Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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20 Nov 2008

The Seahawks Core

John Morgan breaks down what he thinks the core of the Seahawks' next great team will be.

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 20 Nov 2008

11 comments, Last at 20 Nov 2008, 4:05pm by Tom Gower

Comments

1
by Dunbar (not verified) :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 3:29am

This is a pretty cool article, but don't we already have enough Seahawks commentary on FO? Why don't we hear a little more about, say, Tennessee, or my team, the Steelers--you know, actual contenders who are playing important games at this point in the season.

2
by leyoz (not verified) :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 7:55am

I don't think you can chip FO for linking to a interesting, well written article because it happens to be about the Seahawks. It's not like they invested their precious time developing it while ignoring other teams. I'm sure if they surfed across a similarly well written article about any team they'd link to it.

Like you said it was a cool article - that I enjoyed and wouldn't otherwise have read.

4
by Tom Gower :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 11:30am

Because I'm lazy and I haven't written an article like this for the Titans yet? Also, for a team where this season is still important, it makes more sense to write an article about this year than one looking at the future-there'll be time for that in February.

Actually, there are two posts I need to write. First, looking at the cap situation, especially with the uncertainty looming in 2010 and possibly beyond. Second, Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt gave a speech earlier this year where he referred to a core of 10-12 elite players that a team basically builds around. These are the players that you do whatever you can to keep and generally aren't available at all in free agency or via trade (without giving up a core player of your own), though of course I'm not sure Bud Adams will shell out the dough to keep Haynesworth, who does fall into that category.

5
by Guido Merkens :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 12:40pm

I forget where I read this, but aren't the Titans in fantastic cap shape going forward? They don't really have any big-money guys - even the young tackles are pretty reasonably priced. It shouldn't be that big of a problem to pay Haynesworth $8-11 mil per year.

On that note, does anybody know where I could find data on the salary cap situation of NFL teams? Ideally, it would be player-by-player, similar to the breakdowns HoopsHype does for the NBA:
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/detroit.htm

I think I saw something like this on a Steelers fan site once, but I have no idea where.

6
by tuluse :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 1:09pm

USA today does a really good job with player salaries and cap hits. But it doesn't have some of the more obscure things. Also, I'm not 100% convinced of it's accuracy.

http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/default.aspx

7
by Tom Gower :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 1:20pm

The Titans are in pretty good cap shape for the same reason they were in pretty good cap shape going into this past offseason-they don't have many players locked up in longer term deals. I'm still mucking with my spreadsheet and I don't have access to it right now, but IIRC few players are signed past 2009 and the only players signed past 2010 are the rookies on their draft contracts, OTs Roos and Stewart, and FB Ahmard Hall. They don't look like they'll be hard up against the cap any time soon, but could find themselves in another hole if they spend their money unwisely and/or draft poorly.

There is no good public repository of cap situations for all NFL teams like there is for the NBA. The information just isn't publicly available. Listings of teams with cap space that are probably accurate can be found occasionally in columns by reporters-Clayton and PK have had it semi-regularly (like, before the start of free agent season) in the past. There's also the USAToday salary database that was the subject of a recent (2-3 weeks?) XP, which is useful but not perfect (I don't think it has any dead money listed). Also, take a look at the Links section on here-there are links to some cap websites, I think.

10
by putnamp (not verified) :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 2:54pm

Never thought I'd see the day that a Steelers fan felt underrepresented on FO!

3
by Dales :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 11:04am

Pat Kearney, done for the year.

8
by John Morgan (not verified) :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 1:51pm

Thanks for the link.

I'm flattered.

9
by Dice (not verified) :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 2:45pm

I thought Finnegan had received an extension. And for the Seahawks, Carlson as a Pro Bowl TE? He has to get by Witten and Cooley first...and Brian Russell isn't a core player?

11
by Tom Gower :: Thu, 11/20/2008 - 4:05pm

Yup, I forgot Finnegan. See what happens when I do stuff from memory while on hold with the government?

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