Greg Olsen?

[Sharkonabicycle]

Seems like a big cap hit to me, with 5 mil guaranteed. No way that old man stays healthy for the entire season. Hope I'm wrong, but not a fan of this signing. Seems to me the first signing should be for the DL or at least the OL. Hate see them pissing away money on a over the hill guy.

I would imagine with this Ed Dickson (who has done fuck all) is gone... so that frees up $3M. So $4M for Olsen? I'll take it. I agree Olsen will PROBABLY be injured at some point... but we had to find a decent TE that we really couldn't afford a draft pick on given the DIRE needs in secondary, DL/OL.

Hollister is showing promise, Dissly looks great but can't stay healthy... there's a good chance 2 of those 3 (if not all 3) get injured next year anyway, but who knows. If all 3 can stay healthy that's a ridiculous TE set for us. Would imagine 2 TE sets will be routine.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

@HaroldSeattle

Walter Football seems definitely more in tune with you (than I am per my earlier post). I gave it a B, Walt thinks it's a pretty bleh signing. I see a bit more upside in that while Dissly and Hollister are younger great prospects, Dissly can't stay fuckin' healthy. 2 years in a row with major injuries... And outside of Lockett/Brown/Wilson, our offense is extremely young with not a lot of veteran presence. If he can help develop Hollister/Dissly, I think it's worth.

Wilson is also a FAR better QB than Newton. We have plenty of burners on the offensive receiving side, doesn't hurt to have a smart player that will certainly not be as fast, but knows how to 'game' a defense.

That said, my grade is contingent on getting rid of Dickson which cuts this down to basically a $4M replacement.


Walter Football Grade
Seahawks sign TE Greg Olsen (1 year, $7 million): C- Grade
Of all the places Greg Olsen visited after being released by the Panthers, Seattle seemed like the worst-possible destination. The Seahawks have two younger and better options at the position in Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister, so the 35-year-old Olsen is arguably now the third-best tight end on Seattle's roster.

Furthermore, I don't understand why the Seahawks are paying Olsen $7 million to play for them in 2020. Olsen looked close to down this past season, thriving only in matchups where the opposition struggled mightily to cover tight ends. Olsen will almost certainly be worse at 35 than he was at 34, so why the $7 million, especially when he doesn't fill a need?

The only positive I can see with this signing is that Olsen will be a positive veteran presence in the locker room, which is not something that should be dismissed. Despite that, however, I'm mostly opposed to this signing.
NFL Free Agent Signing Grades

 

[flyerhawk]

@HaroldSeattle

Walter Football seems definitely more in tune with you (than I am per my earlier post). I gave it a B, Walt thinks it's a pretty bleh signing. I see a bit more upside in that while Dissly and Hollister are younger great prospects, Dissly can't stay fuckin' healthy. 2 years in a row with major injuries... And outside of Lockett/Brown/Wilson, our offense is extremely young with not a lot of veteran presence. If he can help develop Hollister/Dissly, I think it's worth.

Wilson is also a FAR better QB than Newton. We have plenty of burners on the offensive receiving side, doesn't hurt to have a smart player that will certainly not be as fast, but knows how to 'game' a defense.

That said, my grade is contingent on getting rid of Dickson which cuts this down to basically a $4M replacement.


Walter Football Grade
Seahawks sign TE Greg Olsen (1 year, $7 million): C- Grade
Of all the places Greg Olsen visited after being released by the Panthers, Seattle seemed like the worst-possible destination. The Seahawks have two younger and better options at the position in Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister, so the 35-year-old Olsen is arguably now the third-best tight end on Seattle's roster.

Furthermore, I don't understand why the Seahawks are paying Olsen $7 million to play for them in 2020. Olsen looked close to down this past season, thriving only in matchups where the opposition struggled mightily to cover tight ends. Olsen will almost certainly be worse at 35 than he was at 34, so why the $7 million, especially when he doesn't fill a need?

The only positive I can see with this signing is that Olsen will be a positive veteran presence in the locker room, which is not something that should be dismissed. Despite that, however, I'm mostly opposed to this signing.
NFL Free Agent Signing Grades

My problem with the Walter grade is assuming that Dissly will remain healthy and that Hollister will somehow become bigger.

If Dissly does stay healthy then this was 7 million in lost insurance premium. But given that he missed the last 2 seasons with injuries that is a huge assumption.

So the question isn't so much whether we needed to get another TE, we did, as it is who we should go after.

Drafting a TE is super risky if you need him to perform. They could have spent big money on someone like Hooper but if Dissly does come back and is the same then that is a huge sunk cost.

So then it comes down to finding someone that won't cost a ton of money and I'm not sure what other options were out there

No one expects Olsen to come in and be Kelce or Kittle. But he's a true 2 way TE that can cause matchup problems. Especially Russ throwing him the ball rather than a rookie QB.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

My problem with the Walter grade is assuming that Dissly will remain healthy and that Hollister will somehow become bigger.

If Dissly does stay healthy then this was 7 million in lost insurance premium. But given that he missed the last 2 seasons with injuries that is a huge assumption.

So the question isn't so much whether we needed to get another TE, we did, as it is who we should go after.

Drafting a TE is super risky if you need him to perform. They could have spent big money on someone like Hooper but if Dissly does come back and is the same then that is a huge sunk cost.

So then it comes down to finding someone that won't cost a ton of money and I'm not sure what other options were out there

No one expects Olsen to come in and be Kelce or Kittle. But he's a true 2 way TE that can cause matchup problems. Especially Russ throwing him the ball rather than a rookie QB.

