he's going to want much of the money upfront. Which I believe would be quite a bit more than $6.mil.
ReplyDeleteAnd like it or not, there are still folks that believe there could be a replacement in FA or the draft.
Tell me, what exactly was the reason he didn't get the contract last season if it's such a gimme move.
I'm just saying, be prepared...it may not get done.
Posted by Vin
JoSCh I'm not sayin that Alaxender doesn't deserve a big contract i think he should get a good deal with a fat signing bonus by all means.
ReplyDeleteI was just sayin that when a player has the rushing title, touchdown title and MVP its easier for his agent to get him a deal with alot of money included in it.
Posted by o-meezy
Don't forget that we may be able to free up some cap room by trading away a couple of first team guys who didn't play all season, namely Mili and Womack.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to keep both, but it's an option.
Posted by alba
Cit - That was alba's suggestion, not Vin...(i smell a new skimmer :P)...Hannum is spelled Hannam...I thought
ReplyDeleteEveryone - I think Porkchop is still valueable...and hopefully he wont get traded...amazing other linesmen get injured in this league, working hard...yet ours prolly work the hardest (on the FACT that they are the best oline)...and dont get injured...if our luck runs out...Porkchop is a good player to fill in at G and T...his versatility is why we kept him last year...and why he shouldnt be traded
Posted by adp
What are the chances of renegotiating with Wistrom to reduce his cap hit? He's a good player,and more valuable to the team than this years stats indicate, but seems overpaid to me.
ReplyDeletePosted by Highwatermark
don't see it happening. while he didn't burn up the stat sheet this year, he DID have a monster season, and is indirectly responsible for the stats that Rocky, Tubbs and Fisher were able to build.
ReplyDeleteWe'll be fine. In Ruskell and Reinfeldt we trust!
Posted by alba
My only point about trading Mili and Womack are that they both just got fatty deals last off season, and as we proved this season, are not irreplaceable.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose one over the other, I'd keep Womack, due to his versatility to play G/T on either side. Plus, I got a softspot for fat guys with food related nicknames.
I like Mili as a player and he seems to be a good character guy, but if Stevens keeps his head straight, he's the keeper. Hannam is cheap. There are a lot of teams that are looking for a GOOD tight end (Packers for instance) and I think there would be takers for Mili for a future draft pick.
The idea is to shed some cap room this season, so we couldn't trade him for another player.
Posted by alba
"What will hinder talks are two things, his age and the fact he's going to want much of the money upfront. Which I believe would be quite a bit more than $6.mil. " I assume you are talking signing bonus, no doubt he'll want more than 6 mil. Thing is the bonus is pro-rated over the length of the contract. What I was saying is his cap hit won't be too much over 6 mil, say 7.5 mil per year? So figure something like 5 years, starting year one 1.5 mil salary with half mil bumps each year gets you 12.5 mil salary (not guaranteed). If you stick with the 7.5 over five, that gets a 37.5 Mil deal, 25 Mil bonus. I would think that is similar to what Shaun wants, and the team wants the bonus more around 20 mil. So what is it that is too expensive, given the TD record and rushing title? the 7.5 Mil cap hit? That's more than his franchise number would be. And as far as FA or draft RB's, I think that those would be riskier than just sticking with Shaun. And I'll continue to bang the Dookie Davenport drum if a deal with Shaun cannot be met.
ReplyDeleteAnd CB and DE are better met in the draft with this FO IMO, examples I'll use are Lofa and Hill. I like this guy, and this guy at CB, and this guy and this guy at DE. But I am a draft sicko and just trying to make conversation.
I agree, Chop is the guard next year, or soon thereafter. And he is great depth, can play both T and G spots on either side. He cannot be cut or traded.
As far as Wistrom, yes, he can restructure to create cap room, but that cuts cap room in the future, and him being a DE I doubt he makes that much that is still *restructurable*. His bonus is already gone, can't restructure that, if he were getting a hefty salary they can re-do that. I don't know, but I doubt his yearly salary is that high. If he is overpaid, it was his bonus that was too high, and that is Dim-Whits fault.
Posted by JoSCh
Sorry for not answering sooner, JoSCh, but I agreed with everything as I read through it.
ReplyDeleteIf the CBA expires, then we'll be able to open the coffers for Shaun without any salary cap implications, but that's not gonna happen. More realistic is that a new deal gets done with a larger overall cap value, and we'll have the money to appropriately compensate the MVP for his efforts.
I'm not a draft hound, unless it's cold and poured into a frosty mug, so I'll take your word for which underclassmen we should be looking at.
While I floated the idea of dealing Chop, I agree that he's our starting Right Guard next year, when Chris Grey either retires or dies of old age.
And I never thought about Wistrom's contract in that way as folks have been whining for 2 years about how he should restructure. I'm not sure of the details, but you're probably right that most of that money was either given up front as bonus cash, or back loaded into the final two years, which he'll never see. Restructuring now doesn't make sense, and insults the effort he put in this season and the fact that he remained off the injury report all year (knock, knock).
Posted by alba
Alba, if you're not a draft freak...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/
Thats a GREAT site just to get a little info on some of the possibilities for us...very detailed, too...very good if you dont know much about college football or just dont know where some players will end up being taken in the draft
Posted by adp
Thanks, ADP, but I don't follow college football or the draft because it's just too much darned info for this skimmer's brain to handle!!!
ReplyDeleteFYI..you can create clickable links in the comment section by using the a href tags, just like in a regular post, like this:
http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/
Posted by alba
JoSCh, as the biggest Shaun enthusiast here (although you might just give me a run for my money), I couldn't agree more with your thought about the actual hit being small. I think the thing that worries management is that even though the bonus will be prorated (I heard he was looking for between 15-20 mill), it's theeend of the contract that scares people. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I know that if he doesn't play out his entire contract, at least a portion of the remaining bonus counts against the cap.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'll go back to my mantra: SIGN HIM!
Posted by PaulieP
I really don't know why we can't sign Shaun Alexander. The guy has done nothing but perform big week after week, and he has done so without causing any locker room problems, (like T.O) and the stabbed in the back comment was blown way up.
ReplyDeleteI said it befor and i will say it again: With Shaun Alexander we are superbowl contendersand without him we are a big wuestion mark.
BTW: I can stand having a salary cap casualty 4 to 5 years from now if it means a superbowl.
Alan has an excellent article on his caffeinated sports blog that i reccomend everyone should read concerning resigning Mr. Alexander.
Posted by o-meezy