Jimmy Graham??

[c_hawkbob]

Just tell 'em "you're welcome", and "hope you can make it back for the rematch next year".

[HumanCockroach]

Don't like this move. I prefer my football players to be... well football players. Graham or "Jimmy one catch" is certainly talented, but personally he fills the description Bennett gave him a couple years ago to a T. Soft, over rated and over hyped. Hopefully this mega deal, works a hell of a lot better than the last one of this nature. 10 million for again a "partial" player does not seem like a good deal to me. Any TE, that is incapable of throwing an effective block, in a run oriented offense, at the cost of a former All Pro center, and a first round pick, plus a prohibitive contract to boot, is probably not the smartest of moves. Hopefully Schneider and Carroll actually hit on this huge offensive gamble. Giving up the production between Unger in the run game ( a full yard per carry more, and 40 yards overall a game with him on the line vs not) PLUS the first round pick, Jimmy had better IMHO have perennial All Pro caliber seasons. ( something in the range of 1,100 to 1,300 and 12 to 14 TD's to "balance" what was given up).

On the plus side, when NOT playing physical talented defenses, Jimmy has in the past made a LOT of hay, but I do wonder, how much of that was the product of the absolute shite defenses he played on a regular basis plus the 50 throws a game offense he played in. He has been able to shred the Niners defense for some odd reason, but beyond that, hasn't really ever shown up big against quality defenses over the several seasons.

Ultimately, I applaud the idea of improving those weapons, but am more of a mind that, a quality receiver or two, and possibly a TE of a "lower" quality with upside ( Jordan?) OR a grizzled veteran at a much cheaper cost ( Daniels?) or even through the draft ( would personally rather spent the low first on a TE with promise, or traded back and done so at some other point) than have invested so heavily in a player that while having that which Seattle craves ( goal line threat) lacks in a far more important area ( blocking ability, OR rather it seems a blocking desire, which is IMHO FAR more disturbing than lacking ability to effectively do so)....

Any way you slice it, they once again swung for the fences, hopefully this time they connect.

[jshawaii22]

Since 2011 Jimmy Graham has the most red zone TD's in the NFL.... Does this creative an issue with Marshawn and his TD's?

I would of spent my cap on Iupati and others on the Oline first, but I'm OK with the trade. Max has been great, but has been sliding the past 3 years. Now it's time to sign a couple more OLine's.

js

[Seahawks4Ever]

OK, first of all, it was like night and day to how smoothly our O-Line played when Max was in there to when he wasn't. He made the line calls that RW had to make because Jean-Pierre wasn't able to. We gave up less sacks and the running game was so much better, Max WAS a difference maker.

Why Oh Why do we have to over pay??? This should have been a straight up Unger for Graham. At the most we thrown in a 4th. but NOT a 1st.

After the Percy Harvin fiasco and now this trade I am really starting to have doubts about John Schneider, he just pays waaay too much. I can't imagine Belicose and the Pats giving up an ALL Pro AND a 1st. rounder for J.G. Lets face it, Grtaham is no Gronk!

Now we have to totally rebuild our O-Line. I expected James Carpenter to go down the road after they didn't pick up his option but I didn't expect to lose Unger also. The injuries Max had were unfortunate but they were the nagging ones and not the chronic ones. I know I expect the Hawks to do something after they finally had to say goodbye to Miller, too Miller never healed, but I never expected THIS.

We have spent the left several years laughing at how the pundits kept building up Graham and then our LOB would shut him down.

I really hopes this works out.

The one deal we have been waiting for the F/O to get done is Russell Wilson's. I hear that S.F. is now shopping CK around, what's Schneiders next deal, RW for CK?????? Don't put it past him. Pete needs to keep Schneider away from the panic button. We didn't lose the Super Bowl, we GAVE it to them.

[SalmonBB]

I like the trade alot. Wouldn't have liked it if we didn't have good talent at Center to replace Unger, but we do ... and from my observations, I think Lewis and Jean-Pierre may be another change that we need.

I think this may help our defense as well. One of the things our defense really needed was a more consistent offense ... one that can convert 3rd and short, 4th and 1, and score TDs in the Red Zone ... one that can move the chains and give them some time to breath. Although our offense overall was better than many thought (I think we actually had one of the top offenses in several areas, such as rushing), I think with Graham in the lineup, our offense just got a little more consistent on those days when we seem to have a tough time getting things going. At least I hope so.

I admire the move. Love it. Thanks for the memories, Max Unger, and welcome to Seattle, Jimmy Graham!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

[c_hawkbob]

the description Bennett gave him a couple years ago to a T. Soft, over rated and over hyped

Yeah and Alexander was soft and Deion Sanders hit like a 10 year old girl etc. etc. etc. ...

Look I love tough guy football players as much as anybody, I really do, but I also recognize that there really is room in this league for exceptionally talented players that might not be tough guys.

Not wanting (or devaluing) Graham because he's not Gronk is like not wanting Shawn Alexander because he's not Beast.

