I posted a list of things to see in HK but you already left. I forgot to mention the shop under his butt. Glad you took those steps. Still have a couple photos. I barely made it up back then. They would call the morgue come get me if I tired now. But such an incredible thing. Like the steps up from Black Sea in Odessa but those don’t climb as high in elevation. Did you take the Tram up?
I can't get my wife interested in any non-tropical destinations, so we usually end up in the Caribbean somewhere. Bahamas, Dominican, and St Lucia we've been to multiple times. Direct flights make getting there very straightforward. Went to Mexico once (Cancun area) and it was nice. I find the Caribbean rhythm really good for slowing your ass down, getting you to relax, and move at a different pace than you usually do in our chaotic little worlds. Good for the soul. People are super nice as well.
Hong Kong would be a unique experience, so I'm glad you enjoyed it Ken. Welcome back!
It's like you never left us! Just in time for FA madness to commence, although a flurry of trades going on is telling an interesting story. Namely teams clearly aren't fancying this draft much, the Raiders don't understand player value at all, and veteran big name receivers still have value for some reason.
Best holiday spot - Japan. All of it. For so many many reasons.
Hong Kong, Kowloon, I am familiar with them. As you say, wall to wall people. The best restaurants are small out of the way, cheap places where the locals eat. One needs to appreciate spicy food to have access to all of the food. Seafood is abundant. Hunan red and green fish, but we ask for just the whole fish in the green sauce. My late wife took me to a theme park, which is a Chinese version of Disneyland. And one must go up to the top of Hong Kong where one of the novels by James Clavell, Tai Pei, takes place.
Resign Jobe (3 years/30M.) Let everyone else walk. Sign Trey Hendrickson for two years/40M and Jalen Nailor (2 years/15M.)
Draft Dline, OG, RB in rounds 1-3, unless an amazing WR or CB slides.
Net effect is that the hawks probably get a little better in the trenches and a little worse in the secondary/at the skill positions compared to last year. Also, should still pick up a comp pick or two, plus keep 15M in effective cap they could use on an in season pickup or the Spoon+JSN extensions
SSJ so glad you had a great vacation. Welcome Back ! I was impressed with the quality and relevance of the articles you pre loaded for us Die Hard fans to peruse while you were away. I believe like others in the Power of our coaches and the front office/ JS.
I would keep the whole team together if possible but we all know that cant happen. So JS do you magic and lets see what shakes out. Then coach them up and make another run for the title !
Best vacation location in the US would be the Island of Kuai
Best vacation ever 2 weeks sailing the Greek Islands not the big tourist ones but the small honest islands no one visits
Play em, don't pay em! It's OK to strategically overpay for certain mismatches...I trust JS will do it right. I also put a premium on weapons that also have good ball security which is why I like K9 and RS. We need JSN but I'm also OK with looking into unloading him at some point while he's still good but getting way too expensive.
We have 6 starters who are free agents and we might lose all of them. I'm still shocked that we let Kupp's guarantees become vested. But someone is going to overpay for most every one of these guys. I'm saddened that we are almost surely losing Shaheed, but I am okay with it. I'd wager that we wouldn't have won the Super Bowl without him, and I'll take a 4th and 5th for a half season rental of that glorious season every time. He was an electric returner but I'm pretty certain he didn't have an offensive touchdown either catching or rushing. How much do you pay for that? Not #2 WR money in the current market -$15M+ range, that's for sure. I still wish we'd have kept Tate and traded Harvin after that Super Bowl, and this feels eerily similar -other than Rasheed being a much more emotionally stable guy. Next man up. I hate to think the season can hinge on Horton staying healthy, but I also have to remember that it's barely March.
Absolutely agree with the Kupp vesting! I am left with just assuming JS knows what he's doing because he surely could've used $9mil as $3mil over 3yrs for K9 or Sheheed. That might be the difference in whether one stays or goes
Shaheed is one of the more difficult valuations, and given the visibility of some of his key plays in our late season winning streak, it's not unlikely someone will fall in love with the guy and throw more cash at him than he's worth to us......whatever that number is. Either way, he'll remain embedded in Seahawks lore.
