February 12, 2026 • 17 mins
Michael Ginnitti from SpoTrac joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about Sam Darnold’s contract situation after winning the Super Bowl, potential ideal deals for JSN, Witherspoon, Woolen, Kupp, Walker, Williams, and Seattle’s cap space for 2026 ahead.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the radio show.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
When it comes to free agents, contracts, cap space, all
that stuff, only one place we go on.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
That's spot track s P O t R A C
dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And the founder editor at spots track dot com is
our friend Michael Jennetti. Joining us right now on the
radio program. Mike, welcome back. How are you man?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Doing well? Good to be back. Congrats to you guys
out there.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
The role that Dick and I played must be acknowledged,
and I thank you for acknowledging. So let's let's first
of all talk about this team as it's presently constructed. Man,
how big of a bargain do you think the Seahawks
just got with Sam Darnold, Mike and his contract that
they just paid out for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Well, I'm sure glad he hadn't sent it built into
this thing, because he max those out and got himself
over the forty million mark, which is, you know, platable
for a one year deal.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
But what we're looking at.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Had here at is a situation that you know, could
get contentious if we're talking about Arnold dropping down cash
wise and coming off this big Super Bowl victory, so
decent for one year, But this contract was always going
to be one year. Then we'll see what happens. I
think most of the side was going to be one
year and then maybe we'll move on. And that's certainly
not the case here, right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hey, Mike, Before we move off on Sam, and there's
more on him there, I do want to get in
real quick. There's this kind of report rumor going around
the web that Sam Darnold actually lost money because of
California's jock tax.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Is that accurate?
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, just in terms of when the Super Bowl pay
was handed out. So there's a stipen it's about one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars for the winning team, and
when you do the taxes and you talk, you factor
that into what he made over the course of the season.
The accountants that are heck a less smarter than me
with this stuff basically said it was a net negative
for Sam Donald to show up and playing that Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
That's unbelievable on Sam though. Would there be any reason
for the Seahawks just to tear up his contract and
start over now versus like let's say, let's say he
comes back in year two of his contract and he
is fifth for the MVP, which is now of the
realm of possibility. He was like eighth last year for
the MVP and might end up costing them more money
(02:09):
in the future.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Would that be a good idea for them to do? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Right, I mean it's something to have a higher high
than what he just had. But you're right, productivity wise,
he could certainly get himself into a bigger conversation with
one more nice year in Seattle. I think you do
everything right now for your Seattle And by the way,
you've got to be proactive as a team. You can't
wait for the public outcry or Sam Darden who camp
to come and say, look, let's talk about this. I
think the team's got to be proactive with every option
(02:34):
on the table. Do we need to sit down and
talk long term? Do we need to talk about some
sort of pot sweetener and bring some money forward from
twenty twenty seven? Do we need to bump up these
incentives a little bit? I think just throw everything on
the table and see kind of where he is right now,
because quite franky, he may not want to sign a
new contract, noting that he could up his ante a
little bit In twenty twenty six and see where things
heads from there.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Right, Well, all right, let's say, just for giggles, he
plays twenty twenty six, well, you know, maybe slightly better
than he did this year. Second year with the Hawks
and all his teammates and all that stuff. He's his
cap hit for next year is thirty eight thirty seven
point nine million. What could we expect in twenty twenty seven,
(03:16):
Sam Darnold to be potentially making on a brand new contract.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well, I consider right now our mass says about fifty
three million. So what we're talking about. What we're talking
about really is that one year padding that Jared Goff
got in Detroit, and then let's extend Jared Goff to
fifty three million a year. So we're on a very
similar track with what happened there, which is good news
for Donald So you know, and that's that's right now.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
That's basically just after the one year.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
So if this happens again in twenty twenty six and
we've got quarterbacks taking sixty to sixty three million, like
I think Mamar Jackson is going to do, then everything
gets up a little higher. So, like you said, maybe
maybe jumping on something today makes some sense, But I
have a feeling we're gonna be waiting and talking about
this again this time next year.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Yeah, under no circumstance. Do you see them just playing
him into his third year of his contract at forty
one point nine in twenty twenty seven? Do you unless
he's I guess, unless he's bad next year and they're
like worried about him for twenty twenty seven, Right.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, I wouldn't think so, right. I mean, the cash
is twenty seven and.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
A half for twenty twenty six, and Mitch Vincentez that
gets over thirty obviously, But I don't think you walk
into twenty twenty seven around expiring contract with a quarterback
who has now shown multiple times over that he can
do this and hope for the best. I think all
parties will come together and sort of collectively say, let's
figure something out here.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, you got two guys that were both drafted in
the first round and Devin Witherspoon and Jackson Smith and
Jigba got the fifth year option, which I'm certain the
Hawks will pick up right on both those guys, and
then they're both eligible for contract extensions during this coming offseason.
