What Bobby Wants

by: Michael Steffes

Clare Farnsworth of the PI appears to be the only reporter who has actually talked with Bobby Engram. He has an article this morning that at leasts lets us know what Bobby is seeking.

Bobby wants a two year extension on top of his current deal. He wants to play until 2010 and retire a Seahawk. "Seattle is where I want to be. Seattle is where I want to retire." Fair enough. The Hawks are willing to talk about a 1 year deal.

The Seahawks are not going to cave on this one. Nor should they. Bobby is 35 and just had his first 1000 yard season on a team that threw the ball 70% of the time and suffered from numerous injuries to his position. Even if he shows no signs of slowing down, he isn't likely to duplicate those numbers. That is why he wants to get paid now. That is why the Hawks want to wait.

Bobby will be ready to play when he is required, but as for next year, we likely won't know until next February. Read More!

No Quick Fix

by: Michael Steffes

There appears to be no quick resoulution on the Bobby front. Clare Farnsworth has talked with Bobby and he won't be attending practice today either. Here is the quote Clare got from Bobby.....

"It's about money, absolutely, but it's not about some selfish athlete just wanting money for no reason," Engram said this morning.

I am not sure how we are supposed to interpret Bobby's quote, but it seems there is more to his side of the story. Hopefully he will let the fans know, so we can adequately assess the situation. From a team perspective, it is clear. They don't want to give new money to a 35 year old who is under contract. They were probably expecting he would play out the final year of his deal and consider retirement. At least, that is what I was expecting. If he does want to continue playing, he is doing nothing right now that will encourage the front office to keep him around beyond this year. With Mora coming in and no Holmgren to go to bat for him, he may want to reconsider this strategy. END Read More!

Bobby Engram Unhappy

by: Michael Steffes

Reports out yesterday said Bobby Engram missed the first day of voluntary workouts because he had a personal reason. This article by Frank Hughes of the News Tribune, sites a source that says Bobby actually missed because he is looking for a new contract.

In many ways, Bobby deserves more money. He is the most dependable Hawks receiver and that translated last year into the most production. He makes approximately half of what Nate Burleson is making and far less than Deion Branch. Bobby is entering the last year of his contract making 1.75 million. He will be a free agent next year, so if he produces again this year he will likely get a nice deal, possibly from the Hawks, depending on how the young guys play.

I can understand Bobby's reasoning. He needs to get paid as much as he can now, because 35 year old wide receivers are usually near the end. But on the other hand, he collected an equal amount of money for 06' when he played limited games. That is just how a contract works. One would have to believe that Tim Ruskell learned about paying for past production with the Shaun Alexander deal, and thus I don't expect the front office to be lining up to hand Engram more money. I would be curious to hear what he wants. Or if he shows for camp today. He may be making a short statement, but not planning on making a huge issue of this.

I can't argue he deserved more for last year, but how can anybody be sure he will continue to produce at a high level into his late 30's? In this case it seems to me that Bobby is trying to use the only leverage he has, the Hawks need for him this year because of the Branch injury, to get what he can. We will see how it plays out. END Read More!

Home Town Discount

John Clayton just posted an article about Marcus Trufant's signing titled Trufant Gives Seattle Hometown Discount.

I thought that this is an interesting topic. Why? Because the Hawks seem to be darn effective at getting players to agree to these deals. By my count there have been four deals that could be counted as hometown discounts this offseason.

Mike Wahle...took very little money, has ties to Bainbridge Island
Sean Locklear...good young tackles usually get more than 12 mil guaranteed.
Lofa Tatupu....No need to test the market, he loves it in Seattle
Marcus Trufant....took less than every other corner who signed, local guy.

Is Leroy Hill next? The days of free agents leaving and then bashing the organization ala Chike Okeafor are long gone. This is the benefit of having a successful, and well run franchise. I will go out on a limb and say the only other team that is keeping their own, for less, as well or better is New England. For those who argue that Ruskell alienates the players and upsets them with his negotiating style, this is pretty solid evidence to the contrary.

Also, Congratulations Marcus....Enjoy your honeymoon big guy! Come back safe! END Read More!

Trufant Contract #'s

Frank Hughes has broken down the contract for the Seahawk faithful at Seahawks Insider. Here is the link. Good Work Frank!

For the first two years of the deal Marcus has a base salary of 1 mil. He has a signing bonus of 10 mil this year, and a roster bonus of 7 mil next year.

His cap hits then are 3 million this year, which saves 6.5 off the franchise tender, and then 10 million next year. If the team needs room, they may convert the roster bonus to a signing bonus, much like they did with Kerney and Grant this year.

Also, in 2010, Trufant has a base salary of 5.7 mil, with a roster bonus of 3 mil, making his cap hit 10.7 mil, unless either of these roster bonuses are converted.

That all totals almost 28 million, so he is scheduled to make about 22 over the last three years. The salaries are probably something in the vicinity of 6.5, 7.5, and 8 million. With cap hits 2 million above that in years 4 and 5. All and all, the Hawks are taking some big hits in later years to lower the hit in this year.