I’d wager that we couldn’t have gotten to the SB without Shahid. Arguably the single most important play of the year (even though Al Michaels botches the call):
Crazy idea but what about trading JSN. For a couple first round draft picks and a second rounder and whatever else one could get for such a talented player. Specifically to a team that will probably not be any good next year so your draft picks remain high. JSN is about to cost an arm and a leg at minimum right? Apologies if this has already been talked about and I missed it and/or apologies for suggesting something so extreme. This would maybe be a less dubious option if we had Kubiak as OC still.
Even the Bengals don't do that. Hard no for me. If the guy had some warts, maybe I'd consider it if the return blew me out of the water. But by all accounts he's a perfect teammate and one of the better (if not the best) WR's in the entire NFL. We'll pay him. And the Rams will pay Puka.
If we weren't trying to win Super Bowls I'd say it's worth considering. Right now, however, I'd rather mortgage the future to keep that championship window open. JSN is too important to our offense, regardless of OC.
I think it's a crazy idea. Our receiving corp would be Cooper Kupp, maybe Tory Horton, and Cody White. We had the most dynamic offense since the Greatest Show on Turf and it was mostly JSN through the air. I just can't think of what would even be a fair trade for such a talent at such a premium position who is young and just coming into form. And he's no a diva and loves being here to boot. I think that's exactly the guy you don't trade before a second contract.
Edited to add that I mean no offense, just that I would consider him as untouchable as an NFL player gets.
Let's recall Metcalf's play that occasionally scored and never sustained. "Almost" a catch. "Almost" a first down. "Almost" not penalized. Never disciplined. He took the air out of the room. We could see the talent on the field, but for that. JSN felt like redemption. You don't trade that away.
My favorite vacation spot? Any island in Hawaii. The aloha spirit vibe is intoxicating and the waters are always spectacular. Plan to venture out more when retired soon with interest in Thailand, New Zealand, Portugal and Scotland. Anyone have great fun in any of those places?
My favorite vacation spot? A few years ago, we spent three weeks in Istanbul and the interior of Turkey, and we just loved it. The political situation in both Turkey and the US has changed, so my current favorite vacation destination is Paris.
Is that SSJay in the picture of the Giant Ray? You make a lovely couple.
I absolutely loved this Super Bowl championship team, and the players on it. However, if you step away from the sentimentality for a second, you start to see a few things.
Brotherhood is pretty easily dismantled over money
All of our free agents played well for us, but they can be replaced with similar talent that doesn’t carry the Super Bowl premium. We aren’t losing our stars.
Someone is going to pay $15 million a year for Ken Walker expecting a workhorse RB1 and they aren’t going to get it. If we look at his last four years instead of his last four games, we’ll see that he will not hold up to that situation and he wouldn’t for us if we paid him that.
Someone is going to pay $15-$25 million a year for Rashid Shaheed and at best get a marginal receiver number 2 and excellent special teamer, who for us would probably be receiver 3.
Someone is going to overpay for a cornerback and an edge rusher who can be exceptional in spurts and then disappear for large chunks of games.
I’m not trying to crap on these guys because I am a big fan of theirs, but I am a bigger believer in a coaching staff that can get pro bowl performances from Kyle Van Noy and Jadaveon Clowney. I’m a bigger believer in a coaching staff that turned our perennial crap of an O-line into a Super Bowl champion O-line that is coming back intact, young and still growing. Our running game will probably be just fine.
I think JS and Coach Macdonald can find and coach up talented players at more reasonable contracts, which in the end will allow us to keep our irreplaceable stars.
I think in some ways having to replace all these players and coach up the new guys will be motivating for the coaching staff, instead of just resting on the accomplishments of last year.
If you absolutely love this team, why dis players who were critical to success? I for one can’t blame anyone in any walk of life—including pro football—for wanting the best deal they can get. After all, this is their J-O-B.