Let's talk about both those guys start with Jasn.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, no question on the fifth round pick, on the
fifth year options, just because you want to you want
to expedite that process and you want to make your
extension a little bit smaller, so you've got some cap
room to move around here with Asn. This sky's the limit. Unfortunately,
he's he said every monarkravy marketer that you're asking him
to hit. We're talking about the Chase contract at forty
million a year most likely, even though mathematically it's about
(05:15):
thirty eight in our system right now. So we're talking,
you know, three years at one twenty in terms of
new money, new years added on to that fourth year,
plus the fifth year option. So huge, huge contract extension
for a player that is kind of escalated himself to
the top of the market quickly.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
I know Sophie wants to ask you on Spoon. I
got a follow up on JSN. I looked at the
top wide receiver contracts and the teams that were paying
the wide receivers the top money, the top ten teams. Michael,
they want to combined one playoff game and that was
the that was the forty nine ers. So is this
a blip on the radar and wide receivers are really
(05:55):
worth what they're paid, or have we just gone so
out of whack on the wide receiver contract that it's
costing teams wins.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
It's high, it's it's really gone up and blown quickly
as many of these position rehuites. But the wide recivers
is because of how quickly the game turned into a
pass first league. Right, So I do think we're a
little high in some reguard, But so's the cap, right,
I mean we're getting a ten percent increase on the
salary cap every year, so agents have so much wiggle
(06:24):
room to walk in there and say, this guy's getting
X touches you know per game. It's a passing league.
You need your quarterback to have an LT option. That's
certainly what JSN is. So I get it that number
is probably high, but that's even more reason to do
it right now early while he's early twenties, and you
know you're going to have your prime years and you
give yourself some extra hears on the back end to
(06:45):
spread out the cap as much as possible and make
this work for the whole team.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
What's the number again?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You gave us on Jackson Smiths and jigm because I
almost broke my hand right that number.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Now, what'd you say, Michael.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
It's forty. It's forty.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
The map says almost forty, and just logic, the eye
test says for with where these wide receivers are going.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So I don't think you can push back any harder
on that.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, well, let's talk about cornerback.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I mean, you've got a football team right now that
is twenty ninth in the NFL in positional spending at
corner That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Okay, that's gonna go up and they're like the best
in the league.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
What's gonna happen with Devin Witherspoon, My man.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
It's a similar conversation.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
This guy's a slam dunk for that fifth year option
and then the sky's the limit.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
These cornerback contracts have not exactly matched the wide receivers.
But we've got this guy at about twenty three a year.
I think it gets to twenty five pretty easily. That
Jase Horn contract out in Carolina is a really nice
camp for what Witherspoon's been doing here in Seattle as
kind of a one man wrecking crew. So I would
expect Witherspoon and a couple other big cornerbacks this offseason
to sort of reset things. Not so much up to
(07:47):
your rest soft gardener gout at thirty million, but right
in that fringe first tier of cornerback pay. So maybe
not as explosive as the JSN numbers, but it's gonna
be two big contracts this offseason at minimum.
Speaker 5 (07:59):
Here, Michael Janetti spa track joining us. We'll stay at cornerback.
Tarik Woolen not everybody's favorite corner here in Seattle, however,
he's very, very talented. So what type of valuation do
you see on Tarik Woolen?
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Yeah, you're right, I've gotten a lot of angst kind
of putting out some valuations on this player in terms
of what he might be worth and might might be
walking into. It's not a big number, the production is
not really there, and there's been some inconsistencies in terms
of playing time. But you know, he's about a ten
million dollars player in our system mathematically speaking. So there's
value on the open market if there's not a bidding
(08:38):
war for a player like this who does have a
halfway decent resume on a contending team obviously, So you know.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
I don't think it's a key for Seattle.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
There's a lot of other free agents that I think
they're going to look to retain, and probably Wolln's on
the way out here, but probably somebody else's value in
the open.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Market here on March eleventh, what about Cooper cup Man.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
He'll be thirty three in June. Had kind of a
down year, but he's thirty two. You're supposed to have
it down here for God's sakes. I mean, I think
there's a chance he might call it quits and retire still,
but seventeen point five million dollar cap hit for next year.
