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Pete Carroll

Rams Eyeing Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll

December 13th, 2016 at 12:28pm CST by Zachary Links

Let the rumors begin. In a city dominated by celebrity gossip, it only makes sense that there will be rampant speculation about the Rams’ head coaching vacancy and several big names bandied about. The “power brokers” within the Rams organization have Seahawks coach Pete Carroll high atop their wishlist, multiple sources tell Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports. That group includes owner Stan Kroenke and vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff. Pete Carroll

[RELATED: Pete Carroll Fined $200K By NFL]

There are a few important things to note here. One, Carroll is under contract with Seattle through the 2019 season, and the Seahawks aren’t about to give their star coach away to a divisional rival. Secondly, there’s no indication in Robinson’s report that the Rams have reached out to Carroll. Third, it’s not known whether the job would be of interest to the former USC head coach, though some believe that a return to California would appeal to him. Robinson’s report is clear on all of these points: the interest is there, but it is not necessarily mutual, nor is it particularly likely to come to fruition.

“Pete makes sense in a lot of ways,” one source said. “There is already a defensive core in place for him to work with. He has deep coaching ties across [the NFL] and knows how to build an offensive staff that can bring along [Goff]. … He’s a California guy at heart and has a track record there with the L.A. fan base [from his time at USC]. He’s also a great, great coach.”

Would Carroll consider leaving the Seahawks? Would the Seahawks even entertain the notion of sending a Super Bowl winning coach to another NFC West team? And, when push comes to shove, are the Rams ready to give Carroll a record-setting contract and forfeit several draft picks? It’s a situation to keep an eye on this offseason, but the roadblocks here are massive.

For what it’s worth, Carroll responded in the affirmative today when asked if he’d rule out any chance of wanting to coach the Rams (Twitter link via Jack Wang of the Daily News).

Seahawks Lose Fifth-Round Pick

September 19th, 2016 at 12:56pm CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks will lose their fifth-round pick in 2017 for violating the league’s rules regarding contact practices in the offseason, according to an announcement from the NFL. The Seahawks will also lose a week of OTAs and face a fine of $400K. Coach Pete Carroll personally will have to pay $200K in fines for his role. Pete Carroll

The NFL and NFLPA’s agreement on excessive contact in offseason workouts was breached on June 6th when Carroll’s team doled out hard hits during OTAs. This is not the first team that the Seahawks have run afoul of these regulations and, therefore, they were docked a draft choice in addition to the fines.

In this year’s draft, there were three instances of teams losing draft picks as a result of rules violations. The Patriots (first round), Chiefs (third round), and the Falcons (fifth round) were all penalized for different infractions by the league office.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Seahawks Extend Pete Carroll Through 2019

July 26th, 2016 at 9:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Seahawks have signed head coach Pete Carroll to a long-term extension that will keep him in Seattle through the 2019 season. Carroll’s contract had been set to expire after the upcoming season.Pete Carroll

[RELATED: Seahawks, Michael Bennett’s agent to discuss contract]

Carroll’s extension comes just two days after the Seahawks locked up general manager John Schneider through the 2021 campaign, meaning the club’s brain trust will be together for at least the next four seasons. Seattle was always expected to hammer out a new deal with its head coach, and Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reported yesterday that there was no rancor in negotiations. Rather, the Seahawks (and Carroll) simply wanted to follow their usual offseason plan — tackling free agency, the draft, and extensions for contract year players — before working out a new agreement.

In addition to allowing Carroll avoid a lame-duck status in 2016, the extension also gives both Seattle and Carroll some added security — Carroll will be guaranteed a salary for a few extra years, and the Seahawks mitigate the risk of their head coach eyeing another job. While there has been no indication that Carroll would want to leave Seattle, one January report suggested that the former USC head coach may eventually have interest in a Los Angeles NFL job, with the Rams – and possibly Chargers – returning to L.A.

Carroll’s current contract is believed to place him among the NFL’s top three highest-paid coaches, with an annual salary in the range of $7-8MM per year. Presumably, his new deal wouldn’t involve a pay cut of any sort, so Carroll will continue to rank near the top of the salary leaderboard for coaches after signing his extension.

Since taking over as the Seahawks’ head coach in 2010, Carroll has led the team to a 60-36 regular-season record, with a 9-6 record and a Super Bowl win in the postseason. Seattle has won at least 10 games and made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, winning at least one postseason contest every year and earning a spot in the Super Bowl twice.

Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link) was the first to report the extension and noted that it runs through 2019. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC West Notes: 49ers, Gamble, Davis, Carroll

July 25th, 2016 at 8:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The 49ers have hired Tom Gamble as assistant general manager, the club announced today. Gamble is in his second stint with San Francisco, as he worked alongside GM Trent Baalke in the club’s front office from 2005-2012 before re-joining the team in January 2015 as a senior personnel executive. Notably, current 49ers head coach Chip Kelly brought Gamble with him to Philadelphia as his top personnel man, but Gamble was ousted following the 2014 campaign.

Here’s a look at the latest from the NFC West:

  • Although the 49ers are reportedly more interested in keeping offensive tackle Anthony Davis than trading him, the club is “wary” of Davis’ reinstatement and could be questioning his commitment to football, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). San Francisco is somewhat worried that Davis will be challenged in his return to the everyday grind of the NFL, and the team’s staff will watch him closely as camp and the preseason progresses. Davis, a former first-round pick, is far more talented than the Niners’ incumbent right tackle, Erik Pears, so the club doesn’t have much to lose by letting Davis attend training camp and compete for a starting position.
  • Now that the Seahawks have extended the contract of general manager John Schneider, head coach Pete Carroll will be next, sources tell Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Seattle uses a specific approach to the offseason, tackling free agency, the draft, and then extensions for their players entering the last year of their deals. Carroll, sources tell Condotta, merely wanted to get through that period of the club’s to-do list, and there’s been no rancor of any kind in negotiations. Plus, Carroll likely wanted to ensure that Schneider was kept under contract before agreeing to re-sign, as he did when the pair was up for new deals previously.
  • The Seahawks are in good shape for the future after extending Schneider, writes Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com, and Schneider says the most critical part of the club’s success is a lack of vanity. “No ego. Ego is the enemy,” said Schneider. “And it’s being able to communicate, being able to communicate in a clear, concise fashion and make decisions as quickly as you possibly can. But knowing that, first and foremost, we’re looking out for the organization, No. 1, what’s best for the organization.” Carroll has final say on personnel moves in Seattle, but that distinction has never proved controversial among the team’s leadership.
  • Earlier today, we learned that the Seahawks will meet with the agent for defensive lineman Michael Bennett to discuss a new contract.

Seahawks To Extend GM John Schneider

July 24th, 2016 at 9:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks and longtime GM John Schneider have reached an agreement on an extension that will make him one of the highest-paid GMs in the NFL. It’s a five-year extension for Schneider set to run through the 2021 season.

The deal, per Clayton, will approach $3.75MM per year, matching Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome for the highest full-time GM salary in the NFL . Schneider was set to be seeking a contract worth $4MM per season, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports.

Schneider’s contract was set to expire after the 2016 season. Pete Carroll‘s deal expires after 2016 as well and the Schneider pact is expected to soon lead to an extension for the team’s highly-regarded head coach.

The team has qualified for the playoffs in five of the pair’s six years together, including each of the past four. Assembling a mostly homegrown group of talent during this decade, Seattle’s gone to two Super Bowls, winning one and coming closer than perhaps any big-game loser has to claiming another title one year later.

Under Schneider’s regime, the Seahawks have been one of the league’s best at drafting talent and possibly the best reaching extensions with cornerstone players — including Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner. They received the most productive years of Marshawn Lynch‘s career after trading for the then-maligned running back and recently hammered out an extension with former UDFA Doug Baldwin, the latest member of Seattle’s deep core now locked up long-term.

The agreement was first reported by ESPN.com’s John Clayton. FOXSports.com’s Jay Glazer (on Twitter) was first to report the length of the agreement. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Fallout From Doug Baldwin’s Extension

June 29th, 2016 at 4:56pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

With Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin‘s four-year, $46MM extension in the books, the Broncos’ Emmanuel Sanders is now at the front of the line of wideouts set to land new deals prior to the season, tweets Dan Graziano of ESPN. Baldwin, the Chargers’ Keenan Allen and the Jaguars’ Allen Hurns have all signed extensions worth upward of $40MM – including $20MM-plus in guarantees – this month, but each is younger than Sanders. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns, having combined for 177 catches and 15 touchdowns during that span, and figures to net a sizable raise over the $5.6MM he’s scheduled to make in 2016. The Broncos and Sanders are already in negotiations, as 9NEWS’ Mike Klis reported earlier this month.