I don’t interpret Lou’s remarks as disrespect, but as reality. I don’t think anyone begrudges these guys following the money, it’s what most of us would do. But the Seahawks should do the best thing for the team, not the individual.
Solid points, Lou. This year will challenge MM to keep the Team viable for another Super Bowl title next year. K9 will be smart to buy in and likely extend his career? Or go elsewhere and flame out. Will Charbs return soon enough along with returning to form? Will Holani and KMac fill his shoes until then? The better our O-Line improves can only make that more likely. Above it all, will the guys find more love for team-play over cold hard corporate contracts? At what point does a guy know he's set for life?
K9 didn't have this great season all by himself. He needs the right blockers to create those openings for him to run through. Previous seasons were a struggle for him, he did deal with injuries, and my prediction is that moving to a different team will not show him to be the magician he was this season. I could be wrong, of course.
Retired RBs spent a lot of TV showtime arguing K9 "needed to be allowed to find his rhythm" instead of sharing it with Charbs. It may be MM intended this during the Playoffs, but then Charbs went down and we won't know until next year. The pace of hammering they take individually over a season will certainly cost RBs visits to miss games due to injury. I believe MM's intent is to eliminate playing at less than 100%. Let's hope Kenny Mack returns at 110% and Holani finds himself Ready to torch some games behind Walker while Charbonneau gets back to full speed. I see us as ready whether K9 returns or not.
I posted a list of things to see in HK but you already left. I forgot to mention the shop under his butt. Glad you took those steps. Still have a couple photos. I barely made it up back then. They would call the morgue come get me if I tired now. But such an incredible thing. Like the steps up from Black Sea in Odessa but those don’t climb as high in elevation. Did you take the Tram up?
I can't get my wife interested in any non-tropical destinations, so we usually end up in the Caribbean somewhere. Bahamas, Dominican, and St Lucia we've been to multiple times. Direct flights make getting there very straightforward. Went to Mexico once (Cancun area) and it was nice. I find the Caribbean rhythm really good for slowing your ass down, getting you to relax, and move at a different pace than you usually do in our chaotic little worlds. Good for the soul. People are super nice as well.
Hong Kong would be a unique experience, so I'm glad you enjoyed it Ken. Welcome back!
It's like you never left us! Just in time for FA madness to commence, although a flurry of trades going on is telling an interesting story. Namely teams clearly aren't fancying this draft much, the Raiders don't understand player value at all, and veteran big name receivers still have value for some reason.
Best holiday spot - Japan. All of it. For so many many reasons.
Best American spot - Toronto/Montreal
Best USA spot - Seattle (duh!)
Best European spot - Antwerp
Himeji Castle in Himeji-shi, Japan is quite cool. Taught English 19 years there.
Hong Kong, Kowloon, I am familiar with them. As you say, wall to wall people. The best restaurants are small out of the way, cheap places where the locals eat. One needs to appreciate spicy food to have access to all of the food. Seafood is abundant. Hunan red and green fish, but we ask for just the whole fish in the green sauce. My late wife took me to a theme park, which is a Chinese version of Disneyland. And one must go up to the top of Hong Kong where one of the novels by James Clavell, Tai Pei, takes place.
I wonder what Pete Carroll thinks of the championship. Random thought.
Welcome back!
I've had the same thought. I expect it's complicated for him.
Alright new off-season thinking:
Resign Jobe (3 years/30M.) Let everyone else walk. Sign Trey Hendrickson for two years/40M and Jalen Nailor (2 years/15M.)
Draft Dline, OG, RB in rounds 1-3, unless an amazing WR or CB slides.
Net effect is that the hawks probably get a little better in the trenches and a little worse in the secondary/at the skill positions compared to last year. Also, should still pick up a comp pick or two, plus keep 15M in effective cap they could use on an in season pickup or the Spoon+JSN extensions
SSJ so glad you had a great vacation. Welcome Back ! I was impressed with the quality and relevance of the articles you pre loaded for us Die Hard fans to peruse while you were away. I believe like others in the Power of our coaches and the front office/ JS.