Can you see the Seahawks keeping him on the roster
next year at that number, at thirty three years old.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, it's a tough number. And you know it's.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Almost fourteen million cash when you add in some incentives.
So look, this guy, this guy pound for pounds, showed
what he's here for, which is January and February, right,
And he was the guy down the stretch in a
lot of instances for Sam Darnold. If that's going to
be the case again, you work with him a little
bit here. Maybe it's a pay cut, maybe you move
some things into incentives.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Maybe it's just a simple cap conversion to free.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Up some space, but keep him on this contract if
he wants to come back and return. I just think,
as of right now, that's a player you don't want
to mess with too much because he did show up
in the biggest moments.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
So you talked about wide receiver maybe being overvalued, but
we are starting to head to the run game more,
and Seattle certainly won the Super Bowl with the run game.
So let's talk, pynine. I mean, are we still low
on the valuation of running backs out there and could
Seeattle potentially get a deal on Ken Walker.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
We're low when that running back doesn't do everything. And
that is what Kenneth Walker is all about, is he's
sort of a two trick pony right now and he
needs three to kind of get to that big number.
He's a ten million, eleven million dollar player that James
could contract, which is a little bit undervalued in Buffalo.
Maybe that Kyri Williams dealing with the Rams is about
the ceiling we're seeing for Walker on the open market here,
(10:34):
which isn't too far away from this fourteen million dollar
franchise tag. I don't think Seattle gets to that point,
but I do think things changed with the Charbonnay injury,
so maybe it is we'll take a bit of an
overpay on this one year with Walker on the fourteen
million dollar tag, assuming he'll sign it, and then we'll
have the one two punch for one more season and
see what happens after that.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Mike, do you already thought on who would be the
most likely general manager owner around the NFL lose their
mind and just go bananas and give Kenny Walker a
three year I don't know, fifty million dollars deal and
wig out and just totally overpay him. And obviously Jerry
comes to mind for sure, but I'm not sure if
they have the room down there to do something like that,
(11:14):
because that would be my concern, right That was my
concern when they lost Byron Maxwell back and someone's gonna
go nuts and want a corner from Pete Carroll's defense,
and it turned out to be I believe Miami was
the team that did that. So if there's a team
out there with cap space that you think would be
most likely to just completely reset the market for Kenny Walker,
(11:35):
who do you think it would be?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, you took it. It's the Dallas Cowboy who.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Need a running back by the way, and are known
to do this. They love paying big contracts and then
promoting that they paid that big contract. I'll give you
one more team. I think the commanders are in and
stuff like this. I do think that they had a
bunch of swing and missus augustily trying to build this
contender around Jayden Daniels and they went older, and I
don't think that's going to be the case this time around.
(12:00):
I think they want to bring a couple of young
guns in on big contracts and see if they can
kind of reinvigorate that often. So I give you two
NFC East teams as maybe some likely overpaid for Walker
love it well, I.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Got defensive lineman for you.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
I just looked at the numbers and kind of my
eyes just bugged out. Leonard Williams goes from a fifteen
million dollar cap pit to a thirty million dollar capit
in twenty twenty six. Are we seeing a restructure in
the next six months?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
I think an extension. This guy's done enough.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
He's not slowing down to the point of where you'd
have to worry about bumping out.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Two years guaranteed.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Here I think you just keep them on about the
same AAV and you just kind of redo this thing
and start over and hope for the best.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
He's just been too valuable.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
I wouldn't mess with like Ford years and things like that.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
If I don't have to. I'd put a real contract
in front of that thing.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, well, Mike, before you go, why don't you just
kind of give everybody kind of an overview on where
the Hawks are with cap space, how that compares to
the rest of the league, and are they in a
favorable position unfavorable? What kind of situation does John Schneider
have to work with.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah, pretty healthy top five right now, but they just
sign about fifteen of US practice squad players back, so
they're going to drop into about the top eight or
nine when this thing's all said and done by the
end of the weekend here, So you know, you're talking
about sixty million to work with out of the gate
without doing captain versions or any of that fun stuff.