More out of Seattle:

  • The Seahawks will now turn their attention to locking up the Super Bowl-winning duo of general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Caroll, whose deals expire after this season, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Extensions for the pair could come during training camp, per Condotta. Defensive end Michael Bennett, meanwhile, is the next member of the Seahawks’ roster likely to rake in a big payday, writes Condotta. Bennett won’t be a free agent until after the 2017 campaign, however, so he might have to wait another year.
  • Baldwin went undrafted in 2011 out of Stanford, where he was teammates with superstar Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman. After all 32 NFL teams snubbed Baldwin for seven rounds, Sherman – a fifth-rounder that year – contacted the wideout and encouraged him to sign with the Seahawks. “They’re going to call you. I want you to be here,” Sherman said (via Jayson Jenks of the Seattle Times). Baldwin has since morphed into one of the pros’ best and richest wideouts because of his football-first mindset, which has come at a cost to his personal life, details Jenks. “I’m not the fastest, the strongest, the most athletic, the tallest,” Baldwin told Jenks. “But in order for me to be good at what I do, I have to focus on my craft so much that it alleviates those other things. I can’t have personal relationships like other people do. I can’t spend time on that.”
  • Baldwin’s extension means the Seahawks will enter camp with one fewer distraction, observes ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia, who adds that Baldwin’s 1,000-yard season in 2015 was just the fourth by a slot receiver over the past five years. Baldwin is also the only receiver since 1992 – when targets were first tracked – to rack up 1,000-plus yards while hauling in at least 80 percent of the passes intended for him, per Kapadia.

NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Carroll, Cardinals

June 3rd, 2016 at 2:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Those who are criticizing the Seahawks‘ first-round selection of Germain Ifedi will come to regret it, offensive line coach Tom Cable told ESPN Radio (link via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com).

“You watch him and see what you think then,” Cable said. “People don’t have to be accountable, they can say or think what they want, and that’s OK. But what they really don’t realize is how they could screw up a young person, because all these kids read all the Twitter and social media. One minute they’re loved and the next minute they can’t do this or they can’t do that, it was a bad pick, or whatever. Fortunately … Germain is a strong-minded, strong-willed kid. … So I just think watching him play, it will be kind of cool, whoever they are, they’ll kind of eat their words.”

Here’s a look at the NFC West:

NFC Notes: Locke, Seahawks, Cardinals, Bucs

May 8th, 2016 at 9:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

A fifth-round pick in 2013, Jeff Locke looks to be set to face some competition to finish out his contract with the Vikings. Minnesota is expected to add rookie punter Taylor Symmank on Monday, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The Vikings brought in Symmank and Nick O’Toole to compete at their rookie minicamp this weekend, but O’Toole left the Twin Cities on Sunday, while Symmank looks to be staying. Symmank averaged 46 yards per punt last season at Texas Tech. After Locke’s per-punt figure hovered at 44.2 yards in each of his first two seasons, it slunk to an NFL-worst 41.6 in 2015.

Symmank told Tomasson he’s been asked to take a physical with the Vikings, who currently have 89 players on their roster. Locke has a nonguaranteed $721K due this season.

Check out the latest from around the league as teams continue to assemble their 90-man rosters.

  • The Seahawks envision former Notre Dame running back/wide receiver C.J. Prosise becoming a potential replacement for Fred Jackson as the team’s third-down back, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes. Seattle initially placed the third-round pick with the running backs to start its rookie minicamp but shuttled him into receiver drills on Sunday. Converted to running back before the 2015 season, Prosise totaled 1,337 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns in 2015. “I’ve never had anyone that was a receiver that went to running back that could do both. You commit one way or the other,” Pete Carroll told media, including Condotta. “… It’s a real prize for us. I don’t really have a guy to compare him to at this point.”
  • Also from Condotta: Rees Odhiambo will compete with Mark Glowinski for the Seahawks‘ starting left guard position, and Carroll plans to use Jarran Reed at both nose tackle and 3-technique. “It’s just such a crucial pick for us,” Carroll said. “Jarran can really jump right in and give us the stout play, he’s just got a great savvy for the running game. He’ll play both spots, for sure.”
  • The Cardinals are planning to replace the still-unsigned Jerraud Powers with Justin Bethel, but given that third-round pick Brandon Williams has only played the position for one season after playing running back from 2011-14, Arizona could use a veteran corner to help lead Patrick Peterson‘s cadre of sidekicks, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic writes. Beyond Bethel and Peterson, no Cardinal cornerback has more than one year of NFL experience. Joining Powers among the top unattached corners right now are fellow former Cardinal Antonio Cromartie, Leon Hall and Phillip Adams.
  • Although Ryan Smith lined up at cornerback in 2015 for North Carolina Central, he’s expected to work at safety for the Buccaneers, Roy Cummings of Today’s Pigskin writes. The Bucs added Vernon Hargreaves III in the first round after signing Brent Grimes in an attempt to fortify a cornerback corps that helped yield 31 touchdown passes last season and allow the second-highest quarterback rating in the league. The 5-foot-11, 198-pound Smith arrived in Tampa as the No. 108 overall pick and will compete with the likes of Chris Conte and Keith Tandy for playing time on the Bucs’ back line. Cummings identifies Bradley McDougald as a starter at either the free or strong safety spots, with his complement undecided. Pro Football Focus graded Conte as the Bucs’ best safety last season and tabbed the now-27-year-old veteran as its No. 32 safety.