I would keep the whole team together if possible but we all know that cant happen. So JS do you magic and lets see what shakes out. Then coach them up and make another run for the title !
Best vacation location in the US would be the Island of Kuai
Best vacation ever 2 weeks sailing the Greek Islands not the big tourist ones but the small honest islands no one visits
Drake Thomas signed for 2 years $8 million with incentives to get to $9 million!!! Both ILB back next year!!
Super happy with that. He's a really good player, and a great story.
Good 2 know, Thanks.
Play em, don't pay em! It's OK to strategically overpay for certain mismatches...I trust JS will do it right. I also put a premium on weapons that also have good ball security which is why I like K9 and RS. We need JSN but I'm also OK with looking into unloading him at some point while he's still good but getting way too expensive.
Just to clarify...I think we should extend JSN. But maybe not a third contract...
We have 6 starters who are free agents and we might lose all of them. I'm still shocked that we let Kupp's guarantees become vested. But someone is going to overpay for most every one of these guys. I'm saddened that we are almost surely losing Shaheed, but I am okay with it. I'd wager that we wouldn't have won the Super Bowl without him, and I'll take a 4th and 5th for a half season rental of that glorious season every time. He was an electric returner but I'm pretty certain he didn't have an offensive touchdown either catching or rushing. How much do you pay for that? Not #2 WR money in the current market -$15M+ range, that's for sure. I still wish we'd have kept Tate and traded Harvin after that Super Bowl, and this feels eerily similar -other than Rasheed being a much more emotionally stable guy. Next man up. I hate to think the season can hinge on Horton staying healthy, but I also have to remember that it's barely March.
Absolutely agree with the Kupp vesting! I am left with just assuming JS knows what he's doing because he surely could've used $9mil as $3mil over 3yrs for K9 or Sheheed. That might be the difference in whether one stays or goes
Shaheed is one of the more difficult valuations, and given the visibility of some of his key plays in our late season winning streak, it's not unlikely someone will fall in love with the guy and throw more cash at him than he's worth to us......whatever that number is. Either way, he'll remain embedded in Seahawks lore.
I’d wager that we couldn’t have gotten to the SB without Shahid. Arguably the single most important play of the year (even though Al Michaels botches the call):
https://youtu.be/XDmXZntUf1w?si=e4RsygqTnZP13hKN
Crazy idea but what about trading JSN. For a couple first round draft picks and a second rounder and whatever else one could get for such a talented player. Specifically to a team that will probably not be any good next year so your draft picks remain high. JSN is about to cost an arm and a leg at minimum right? Apologies if this has already been talked about and I missed it and/or apologies for suggesting something so extreme. This would maybe be a less dubious option if we had Kubiak as OC still.
Even the Bengals don't do that. Hard no for me. If the guy had some warts, maybe I'd consider it if the return blew me out of the water. But by all accounts he's a perfect teammate and one of the better (if not the best) WR's in the entire NFL. We'll pay him. And the Rams will pay Puka.
If we weren't trying to win Super Bowls I'd say it's worth considering. Right now, however, I'd rather mortgage the future to keep that championship window open. JSN is too important to our offense, regardless of OC.
I think it's a crazy idea. Our receiving corp would be Cooper Kupp, maybe Tory Horton, and Cody White. We had the most dynamic offense since the Greatest Show on Turf and it was mostly JSN through the air. I just can't think of what would even be a fair trade for such a talent at such a premium position who is young and just coming into form. And he's no a diva and loves being here to boot. I think that's exactly the guy you don't trade before a second contract.
Edited to add that I mean no offense, just that I would consider him as untouchable as an NFL player gets.
Let's recall Metcalf's play that occasionally scored and never sustained. "Almost" a catch. "Almost" a first down. "Almost" not penalized. Never disciplined. He took the air out of the room. We could see the talent on the field, but for that. JSN felt like redemption. You don't trade that away.