So there's room for free agents, there's room for extensions.
(13:21):
I think you can frontload some things. You can sweeten
the pot with Sam darn a little bit here and
aggressively add a couple of big names this offseason and
try to keep this thing together. I'd say A plus
health for an A plus team in the Super Bowl champion.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
Love it lovely and almost just as important as the
Seahawks health.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Tell us about the Niners.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
In the Rams, the Niners have work to do, Let's
put it that way. They've got a rock Party situation.
You know, this was supposed to be the years they
said that they made sure that brock Perty was the guy,
and I think he is the guy. So now it's
just about pieces and they have quite a few. They
got an Ayuk situation and a whole bunch of defensive injuries,
(13:58):
and we'll see what happened, maybe a final you know,
McCaffrey year, and then we'll see so big time turnover
there and the Rams are just all in until Matthew
Stafford says otherwise. So the Rams are very very healthy,
massive draft capital, massive cap space right now. I think
they tweak the Stafford contract and that and Puka gets
(14:19):
a JSN type deal like we're.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Talking about here.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
But man, they've hit on some big time draft picks
that have really helped them become pre eminently one of
the best value teams in all football well, Mike.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
This great stuff man, and again your website. I mean, heck,
you should be charging us honestly for this. You are
like the Wikipedia of contracts for people in sports talk radio,
and I feel like we should be giving you a
couple of bucks, man to keep this thing going. But hey,
before you go, if there's one spot in the Seahawks fans,
I think all agree they could use an upgrade, it's
(14:49):
at right guard, right, and you mentioned that they got
about sixty million bucks to play with. They should be
in on Whoever, the best biggest free agent is.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
At right guard.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Is there a guy on your list, on your guard
free agent list that you like that you think would
be a nice fit in Seattle if the Hawks want
to go that way.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah, there's a couple out there. It's a pretty decent
year for that, right. We've got a Robert Jones coming
off of this Dallas situation at Ingram had a nice
year in Houston, kind of a one year flash in
the pan, and you know what happens with a couple
players from the Jets. I'd be watching those guys because
the Deets probably are in well we know they're in turmoil.
We don't know where they are just yet. So John
Simpson and maybe Vera Tucker a kind of a swing
(15:32):
tackle guard. Those are players you might have to overpay for,
but you get a Super Bowl discount coming to Seattle
for guys like that.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Mike, you're the man. Thanks for staying up late for us.
Love what you guys do at spot track and we'll
talk soon. Thanks Mike, My pleasure gave you bet. If
there's a Seahawks fan out there that wants to know
about all these contracts and stuff, go to spot track
dot com, s p O t r ac dot com.
The thing I like about their website, by the way,
it's dipstick pro. Absolutely it is being pro easy. Anybody
(16:01):
can go through this thing. Man, it is like it's
like written in crayon. It's so easy. So look, you're
talking about this is what happens, right I mean, this
happened to the Seahawks in twenty thirteen and fourteen. It's
gonna happen to the Seahawks right now. These contracts that
these guys are making, really you're gonna feel it in
a couple of years from now, I think, maybe not
(16:22):
necessarily this next season. That's why I believe that there
is a window here that we have to take advantage of.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
This is honestly a better chance to go back to
back than we had in twenty fourteen the last.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Year because they had a bud.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Yes, we had Russell Wilson on the rookie deal, but
there was a lot of contracts on that team that
they were juggling, and this cap space is insane. And
then hearing how yes, you're gonna have to give extensions,
restructure Leo and that extension, do all of these things,
but they're gonna have the space. Honestly, guys, I'm looking
at this, and I'm looking at the rest of the NFL,
(16:56):
and I know that the Rams right tackle Rob Haverstein,
right he retired this week, so they're going to be
dealing with things as well. The Seahawks right now probably
have quite easily the best chance to win the Super
Bowl next year of all the teams in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I don't remember the Hawks after the thirteen season having
this kind of cap space.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
No, no, right, no, And and this is what happens
when you draft Grays, Abel Nicki, Man Worry Byron Murphy,
Devin Witherspoon, Jackson Smith and Jigmins tris crossed.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I mean, that's what happens.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
You have four to five years to play with with
guys making nothing, and that is why it is so
important to a keep your draft picks Percy Harvin, Jamal Adams, etc.