Extra Points: Texans, Seahawks, Killebrew

March 27th, 2016 at 12:09pm CST by Ben Levine

Some assorted notes from around the NFL on this Easter Sunday…

  • Texans coach Bill O’Brien had Brock Osweiler atop his free agent list since January, tweets John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. O’Brien and general manager Rick Smith agreed that they’d pursue the quarterback in free agency, and owner Bob McNair made it clear that he’d pay whatever it took to sign the former Broncos signal-caller.
  • Besides Russell Wilson, Phillip Sims is the Seahawks’ only other quarterback. As a result, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times guesses that the team will add at least another quarterback for training camp, and he believes last year’s backup, Tarvaris Jackson, is a strong candidate to return.
  • For what it’s worth, Condotta notes that Pete Carroll prefers to have a veteran backup quarterback, and the Seahawks coach previously commended Jackson for his leadership. “We really liked his contributions and he’s been a big factor for us and we would like to have him back if we could,’’ Carroll said.
  • Southern Utah safety Miles Killebrew is generating plenty of interest around the league, tweets Bleacher Report’s Luke Easterling. The defensive back is set to meet with the Buccaneers, Panthers, Titans, Cardinals, Patriots, and Falcons.

NFC Notes: Norman, Megatron, Seahawks

March 22nd, 2016 at 9:36pm CST by Rory Parks

We learned yesterday that Josh Norman and the Panthers are far apart in discussions on a new, multi-year contract, and if those negotiations do not start to gain traction, Norman could miss voluntary workouts and OTAs and possibly the mandatory June minicamp. But as David Newton of ESPN.com writes, Carolina GM Dave Gettleman downplayed that speculation, saying that he does not expect the Norman situation to create much of a distraction.

Said Gettleman, “Josh is a pro and I don’t think there’ll be any issues. He and I had a great conversation before I put the tag on him. He understands where I’m at. I understand where he’s at. We respect each other’s stance and we’ll just see if we can get [it] done.” Gettleman added that he and head coach Ron Rivera are “very comfortable” regardless of whether Norman signs a long-term deal with the Panthers prior to the July 15 deadline or whether he plays out the 2016 season under the franchise tag.  

Now let’s take a look at some more links from around the NFC:

  • There was some speculation earlier this month that Calvin Johnson wanted to retire as a free agent rather than under Lions control so that, in case he ever came out of retirement, he would be free to choose his next destination. Of course, Megatron ultimately retired as a member of the Lions, but according to Detroit president Rod Wood, it’s a moot point anyway, as he would be “very surprised” if Johnson ever expressed a desire to return to the NFL (video link via Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press).
  • Seahawks GM John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll each signed three-year contract extensions in 2014 that take them through the 2016 season, which means they are both entering the final years of their respective deals. As Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com writes, however, Schneider says his contract is a “non-story.” Schneider said, “Pete and I have a great relationship, and we are just in a really good spot. We are just going to keep staying together and keep doing what we are doing and see how long we can make it last.” Kapadia believes the most likely scenario is that both men will sign extensions in the coming months, and we know that the club has already been working on a new deal for Carroll.
  • The Seahawks‘ offensive line was the subject of a great deal of criticism in 2015, and it does not look like it will be much better in 2016. Per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, Schneider has indicated that if the season started today, last year’s right tackle, Garry Gilliam, would compete with the newly-acquired Bradley Sowell to be the club’s starting left tackle, with another free agent acquisition, J’Marcus Webb, penciled in at right tackle. In addition to losing Russell Okung in free agency, the Seahawks also lost right guard J.R. Sweezy, but Schneider offered no indication that the team would pursue any additional signings or trades to beef up its line.
  • Ralpha Vacchiano of The New York Daily News does not believe the Giants are done spending in free agency, and at the very least, he expects the team to pursue a veteran offensive lineman and a veteran safety. He does not, however, believe Big Blue will bring back Rueben Randle or Will Beatty.
  • The 49ers have not made a contract offer to free agent wideout Anquan Boldin, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, and while GM Trent Baalke said he has by no means closed the door on a possible reunion, he did not sound especially optimistic that Boldin would return to San Francisco next season. As Baalke said, “A lot of it is going to depend whether he feels and we feel it’s a fit moving forward with what we’re trying to do offensively and what he’s looking for at this stage of his career.” Boldin has already stated his desire to play for a title contender in 2016, and it is currently difficult to imagine the 49ers fitting that description.

 

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