My favorite vacation spot was Hopkins, Belize. Loved the jungle, the people and the Mayan ruins.
Belize has floated around my holiday lists for a while, maybe if Seasiders like it I should finally head over there!
Wow, I was going to say Tikal, Belize for the same reasons!
My favorite vacation spot? Any island in Hawaii. The aloha spirit vibe is intoxicating and the waters are always spectacular. Plan to venture out more when retired soon with interest in Thailand, New Zealand, Portugal and Scotland. Anyone have great fun in any of those places?
Really enjoyed Portugal...more than Spain and Italy. Wife asked if I could see myself living there and I said Yeah for sure😊
I’ve been to Maui many times!
My favorite vacation spot? A few years ago, we spent three weeks in Istanbul and the interior of Turkey, and we just loved it. The political situation in both Turkey and the US has changed, so my current favorite vacation destination is Paris.
Is that SSJay in the picture of the Giant Ray? You make a lovely couple.
I absolutely loved this Super Bowl championship team, and the players on it. However, if you step away from the sentimentality for a second, you start to see a few things.
Brotherhood is pretty easily dismantled over money
All of our free agents played well for us, but they can be replaced with similar talent that doesn’t carry the Super Bowl premium. We aren’t losing our stars.
Someone is going to pay $15 million a year for Ken Walker expecting a workhorse RB1 and they aren’t going to get it. If we look at his last four years instead of his last four games, we’ll see that he will not hold up to that situation and he wouldn’t for us if we paid him that.
Someone is going to pay $15-$25 million a year for Rashid Shaheed and at best get a marginal receiver number 2 and excellent special teamer, who for us would probably be receiver 3.
Someone is going to overpay for a cornerback and an edge rusher who can be exceptional in spurts and then disappear for large chunks of games.
I’m not trying to crap on these guys because I am a big fan of theirs, but I am a bigger believer in a coaching staff that can get pro bowl performances from Kyle Van Noy and Jadaveon Clowney. I’m a bigger believer in a coaching staff that turned our perennial crap of an O-line into a Super Bowl champion O-line that is coming back intact, young and still growing. Our running game will probably be just fine.
I think JS and Coach Macdonald can find and coach up talented players at more reasonable contracts, which in the end will allow us to keep our irreplaceable stars.
I think in some ways having to replace all these players and coach up the new guys will be motivating for the coaching staff, instead of just resting on the accomplishments of last year.
If you absolutely love this team, why dis players who were critical to success? I for one can’t blame anyone in any walk of life—including pro football—for wanting the best deal they can get. After all, this is their J-O-B.
I don’t interpret Lou’s remarks as disrespect, but as reality. I don’t think anyone begrudges these guys following the money, it’s what most of us would do. But the Seahawks should do the best thing for the team, not the individual.
Solid points, Lou. This year will challenge MM to keep the Team viable for another Super Bowl title next year. K9 will be smart to buy in and likely extend his career? Or go elsewhere and flame out. Will Charbs return soon enough along with returning to form? Will Holani and KMac fill his shoes until then? The better our O-Line improves can only make that more likely. Above it all, will the guys find more love for team-play over cold hard corporate contracts? At what point does a guy know he's set for life?
K9 didn't have this great season all by himself. He needs the right blockers to create those openings for him to run through. Previous seasons were a struggle for him, he did deal with injuries, and my prediction is that moving to a different team will not show him to be the magician he was this season. I could be wrong, of course.
Retired RBs spent a lot of TV showtime arguing K9 "needed to be allowed to find his rhythm" instead of sharing it with Charbs. It may be MM intended this during the Playoffs, but then Charbs went down and we won't know until next year. The pace of hammering they take individually over a season will certainly cost RBs visits to miss games due to injury. I believe MM's intent is to eliminate playing at less than 100%. Let's hope Kenny Mack returns at 110% and Holani finds himself Ready to torch some games behind Walker while Charbonneau gets back to full speed. I see us as ready whether K9 returns or not.
I'm sure KMac won't be more than 100%, lol, but I agree with the rest!