Keep them and use and fire good bullets, which is
exactly what he's done the last few years
On the radio show.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
When it comes to free agents, contracts, cap space, all
that stuff, only one place we go on.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
That's spot track s P O t R A C
dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And the founder editor at spots track dot com is
our friend Michael Jennetti. Joining us right now on the
radio program. Mike, welcome back. How are you man?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Doing well? Good to be back. Congrats to you guys
out there.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
The role that Dick and I played must be acknowledged,
and I thank you for acknowledging. So let's let's first
of all talk about this team as it's presently constructed. Man,
how big of a bargain do you think the Seahawks
just got with Sam Darnold, Mike and his contract that
they just paid out for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Well, I'm sure glad he hadn't sent it built into
this thing, because he max those out and got himself
over the forty million mark, which is, you know, platable
for a one year deal.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
But what we're looking at.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Had here at is a situation that you know, could
get contentious if we're talking about Arnold dropping down cash
wise and coming off this big Super Bowl victory, so
decent for one year, But this contract was always going
to be one year. Then we'll see what happens. I
think most of the side was going to be one
year and then maybe we'll move on. And that's certainly
not the case here, right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hey, Mike, Before we move off on Sam, and there's
more on him there, I do want to get in
real quick. There's this kind of report rumor going around
the web that Sam Darnold actually lost money because of
California's jock tax.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Is that accurate?
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, just in terms of when the Super Bowl pay
was handed out. So there's a stipen it's about one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars for the winning team, and
when you do the taxes and you talk, you factor
that into what he made over the course of the season.
The accountants that are heck a less smarter than me
with this stuff basically said it was a net negative
for Sam Donald to show up and playing that Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
That's unbelievable on Sam though. Would there be any reason
for the Seahawks just to tear up his contract and
start over now versus like let's say, let's say he
comes back in year two of his contract and he
is fifth for the MVP, which is now of the
realm of possibility. He was like eighth last year for
the MVP and might end up costing them more money
(02:09):
in the future.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Would that be a good idea for them to do? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Right, I mean it's something to have a higher high
than what he just had. But you're right, productivity wise,
he could certainly get himself into a bigger conversation with
one more nice year in Seattle. I think you do
everything right now for your Seattle And by the way,
you've got to be proactive as a team. You can't
wait for the public outcry or Sam Darden who camp
to come and say, look, let's talk about this. I
think the team's got to be proactive with every option
(02:34):
on the table. Do we need to sit down and
talk long term? Do we need to talk about some
sort of pot sweetener and bring some money forward from
twenty twenty seven? Do we need to bump up these
incentives a little bit? I think just throw everything on
the table and see kind of where he is right now,
because quite franky, he may not want to sign a
new contract, noting that he could up his ante a
little bit In twenty twenty six and see where things
heads from there.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Right, Well, all right, let's say, just for giggles, he
plays twenty twenty six, well, you know, maybe slightly better
than he did this year. Second year with the Hawks
and all his teammates and all that stuff. He's his
cap hit for next year is thirty eight thirty seven
point nine million. What could we expect in twenty twenty seven,
(03:16):
Sam Darnold to be potentially making on a brand new contract.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well, I consider right now our mass says about fifty
three million. So what we're talking about. What we're talking
about really is that one year padding that Jared Goff
got in Detroit, and then let's extend Jared Goff to
fifty three million a year. So we're on a very
similar track with what happened there, which is good news
for Donald So you know, and that's that's right now.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
That's basically just after the one year.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
So if this happens again in twenty twenty six and
we've got quarterbacks taking sixty to sixty three million, like
I think Mamar Jackson is going to do, then everything
gets up a little higher. So, like you said, maybe
maybe jumping on something today makes some sense, But I
have a feeling we're gonna be waiting and talking about
this again this time next year.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Yeah, under no circumstance. Do you see them just playing
him into his third year of his contract at forty
one point nine in twenty twenty seven? Do you unless
he's I guess, unless he's bad next year and they're
like worried about him for twenty twenty seven, Right.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, I wouldn't think so, right. I mean, the cash
is twenty seven and.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
A half for twenty twenty six, and Mitch Vincentez that
gets over thirty obviously, But I don't think you walk
into twenty twenty seven around expiring contract with a quarterback
who has now shown multiple times over that he can
do this and hope for the best. I think all
parties will come together and sort of collectively say, let's
figure something out here.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, you got two guys that were both drafted in
the first round and Devin Witherspoon and Jackson Smith and
Jigba got the fifth year option, which I'm certain the
Hawks will pick up right on both those guys, and
then they're both eligible for contract extensions during this coming offseason.