My belief is that they will now take Shaun's hit all in 2008 and take their medicine, trying to create some cap freedom in upcoming years. This would be a smart move to aid the transition to the Mora regime. END Read More!

Explaining the Kerney, Grant, Terrill, & Babs Restructuring

Many of us out in Seahawk land tonight are just tickled neon green that Lofa has been signed to a long term deal. It has also been noted by the front office that several players had to restructure to help get the deal done.

I thought I would help explain. First off let me say that I am only taking educated guesses here. I have no idea what the team and player worked out, and probably never will, but by looking at the contract info we do have, I feel pretty confident making assumptions.

To continue.....

To begin let me explain there are two types of bonuses. A roster bonus and a signing bonus. For our purposes all you have to understand is that a roster bonus counts all in one year and a signing bonus, while paid upfront, is prorated over a maximum of five years against the cap. I know this can be confusing, but hopefully that gives you a good enough idea to follow along.

First lets look at Deon Grant. Surprisingly I have talked about Deon restructuring before.

Deon had a 5 mil roster bonus due this year. By converting this to a signing bonus, he still gets the money up front, but the team lowers their cap obligation from 7.647 down to 3.647, saving 4 million.

Patrick Kerney also had a 5 mil roster bonus due. He also has a 3 mil roster bonus next year. If we assume he just restructured this years bonus into a signing bonus, then that would lower the cap obligation from 7.417 mil, down to 3.417 million. Again 4 mil in savings.

In both these cases, the Hawks are now counting these bonuses as 1 million/year over the last 5 yrs of these deals.

With Babs, I am guessing that the 1.5 mil bonus he was scheduled to receive was a roster bonus as well. I already had it labeled as a signing bonus. This could account for why my figure was off a little from John Clayton's. The bonus is 1.5 mil, and if was changed from a roster bonus to a signing bonus, and thus prorated, it saves 1.2 million, counting only 300k/year over the next 5 yrs.

As you can see, it helps that these are fairly new contracts because they have the 5 yrs left. 5 yrs is the max length to prorate a bonus. However, these players become a little tougher to cut early because this is how the bonus comes back and causes dead money.

Terrill is a little odd. He has no bonus and is only scheduled to make 900K. He is scheduled to make 1.15 each of the next two years. It is possible they gave him some money up front and lowered his base salary to the vet minimum. It would only save a couple 100k, but maybe they felt they needed to. This is the one out of the four they may have been creative with. ]

Either way, all these guys have earned and are getting their money, but to go through the hassle of handling all this so Lofa could get what he deserves still shows a lot.

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Clarification on the Contract

Danny O'Neil, as always, has stepped in and provided a bit of clarification. Thanks Danny!
Here is what he said....

The final two years of his rookie deal were torn up. He's now under contract through 2015. The new contract is believed to total about $42 million with Tatupu guaranteed to receive $18 million of that total.

At first glance, it's believed to be one of the three biggest contracts ever for a middle linebacker and on par with the deal Brian Urlacher received from Chicago.

This makes sense and is a good deal for both parties. Lofa gets the cake he deserved and really, at least to the Hawks, he was probably worth more. Being paid on par with Brian Urlacher is never a bad thing, if you are a middle linebacker.

Now we need to mobilize and start a campaign to get Fathead to make a Lofa!!! He can chill on my wall anyday! END Read More!

Lofa Tatupu Agrees to New Six Year Contract Extension

The big news of the day was that Lofa and the Seahawks reached a long term agreement. This deal is an extension on top of his current contract, which most believed would void after this year. However the new deal adds on to two years for which he was under contract with 6 more years, keeping Lofa in Seattle utill 2015.

John Clayton, in this story here, is reporting the deal is for slightly more than 40 mil.

Tim Ruskell, Mike Holmgren and Lofa all spoke at the press conference. What I thought was very telling was that Patrick Kerney, Deon Grant, Craig Terril, and Jordan Babineaux all restructured to help get this done.

To see quotes and analysis.....

Lofa said..."I couldn't imagine myself in any other uniform and now I don't have too." He also said..."He needed some rings for his jewelry drawer." and this defense can be "as good as they want to be."

Tim Ruskell said "this contract essentially makes Lofa a Seahawk for life."

Coach Holmgren said.."Players like Lofa don't come around very often, he is a special young man."

I say CHEERS to Tim Ruskell and the Seahawks front office. Now that players he drafted for his system are coming up on the end of the deals, I expect to see this become a much more common occurrence and I for one and very excited about the future of this defense. Especially considering the all for one mentality shown by several members of LOFA's unit!

Does this put more pressure on Marcus? No probably not. However, it does show that some of the players are more interested in the making this the best team possible and not trying to get the most money. At some point Marcus may have to decide which type of person he is.

I have no word on any contract figures or cap hits, but if they come out I will get them to you. Read More!

Julius Jones Contract Numbers

Despite what was being reported, it would appear that the Hawks have done a very nice job getting Julius Jones on board. I refused to jump to the conclusion that JJ would be making 5.5 million this year, and I was right.

