Lane/Mebane/Sweezy

[Sharkonabicycle]

Apparently Lane resigned for 4 years. Mebane is gone to San Diego and Sweezy is gone to the Bucs.

Lane details are unknown but we'll see. When healthy the guy is a stud and if Seattle committed for 4 years they are a huge fan. I just hope he can shake the injuries.

Mebane to San Diego I don't mind. Rubin actually played better last year and Mebane is just getting older. Loved the years he put in for us though.

Sweezy is interesting. Apparently Seattle wanted him back but Tampa just offered too much more. Sweezy was ranking as one of the worst guards in the league according to PFF, earning negative grades in both pass and run block with a bigger weakness at pass block. PFF isn't the end all be all, just another stat/benchmark but still interesting. Sweezy did seem to break down on a lot of pass plays and at times his run block was fairly suspect. Showed flashes of greatness on some plays but got demolished on others by more talented lineman/backers.


Kind of torn on Sweezy. On one hand I hate losing lineman because it takes time for a lineman to gel and Seattle already has another (Okung) as a free agent who will likely command more than we can pay him. That leaves holes on both the offensive/defensive line while Irvin leaves.

Seattle without Lynch has 23.2M (includes resigning of Rubin, not Lane - details unknown), which basically means $20M due to rookies. Enough to work with since you can backload a bit of cap, but I think we're going to need a strong draft this year.

 

[jakedog56]

5 years - $35 million a year for a mediocre Sweezy is ridiculous. He isn't worth more than $4 million a year imo.

Some crazy bad contracts being thrown around today. It is noticable that the best teams are sitting out this initial feeding frenzy for the most part.

Bring on da comp picks!

 

[RegentDenali]

Bucs and Chargers grossly overpaid for what they're getting. Good luck with that.

 

[Judge Fudge]

Hate sounding like a broken record but

Let Sweezy go. He can Be replaceable. Championship teams do that
Let Irvin go. He can be replaceable. Championship teams do that.
Let Membane go. He can Be replaceable. Championship teams do that

and we are a championship team right??????

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Lots of guys to replace. Definitely gonna have to go heavy on o-line in this draft.

 

[Judge Fudge]

Lots of guys to replace. Definitely gonna have to go heavy on o-line in this draft.

I Concur. Yet after Losing Mebane, I would go DT 1st

 

[dude82]

If Okung goes somewhere else, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if left tackle was the first position addressed in the draft. Everything I've read suggests that the coaching staff is high on Glowinski, so drafting a guard might not be a high priority this year even with the loss of Sweezy. So... assuming they don't go BPA regardless of position in the first round this year and they do take a left tackle, I imagine that defensive tackle is pretty high on their list of priorities as well. I still think it's possible that they decide to move Bennett inside, especially if they're looking at defensive ends in free agency, but the more likely scenario is getting a DT in the draft. Re-signing Lane theoretically takes cornerback off the list of priorities, so maybe linebacker will be next on that list. It's tough to know what they're gonna do because they seem to surprise everyone every year with their picks, but things are shaping up in a way that certain positions should take priority over others in the draft.

 

[JMR]

I'm a bit surprised to see people here think not re-signing this guy or that guy is going to drive what we do with a particular pick in the draft. We spent a 2nd rounder on Michael when we still had Lynch in his prime. We traded a first rounder for Harvin when we had Tate & Baldwin. We used a 2nd rounder on Richardson when we had Harvin & Baldwin. Used the #75 overall on a 5'10" QB right after blowing a bunch of money to bring in QB of the future Matt Flynn.

These guys aren't held hostage in the draft by short term stuff. I think they pick players they think are the best fits, regardless of what immediate "needs" (<-- most over-used word between Feb and Apr every year).

 

[Mariners_44]

When looking at our FA heading into yesterday I felt like Rubin & Lane were priority; Irvin would be on that list if it was realistic for him to return. It's a bummer to see Mebane go, but we signed the younger DT that performs better at this point in Mebanes career. Maybe I have missed something in watching Sweezy since being added to the line, but his loss doesn't seem like a huge deal to me in all honesty; especially at the rate for which he signed yesterday. Okung is the big question mark because of his injury history. I would like to have him back, but if he continues his string of injuries he can become a detriment. I'll be happy if he stays but not bummed if he goes....we'll see how it goes with him.

 

[JMR]

When looking at our FA heading into yesterday I felt like Rubin & Lane were priority; Irvin would be on that list if it was realistic for him to return. It's a bummer to see Mebane go, but we signed the younger DT that performs better at this point in Mebanes career. Maybe I have missed something in watching Sweezy since being added to the line, but his loss doesn't seem like a huge deal to me in all honesty; especially at the rate for which he signed yesterday. Okung is the big question mark because of his injury history. I would like to have him back, but if he continues his string of injuries he can become a detriment. I'll be happy if he stays but not bummed if he goes....we'll see how it goes with him.