Let's talk about both those guys start with Jasn.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, no question on the fifth round pick, on the
fifth year options, just because you want to you want
to expedite that process and you want to make your
extension a little bit smaller, so you've got some cap
room to move around here with Asn. This sky's the limit. Unfortunately,
he's he said every monarkravy marketer that you're asking him
to hit. We're talking about the Chase contract at forty
million a year most likely, even though mathematically it's about
(05:15):
thirty eight in our system right now. So we're talking,
you know, three years at one twenty in terms of
new money, new years added on to that fourth year,
plus the fifth year option. So huge, huge contract extension
for a player that is kind of escalated himself to
the top of the market quickly.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
I know Sophie wants to ask you on Spoon. I
got a follow up on JSN. I looked at the
top wide receiver contracts and the teams that were paying
the wide receivers the top money, the top ten teams. Michael,
they want to combined one playoff game and that was
the that was the forty nine ers. So is this
a blip on the radar and wide receivers are really
(05:55):
worth what they're paid, or have we just gone so
out of whack on the wide receiver contract that it's
costing teams wins.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
It's high, it's it's really gone up and blown quickly
as many of these position rehuites. But the wide recivers
is because of how quickly the game turned into a
pass first league. Right, So I do think we're a
little high in some reguard, But so's the cap, right,
I mean we're getting a ten percent increase on the
salary cap every year, so agents have so much wiggle
(06:24):
room to walk in there and say, this guy's getting
X touches you know per game. It's a passing league.
You need your quarterback to have an LT option. That's
certainly what JSN is. So I get it that number
is probably high, but that's even more reason to do
it right now early while he's early twenties, and you
know you're going to have your prime years and you
give yourself some extra hears on the back end to
(06:45):
spread out the cap as much as possible and make
this work for the whole team.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
What's the number again?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You gave us on Jackson Smiths and jigm because I
almost broke my hand right that number.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Now, what'd you say, Michael.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
It's forty. It's forty.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
The map says almost forty, and just logic, the eye
test says for with where these wide receivers are going.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So I don't think you can push back any harder
on that.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, well, let's talk about cornerback.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I mean, you've got a football team right now that
is twenty ninth in the NFL in positional spending at
corner That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Okay, that's gonna go up and they're like the best
in the league.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
What's gonna happen with Devin Witherspoon, My man.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
It's a similar conversation.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
This guy's a slam dunk for that fifth year option
and then the sky's the limit.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
These cornerback contracts have not exactly matched the wide receivers.
But we've got this guy at about twenty three a year.
I think it gets to twenty five pretty easily. That
Jase Horn contract out in Carolina is a really nice
camp for what Witherspoon's been doing here in Seattle as
kind of a one man wrecking crew. So I would
expect Witherspoon and a couple other big cornerbacks this offseason
to sort of reset things. Not so much up to
(07:47):
your rest soft gardener gout at thirty million, but right
in that fringe first tier of cornerback pay. So maybe
not as explosive as the JSN numbers, but it's gonna
be two big contracts this offseason at minimum.
Speaker 5 (07:59):
Here, Michael Janetti spa track joining us. We'll stay at cornerback.
Tarik Woolen not everybody's favorite corner here in Seattle, however,
he's very, very talented. So what type of valuation do
you see on Tarik Woolen?
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Yeah, you're right, I've gotten a lot of angst kind
of putting out some valuations on this player in terms
of what he might be worth and might might be
walking into. It's not a big number, the production is
not really there, and there's been some inconsistencies in terms
of playing time. But you know, he's about a ten
million dollars player in our system mathematically speaking. So there's
value on the open market if there's not a bidding
(08:38):
war for a player like this who does have a
halfway decent resume on a contending team obviously, So you know.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
I don't think it's a key for Seattle.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
There's a lot of other free agents that I think
they're going to look to retain, and probably Wolln's on
the way out here, but probably somebody else's value in
the open.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Market here on March eleventh, what about Cooper cup Man.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
He'll be thirty three in June. Had kind of a
down year, but he's thirty two. You're supposed to have
it down here for God's sakes. I mean, I think
there's a chance he might call it quits and retire still,
but seventeen point five million dollar cap hit for next year.