Russ has never had anything close to a talent like Graham to throw to. He deserves this! And this isn't a Harvin deal either, where you had to design specific plays and use him in specific situations to be able to take advantage of all that talent. This is a huge, fast target that we can put inside, put out at the X or use as an H back and he can kill matchups at every spot. He not much of a blocker and he's not a freight train like Gronk, but what he is is every bit as impressive in it's own right. He's arguably the best red zone target in the league.

Max is a good center, but no where near on the Center scale that Graham is on the TE scale. There's Gronk, then there's Jimmie and then there a huge drop off to the next group of guys at the position.

Besides Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch this is the best thing ever happened to this offense.

[HumanCockroach]

Fine Bob, I don't care for "soft" TE's on a run first offense, that refuses to block. You are welcome to love the move, skip the telling me how I should feel, and where I should value Graham. Dude is soft, no matter how much you or anyone else likes him. Whether it works or not remains to be seen. Unger, was indeed an All Pro center, and first round picks shouldn't be simply thrown around every other year. I HOPE the dude fits in and excels but that doesn't change my opinion about his playing style, or the cost of acquiring him.

I never said the guy was garbage, but pointing out his problems ( as well as Deions or anyone else who refuses to play his position, ALL parts of his position) doesn't seem to be devaluing him, only seeing ALL the aspects of him, as opposed to buying into the hype, what his name means, and the public love affair with him. I personally don't care for ANY player, defense, offense or special teams that refuses to, or is afraid of hitting. Doesn't matter to me if the guy is the FG kicker, Punter, a pass reception specialist, or the damn water boy. The way I see it, and that won't change because you feel it should.

[HumanCockroach]

We have been saying we need a big, tall receiver with skills for some time now. Now we have one. Perhaps he will be used more as a WR than as a TE, anyway. It seems to me that he and his agent tried to argue that he was a WR for salary reasons a year or so ago.

Unger played 6 games in the regular season last year, and while our numbers suffered some, we still won.

Fair enough, but chemistry is a tricky thing, plenty of guys currently on the Seahawks didn't have a lot of nice things to say about Jimmy, but who knows? he comes in and starts lighting teams up and they will adjust just fine I would think ( unless he pulls the "I'm the best" crapola in the locker room).

That said, there are some pretty startling statistics with and without Unger, and that personally worries me some. Injuries are part of the game ( Jimmy had a lingering issue last season as well, which has been credited with his huge drop in production) , I'm not sure about others, but I personally noticed the drop off from Unger to Lewis then Pierre, then Lewis again.... Maybe it won't matter, and Graham COULD help relieve pressure on Lynch, but ONLY if he can be productive....

[obiken]

Right I was listening to John S, and this is a red zone move. We have 2 of the top 3 red zone scorers now.

[NorthHawk]

If the Red Zone is the focus, I wonder if they will go for road grader types on OL in the draft.
Guys like Tre Jackson from Florida St. or John Miller from Louisville.

[RiverDog]

I like the trade alot. Wouldn't have liked it if we didn't have good talent at Center to replace Unger, but we do ... and from my observations, I think Lewis and Jean-Pierre may be another change that we need.

I think this may help our defense as well. One of the things our defense really needed was a more consistent offense ... one that can convert 3rd and short, 4th and 1, and score TDs in the Red Zone ... one that can move the chains and give them some time to breath. Although our offense overall was better than many thought (I think we actually had one of the top offenses in several areas, such as rushing), I think with Graham in the lineup, our offense just got a little more consistent on those days when we seem to have a tough time getting things going. At least I hope so.

I admire the move. Love it. Thanks for the memories, Max Unger, and welcome to Seattle, Jimmy Graham!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Well, I haven't seen it. The fact that we released J-P and didn't resign him until mid November (no one else did, either) is a bit of a red flag to me. Same thing with Lewis. We didn't keep either of those guys on our final 53 last summer, so it's difficult for me to see where our coaching staff has a whole lot of confidence in either of those guys to such a degree that they'd dump a Pro Bowl player without a plan to replace him with someone not currently on our roster. Hopefully the Hawks have their eyeballs on someone else either as a FA or in the draft, otherwise I'm very uncomfortable with this trade. We just can't continue to plug and play a bunch of no name journeymen on the OL without a core group to support them and expect to survive.

[Oly]

The more I think about the trade, the more I see it as a big risk/reward gamble, but one with so much reward that I'm very happy with it. Pete excels in finding players with unique talents and capitalizing on them. Graham's talents are just what the Hawks needed. Russell needs a big safety valve who owns the middle of the field, can compete for jump balls, and can be dangerous in the play action game, and those needs fit what Graham brings to the table. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Graham was the leading receiver next year, and that playmaking pass catcher was the team's biggest need. Getting a guy like Graham in his prime was never going to be easy, and a starting center and 1st fits the bill. But when considering Unger's injury history and the fact that the Hawks got a replacement pick for the 1st, I think the pros outweigh the cons and by quite a lot.

