AGRI Biz

As free agency began Thursday night, the Seattle Seahawks quickly learned a few things: Theyáalready need to find a new receiver to replace Nate Burleson; they could be the favorites to sign Aaron Kampman; and they have a surprising chance to upgrade at safety and hurt a division rival in one move. á Surprisingly, Burleson became the first big-money signing of the uncapped free-agency period, and in the process he joined former ...

The focus of the NFL at the moment is on the draft prospects at the Combine in Indianapolis, but free agency begins at 9 PM Thursday night, and the Seahawks should be putting as much energy into the veteran pool of players as they are into the rookies. á Although there will be no salary cap in 2010, many teams have said they are going to adopt a business-as-usual approach, because they ...

This offseason, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady are all expected to receive lucrative contract extensions. The deals of all three franchise quarterbacks expire in the next year or two, so it makes perfect sense for their teams to lock them up with new deals. There has been no chatter, however, about an extension for Matt Hasselbeck. Of course, thatÆs not surprising, considering the poor performance of the Seahawks over the ...

The Seahawks gave a much better effort than we saw in the last couple of weeks, but the result was predictable, and a horribly disappointing season now morphs into what figures to be a tumultuous offseason. Who will be the new general manager? Will coach Jim Mora be back? If he is, will his coordinators be? Which players will stay and which will go? And who will arrive to help turn ...

At midseason, most fans were blaming Tim Ruskell for this lost Seahawks season. Well, heÆs gone now and the Hawks have only gotten worse, so now those No. 1 fan fingers are pointing directly at coach Jim Mora. á And MoraÆs foam finger should be pointing at his offensive coordinator. á á ThereÆs a good reason most of us greeted Greg Knapp with a yawn and dismissive wave of the hand (with fingers crossed ...

á DonÆt blame Matt Hasselbeck for trying too hard. Yeah, heÆs thrown eight interceptions in the past two games û both embarrassing losses because of opponent (Tampa Bay) or deficit (38 points to Green Bay). And yes, HasselbeckÆs turnovers (nine total, counting a fumble against the Bucs) are a major reason the Hawks lost those games. But make no mistake: This season was lost well before these last two games. Heck, these losses ...

There was more drama before and after the SeahawksÆ embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday than there was during the game.á With the team and Mike Holmgren engaging in a they-said-he-said tete-a-tete and with coach Jim Mora almost publicly lobbying to keep his job. á Holmgren turned down an offer by the Seahawks on Saturday, and it turns out it happened pretty much the way we thought it did . á The team ...

Make no mistake about it. The SeahawksÆ sudden ôflirtationö with Mike Holmgren was all about spin. With so many people clamoring for the Hawks to ôreturn to their glory daysö by bringing back the only coach to ever take them to the Super Bowl, the Hawks just wanted their fans to think they truly considered doing it. So they carried out this sham of an interview, extending Holmgren an offer they knew ...

When Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke basically fired general manager Tim Ruskell two weeks ago, Leiweke was immediately asked about the possibility of former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren returning to that role. His reply: ôIÆm just not going to go there. IÆm not going to talk about that today. I will tell you that thereÆs going to be a process.ö And that tells you all you need to know. Led by their headhunters ...

The three biggest football questions in Seattle over the past week have been: (1) Who is going to replace Tim Ruskell as the SeahawksÆ general manager, (2) is UW junior quarterback Jake Locker going to turn pro, and (3) will the SeahawksÆ new GM draft Locker in the first round if he does turn pro? Of course, all of the Seattle SeaDawgs (those hybrid Seahawk/Husky fans) want the Hawks to draft ...