Can you see the Seahawks keeping him on the roster
next year at that number, at thirty three years old.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, it's a tough number. And you know it's.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Almost fourteen million cash when you add in some incentives.
So look, this guy, this guy pound for pounds, showed
what he's here for, which is January and February, right,
And he was the guy down the stretch in a
lot of instances for Sam Darnold. If that's going to
be the case again, you work with him a little
bit here. Maybe it's a pay cut, maybe you move
some things into incentives.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Maybe it's just a simple cap conversion to free.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Up some space, but keep him on this contract if
he wants to come back and return. I just think,
as of right now, that's a player you don't want
to mess with too much because he did show up
in the biggest moments.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
So you talked about wide receiver maybe being overvalued, but
we are starting to head to the run game more,
and Seattle certainly won the Super Bowl with the run game.
So let's talk, pynine. I mean, are we still low
on the valuation of running backs out there and could
Seeattle potentially get a deal on Ken Walker.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
We're low when that running back doesn't do everything. And
that is what Kenneth Walker is all about, is he's
sort of a two trick pony right now and he
needs three to kind of get to that big number.
He's a ten million, eleven million dollar player that James
could contract, which is a little bit undervalued in Buffalo.
Maybe that Kyri Williams dealing with the Rams is about
the ceiling we're seeing for Walker on the open market here,
(10:34):
which isn't too far away from this fourteen million dollar
franchise tag. I don't think Seattle gets to that point,
but I do think things changed with the Charbonnay injury,
so maybe it is we'll take a bit of an
overpay on this one year with Walker on the fourteen
million dollar tag, assuming he'll sign it, and then we'll
have the one two punch for one more season and
see what happens after that.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Mike, do you already thought on who would be the
most likely general manager owner around the NFL lose their
mind and just go bananas and give Kenny Walker a
three year I don't know, fifty million dollars deal and
wig out and just totally overpay him. And obviously Jerry
comes to mind for sure, but I'm not sure if
they have the room down there to do something like that,
(11:14):
because that would be my concern, right That was my
concern when they lost Byron Maxwell back and someone's gonna
go nuts and want a corner from Pete Carroll's defense,
and it turned out to be I believe Miami was
the team that did that. So if there's a team
out there with cap space that you think would be
most likely to just completely reset the market for Kenny Walker,
(11:35):
who do you think it would be?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, you took it. It's the Dallas Cowboy who.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Need a running back by the way, and are known
to do this. They love paying big contracts and then
promoting that they paid that big contract. I'll give you
one more team. I think the commanders are in and
stuff like this. I do think that they had a
bunch of swing and missus augustily trying to build this
contender around Jayden Daniels and they went older, and I
don't think that's going to be the case this time around.
(12:00):
I think they want to bring a couple of young
guns in on big contracts and see if they can
kind of reinvigorate that often. So I give you two
NFC East teams as maybe some likely overpaid for Walker
love it well, I.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Got defensive lineman for you.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
I just looked at the numbers and kind of my
eyes just bugged out. Leonard Williams goes from a fifteen
million dollar cap pit to a thirty million dollar capit
in twenty twenty six. Are we seeing a restructure in
the next six months?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
I think an extension. This guy's done enough.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
He's not slowing down to the point of where you'd
have to worry about bumping out.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Two years guaranteed.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Here I think you just keep them on about the
same AAV and you just kind of redo this thing
and start over and hope for the best.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
He's just been too valuable.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
I wouldn't mess with like Ford years and things like that.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
If I don't have to. I'd put a real contract
in front of that thing.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, well, Mike, before you go, why don't you just
kind of give everybody kind of an overview on where
the Hawks are with cap space, how that compares to
the rest of the league, and are they in a
favorable position unfavorable? What kind of situation does John Schneider
have to work with.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah, pretty healthy top five right now, but they just
sign about fifteen of US practice squad players back, so
they're going to drop into about the top eight or
nine when this thing's all said and done by the
end of the weekend here, So you know, you're talking
about sixty million to work with out of the gate
without doing captain versions or any of that fun stuff.
So there's room for free agents, there's room for extensions.