Yah, that's basically where I justified my grade (can't give it in the A range, but I don't consider it mediocre or below average). A little pricey on the insurance policy... IF all 3 can stay healthy, you've got a pretty decent rotation with some veteran offensive leadership. For 1 year where the cap wont even be a factor (we have $55 fucking million AFTER this assuming we cut Dickson)... it's a NON FACTOR.

Walt seems to have forgotten (not blaming him, few can keep track of 32 teams) that Dissly while showing great potential, has barely been on the field for 2 seasons in total. Walt also graded Dissly pretty poorly in the NFL draft grades, LOL.

 

[Podunkparte]

Who knows if Dissly will be ready to start the season? Hollister and Olsen will be serviceable to start if that means Dissly gets an extra month to get healthy and in shape, eventually phasing (probably) Olsen to #3 when the time comes.

Seems to be a pretty small cap hit, so I don't see a huge downside.

 

[JMR]

Pretty good move in my book. TE can certainly be argued as a need based on injury to Dissly and lack of depth after Hollister. It's not a bigger priority than DL, but we can't sign anyone but street free agents right now...and I don't think this 1 year deal will keep us from doing anything else we planned to do at other areas of weakness.

 

[Podunkparte]

Pretty good move in my book. TE can certainly be argued as a need based on injury to Dissly and lack of depth after Hollister. It's not a bigger priority than DL, but we can't sign anyone but street free agents right now...and I don't think this 1 year deal will keep us from doing anything else we planned to do at other areas of weakness.

I like reading your posts because it's as if I wrote out my thoughts exactly and didn't have to put in the effort.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Pretty good move in my book. TE can certainly be argued as a need based on injury to Dissly and lack of depth after Hollister. It's not a bigger priority than DL, but we can't sign anyone but street free agents right now...and I don't think this 1 year deal will keep us from doing anything else we planned to do at other areas of weakness.

Hope your right about not hindering signings that are needed. Signing Clowney and another DL for example won’t be cheap.

 

[flyerhawk]

Hope your right about not hindering signings that are needed. Signing Clowney and another DL for example won’t be cheap.

No way a one year 7 million dollar signing will have any impact on whether we sign Clowney or whomever else we sign except maybe on the margins. One year cap hits just aren't that big a deal for most NFL teams these days.

 

[Anointed One]

Olsen won't be a #3 TE on this roster... He's too valuable of a run blocker and a decent pass catcher at his age... Hollister is the one that will be the #3 TE assuming Dissly is healthy...

 

[flyerhawk]

Olsen won't be a #3 TE on this roster... He's too valuable of a run blocker and a decent pass catcher at his age... Hollister is the one that will be the #3 TE assuming Dissly is healthy...

Yeah. If they are all healthy Hollister is #3. There is a reason why he was on the practice squad to start last season.

He's a decent receiving option but he's just too small to be an effective blocker at the point of attack.

 

[MrS]

7 mil is way too much, terrible signing.

 

[flyerhawk]

7 mil is way too much, terrible signing.

I feel better about it already!

 

[Mariners_44]

7 mil is way too much, terrible signing.

well, it’s $5 million plus incentives. Rather than throw blanket statements out there I suggest you fact up rather than troll

 

[Screamin12th]

Hollister should be moved to the FB role. Lead Blocker and pass catcher from out of the backfield or when put into motion. He is not really a Big player when talking about Tight ends but he is more than big enough for a athletic FB :P. He is a better blocker than most of our RB's also lol.

 

[blstoker]

$7 million is higher than I had hoped. Personally, I thought 5 was too much. I understand he still produced last year, but that isn't to say he's gonna produce this year, and the team is stuck with it. Overall, I do like Olson, but $7 million is high, IMO.

That said, DJ Humphries is getting $15 million per with his re-signing. Ifedi was #53 at tackle according to PFF (I think that was what was quoted earlier), Humphries was #47. If this is the kind've money that is gonna be thrown around for mediocre talent, we're gonna see a lot of contracts that go for much higher than anticipated - and the later free agents are probably gonna have to settle for much lower than anticipated contracts by contrast.

 

[Podunkparte]

Hollister should be moved to the FB role. Lead Blocker and pass catcher from out of the backfield or when put into motion. He is not really a Big player when talking about Tight ends but he is more than big enough for a athletic FB :P. He is a better blocker than most of our RB's also lol.

I hope this is some kind of bad joke post.

 

[seattlefan75]

7 million maybe too much but its a one year deal its not like it is a multi year deal I hate being stuck with a large contract and on an under performing playing and have 2-3 years remaining on the contract. Besides TE is a position area I wouldn't mind have more leadership. I would like more signings like this on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously not a 37 year old signing but 1/2 year signings 5-10 million. Something that wont break the bank and gives players the opportunity to prove themselves.

 

[Anointed One]

Yeah. If they are all healthy Hollister is #3. There is a reason why he was on the practice squad to start last season.

He's a decent receiving option but he's just too small to be an effective blocker at the point of attack.

He’s also a FA I think

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

He’s also a FA I think

Restricted, but yes.. and he may command a decent paycheck. It'd be unfortunate to see Seattle let him go, but we have major concerns on both the lines, secondary, and potentially runningback *sigh* That said, dunno anyone would give up a 1st or 2nd for him (meaning we can pay him like $2-3M to return).