Yep. Sweezy is the only loss right now that is a bit surprising. We all figured Irvin was gone to chase the $$ and likely that only one of Rubin/Mebane would be back. Mebane was the oldest player/starter on this defense, and Irvin is gonna count $12M against the cap this year for Oakland. I think so far, so good in free agency.

 

[MrS]

At this point i feel like okung is a must sign, but not for outrageous money. I just dont see how we can let two ol starters walk and not see a replay of last year.

They need to stop disregarding the ol its ridiculous.

 

[Mariners_44]

At this point i feel like okung is a must sign, but not for outrageous money. I just dont see how we can let two ol starters walk and not see a replay of last year.

They need to stop disregarding the ol its ridiculous.

I agree 100%. What gets me the most is that not only do they disregard it, but they go as far as to convert players over signing ACTUAL offensive lineman. Three starters on the line last year we converts, THREE! It's mind boggling when you think about it. It's one thing for a line to find cohesiveness, but it's another when the players need to flat out learn a position before cohesiveness can even come into play. Crazy!

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Well Seattle is pursuing Okung hard apparently but nothing to stop him from going to a different team for WAY overpay.

Sweezy, $35 F'ing million!? Are the Bucs high or something? Sweezy was one of the worst guards in the NFL last year. By far the biggest F signing of the offseason. I'm actually fine with Sweezy walking. He was TERRIBLE in pass coverage and not that great in run support. Yah every once in a while he showed some flashes and made a good downfield block, but for every one of those there were 3-4 defenders that blew through him and destroyed Lynch/Wilson or whoever was back there.

 

[Screamin12th]

I Concur. Yet after Losing Mebane, I would go DT 1st

Not sure about that. Oline is not so strong this draft where as they say you can get a quality starter on the Dline in the 3rd round as it's the strongest Dline class they have seen in YEARS. I would go Oline first as the Hawks need to get some "quality" there. They have Hill to plug in beside Rubin ( forgot about Hill didn't you ) and the Hawks use a heavy rotation on the Dline. If they grab someone he will be a 2 down player and a heavy ROTATION player like Mebane was. I just can't see them using a first on someone that will only play at most 40% of the snaps if that. It's just how this defense is built.

Now if there is a stud DE out there that can also slide inside they might go that route. I understand peoples thinking when it comes to DT but a Healthy hill was a upgrade over Mebane when he played. He also adds more pass rush from inside. They might go OLB also with someone that can put his hand in the ground on 3rd downs.

 

[dude82]

I'm a bit surprised to see people here think not re-signing this guy or that guy is going to drive what we do with a particular pick in the draft. We spent a 2nd rounder on Michael when we still had Lynch in his prime. We traded a first rounder for Harvin when we had Tate & Baldwin. We used a 2nd rounder on Richardson when we had Harvin & Baldwin. Used the #75 overall on a 5'10" QB right after blowing a bunch of money to bring in QB of the future Matt Flynn.

These guys aren't held hostage in the draft by short term stuff. I think they pick players they think are the best fits, regardless of what immediate "needs" (<-- most over-used word between Feb and Apr every year).

The Hawks have had a habit of taking conventional wisdom and throwing it out the window when it comes to the draft, but I do think they'll manage to take care of whatever needs they have left in the draft, even if they do so in an unconventional way. It's hard for me to believe that if they lost Okung, they wouldn't go after a left tackle in the draft and do it relatively early on. Hell, they might even do what they've done recently and trade their first rounder for an established LT. They would technically be addressing the position via the draft and it would fit with their M.O. of being unconventional. I just think that Wilson has been hit too many times and has had too much of the burden placed on him to avoid getting hit in his four years in the league and they can't rely on that working out well forever. I don't want an injury to Wilson to be the thing that finally makes them take the more conventional approach to the offensive line.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Hate sounding like a broken record but

Let Sweezy go. He can Be replaceable. Championship teams do that
Let Irvin go. He can be replaceable. Championship teams do that.
Let Membane go. He can Be replaceable. Championship teams do that

and we are a championship team right??????

We just need another good draft... Mebane still has game, but he is getting up there... Irvin was a loss and might set us back a bit, unless we can nail a good linebacker in the draft, Sweezy wasn't much of a loss..

 

[NWPATSFAN]

5 years - $35 million a year for a mediocre Sweezy is ridiculous. He isn't worth more than $4 million a year imo.

Some crazy bad contracts being thrown around today. It is noticable that the best teams are sitting out this initial feeding frenzy for the most part.

Bring on da comp picks!

That is a crazy contract. 35 million a year WOW!

 

[jakedog56]

That is a crazy contract. 35 million a year WOW!

Obviously a mistype on my part. I do have faith that you are able to decipher the meaning though.

In regards to the Sweezy deal, I do see that he has no guaranteed money against the cap after the 2nd year of the contract. That means that TB can cut him in the 3rd year or beyond of the contract with no dead money. So it isn't as bad as it originally looks.

 

[gohusk]

There's some bad players making a lot of money this offseason.