Here are his base salaries for the deal

2008-700k
2009-1.95
2010-2.2
2011-2.55

It was reported that it was a 4 year deal worth anywhere from 12 to 16 million. The base salaries account for 6.7 million. 4 mil in guaranteed money would most likely be in the form of a signing bonus. That would make the cap hits, 1.7, 2.95, 3.2, 3.55. Very reasonable!

It is possible that there are other bonuses that account for the discrepancy in the reported contract figures, but with these base salaries and only 4 guaranteed, the Hawks appear to have gotten him at a bargain basement price.

END Read More!

Clear the Air

Everybody in town is talking about how Julius Jones is going to make 5.5 million dollars for 2008 and this just crazy.

I have been waiting until the contract was submitted to the league to talk about this because it seems to me this whole thing has been misinterpreted. Adam Schefter originally wrote...

"The contract includes $4 million guaranteed, and $5.5 million in the first year of the deal"

This was then conveyed several places, including Profootballtalk.com and now the Seattle papers as Julius Jones is making 5.5 this year.

Guess what, He is. TJ Duckett is making 4.6 million this year. They get their signing bonuses up front. That counts towards this years compensation. They are not paying Jones 5.5 in salary.

When Schefter says, what was probably relayed from the agent, 4 million guaranteed and 5.5 in the first year, he is saying that there is a 4 million dollar signing bonus and he is being payed 1.5 of salary in the first year. 4 million is exactly what they gave TJ Duckett in signing bonus money too. When the contract becomes official this will be verified, but until then, please don't pull your hair out thinking the Hawks just gave Julius Jones the most ridiculous first year salary ever. That is not how it is going down, I can almost positively assure you.

Once the contract is official, I will break down exactly how the money is being payed to all the running backs. As best as I have followed so far, Jones and Duckett's deals together have equaled about what the team owed Shaun over the next three years, which they will now not be paying. Because of signing bonuses, they will still save money under the cap too. End of Post Read More!

Duckett's Deal Looks Great

Clare Farnsworth is reporting the specifics of the deal on his blog

Rotoworld says...

The deal includes about $4 million in unlikely to be earned incentives, $4 million guaranteed, and a cap charge of $1 million in 2008. It's still a nice deal for the 27-year-old.

Unlikely to be earned incentives don't count against the cap. And with the long (5yr)duration, the team was able to spread out the bonus. Great deal, lets hope Duckett produces.

Also, Farnsworth's article mentions that Ellis Wyms is visiting Tennessee, but the
Hawks are also interested in bringing him back.

I have again updated the Salary Spreadsheet and currently show the Hawks with 108.52 mil counting against the cap. That would leave them a hair over 8 mil in space. They now literally will need that for rookies and emergency, so they will have to free some space to do more. Hopefully, Marcus's long term deal is announced tomorrow.

END OF POST Read More!

Ruskell Really Likes Logan Payne

Ruskell was described as having gushed over the abilities of Logan Payne while being interviewed by the Seattle beat writers last week. Well he has backed up his talk with cash. Logan Payne was the recipient of a multiyear deal, modest as it is, at 290K per.

.. Former Gophers receiver Logan Payne has signed a multiyear contract for $290,000 per year with the Seahawks, according to his agent, Chris Murray. Payne spent last season on the Seahawks practice squad but was on the active roster for their two playoff games, though he didn't dress for either one.

Here is the link to the article right here.


END OF POST Read More!

More Contract Numbers

For those of you on the edge of your seats, Jeb Putzier will be making 605K for his work with the Hawks this season. According the the NFLPA contract figures. I have updated the Salary Spreadsheet located in the right sidebar accordingly.

END OF POST Read More!

Locklear's Contract #'s

Sean Locklear's contract has finally been made official. Here are the numbers...

2008.....1.00
2009.....1.00
2010.....4.85
2011.....5.6
2012....7.295

These are the base salaries. However, you can tell a lot by the way this deal is structured. Because of the low figures in year one and two, I can almost assure you that the bonus was split up. The guaranteed money was 12 million. I wouldn't be surprised if it was spread evenly over the first two years, as 6 mil in signing and then a 4 mil roster bonus, or something similar. The first two years are probably also guaranteed . However, that is just speculation until the bonus money is reported, but the way the deal is structured shows that Lock was a team player on this one. He and the Hawks did everything possible to keep the cap hits low in the next couple years. He will either be a left tackle or restructure by the end, when the cap hits become quite large.

Count this one as a win for the front office.

END OF POST Read More!

Mike Wahle's contract #'s

The NFLPA players salary database was updated last night to include the contract figures on one Mike Wahle, the new LG for the Hawks. He makes base salaries of 2mil in 08', 3.1mil in 09' and2010, and 3.9mil in both 2011 and 2012. Not to shabby. There is an unreported signing bonus as well. My guess is that is no more than 10 million. That would make it a 5yr 26 million dollar deal, which sounds about right. If that is the case, the cap hits are reasonable. At most the hit is 4 million this year, and if they split the bonus into two parts, say one now, and one in before 2010, it could be even less. Either way it looks like a heck of a deal if he plays like he is capable.

The Seahawks Salary Spreadsheet has been updated.END Read More!