(13:21):
I think you can frontload some things. You can sweeten
the pot with Sam darn a little bit here and
aggressively add a couple of big names this offseason and
try to keep this thing together. I'd say A plus
health for an A plus team in the Super Bowl champion.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
Love it lovely and almost just as important as the
Seahawks health.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Tell us about the Niners.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
In the Rams, the Niners have work to do, Let's
put it that way. They've got a rock Party situation.
You know, this was supposed to be the years they
said that they made sure that brock Perty was the guy,
and I think he is the guy. So now it's
just about pieces and they have quite a few. They
got an Ayuk situation and a whole bunch of defensive injuries,
(13:58):
and we'll see what happened, maybe a final you know,
McCaffrey year, and then we'll see so big time turnover
there and the Rams are just all in until Matthew
Stafford says otherwise. So the Rams are very very healthy,
massive draft capital, massive cap space right now. I think
they tweak the Stafford contract and that and Puka gets
(14:19):
a JSN type deal like we're.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Talking about here.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
But man, they've hit on some big time draft picks
that have really helped them become pre eminently one of
the best value teams in all football well, Mike.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
This great stuff man, and again your website. I mean, heck,
you should be charging us honestly for this. You are
like the Wikipedia of contracts for people in sports talk radio,
and I feel like we should be giving you a
couple of bucks, man to keep this thing going. But hey,
before you go, if there's one spot in the Seahawks fans,
I think all agree they could use an upgrade, it's
(14:49):
at right guard, right, and you mentioned that they got
about sixty million bucks to play with. They should be
in on Whoever, the best biggest free agent is.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
At right guard.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Is there a guy on your list, on your guard
free agent list that you like that you think would
be a nice fit in Seattle if the Hawks want
to go that way.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah, there's a couple out there. It's a pretty decent
year for that, right. We've got a Robert Jones coming
off of this Dallas situation at Ingram had a nice
year in Houston, kind of a one year flash in
the pan, and you know what happens with a couple
players from the Jets. I'd be watching those guys because
the Deets probably are in well we know they're in turmoil.
We don't know where they are just yet. So John
Simpson and maybe Vera Tucker a kind of a swing
(15:32):
tackle guard. Those are players you might have to overpay for,
but you get a Super Bowl discount coming to Seattle
for guys like that.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Mike, you're the man. Thanks for staying up late for us.
Love what you guys do at spot track and we'll
talk soon. Thanks Mike, My pleasure gave you bet. If
there's a Seahawks fan out there that wants to know
about all these contracts and stuff, go to spot track
dot com, s p O t r ac dot com.
The thing I like about their website, by the way,
it's dipstick pro. Absolutely it is being pro easy. Anybody
(16:01):
can go through this thing. Man, it is like it's
like written in crayon. It's so easy. So look, you're
talking about this is what happens, right I mean, this
happened to the Seahawks in twenty thirteen and fourteen. It's
gonna happen to the Seahawks right now. These contracts that
these guys are making, really you're gonna feel it in
a couple of years from now, I think, maybe not
(16:22):
necessarily this next season. That's why I believe that there
is a window here that we have to take advantage of.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
This is honestly a better chance to go back to
back than we had in twenty fourteen the last.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Year because they had a bud.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Yes, we had Russell Wilson on the rookie deal, but
there was a lot of contracts on that team that
they were juggling, and this cap space is insane. And
then hearing how yes, you're gonna have to give extensions,
restructure Leo and that extension, do all of these things,
but they're gonna have the space. Honestly, guys, I'm looking
at this, and I'm looking at the rest of the NFL,
(16:56):
and I know that the Rams right tackle Rob Haverstein,
right he retired this week, so they're going to be
dealing with things as well. The Seahawks right now probably
have quite easily the best chance to win the Super
Bowl next year of all the teams in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I don't remember the Hawks after the thirteen season having
this kind of cap space.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
No, no, right, no, And and this is what happens
when you draft Grays, Abel Nicki, Man Worry Byron Murphy,
Devin Witherspoon, Jackson Smith and Jigmins tris crossed.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I mean, that's what happens.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
You have four to five years to play with with
guys making nothing, and that is why it is so
important to a keep your draft picks Percy Harvin, Jamal Adams, etc.
Keep them and use and fire good bullets, which is
exactly what he's done the last few years
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