[RiverDog]

The more I think about the trade, the more I see it as a big risk/reward gamble, but one with so much reward that I'm very happy with it. Pete excels in finding players with unique talents and capitalizing on them. Graham's talents are just what the Hawks needed. Russell needs a big safety valve who owns the middle of the field, can compete for jump balls, and can be dangerous in the play action game, and those needs fit what Graham brings to the table. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Graham was the leading receiver next year, and that playmaking pass catcher was the team's biggest need. Getting a guy like Graham in his prime was never going to be easy, and a starting center and 1st fits the bill. But when considering Unger's injury history and the fact that the Hawks got a replacement pick for the 1st, I think the pros outweigh the cons and by quite a lot.

I saw a fantasy football discussion where they're predicting 1,000 yards+, 12+ TD's, and 80+ catches for Graham next season, which would be an all time high for any Seahawk receiver since Pete took over. I sure hope they're right. I'd be ecstatic if he puts up those kind of numbers.

[kalibane]

I'm still not really on board with this trade but the talk about the difference in the running game without Max Unger is getting blown way out of proportion. WAY out of proportion. The Seahawks were 7-2 without Unger last year.

Furthermore the Seahawks only played one defense in the top 10 in rushing defensive efficiency (overall efficiency as well), Denver. When Unger is out these are the rushing defensive rankings the Seahawks faced:

10 (twice), 7 (twice), 4 (twice), 6, 13, 22.

This IMO is the essence of a meaningless stat taken out of context. He'll be missed but I'm way more concerned with making the proper line calls that keep Russell Wilson protected in the passing game than I am about the rushing offense. What concerns me about the rushing offense is the fact that Graham can't block. Which means they are going to have to get creative with formations or whether Graham is in the game and where he lines up is going to tip our hand in terms of whether it's a run or pass play.

[RiverDog]

I'm still not really on board with this trade but the talk about the difference in the running game without Max Unger is getting blown way out of proportion. WAY out of proportion. The Seahawks were 7-2 without Unger last year.

Furthermore the Seahawks only played one defense in the top 10 in rushing defensive efficiency (overall efficiency as well), Denver. When Unger is out these are the rushing defensive rankings the Seahawks faced:

10 (twice), 7 (twice), 4 (twice), 6, 13, 22.

This IMO is the essence of a meaningless stat taken out of context. He'll be missed but I'm way more concerned with making the proper line calls that keep Russell Wilson protected in the passing game than I am about the rushing offense. What concerns me about the rushing offense is the fact that Graham can't block. Which means they are going to have to get creative with formations or whether Graham is in the game and where he lines up is going to tip our hand in terms of whether it's a run or pass play.

Luke isn't a very good inline blocker, either, so now we have two receiving tight ends that are weak inline blockers, our best blocking TE is no longer on the club, we've traded a 1st for a 4th, the Jets just released Harvin meaning that we only get a 6th for him, AND we're losing two starters on the OL including a Pro Bowl center who's projected replacements couldn't even make the team last season.

There's a lot to not like about this trade. I can't see anyone doing backflips when you sit down and look at how our offensive line shapes up at this particular moment. I've got to force myself to believe that Pete and John have something up their sleeve with regards to our OL. They can't be content to go into next season as we are now.

[kalibane]

I don't know that there is a lot to not like in this trade. There are a couple things not to like that could go pretty badly if it doesn't work out.

Despite me not being a fan of the trade we have been BEGGING for a big time receiving target for decades... essentially since Largent retired. We now have one, and one who addresses every part of the passing game that we're missing. There are a lot of things that the Seahawks can do on offense IF they are able to protect Russell Wilson. Graham by himself takes a safety out of the box. A double TE set with Willson and Graham is going to be a nightmare to defend and if Richardson makes it back and continues to improve it's going to provide a lot of opportunities to put insane pressure on opposing defenses.

[savvyman]

There is no doubt that Unger will be missed. He was a good player on the field and he is a high quality individual\leader too.

However - It is possible that Unger was going to be a Salary Cap Casualty (and also as I mentioned earlier, you cannot get something of value in a trade unless you are willing to give up something of value):

http://mynorthwest.com/292/2726854/John-Clayton-on-why-Seahawks-made-Unger-available-for-Graham

If he was going to be a Cap Casualty - Then what a move by Pete & John to get the type of player they wanted more than anything for a player that they were going to be forced to cut. (also make you wonder what the Hawks FO thought about Unger's future durability?)

And let's remember - Pete & John have proven to be excellent talent evaluators - especially regarding the talent that they have in their own locker room.

No Doubt that our offensive line is our weak point and just got weaker with the loss of Unger. However, the net effect on the offense will be an overall upgrade because of this move.

Finally, the Seahawks have entered into the "WIn it all now Mode" The core group is in their prime and have another 1-3 years before the inevitable decline set's in.

Keep in mind how both Green Bay and New England completely shut down our passing game last year - remember in the Superbowl how we almost went through the entire FIRST Half without a completion?

Do you really think we would be returning to the Superbowl next year if the need for a talented pass catcher was not addressed?

Plus as I already stated - the threat of Jimmy Graham on the field will make our running game even more effective because when teams stack the Box to Stop Marshawn, we will play action and burn them with a Jimmy Graham single coverage Mismatch all season long.

[RiverDog]

I don't know that there is a lot to not like in this trade. There are a couple things not to like that could go pretty badly if it doesn't work out.

Despite me not being a fan of the trade we have been BEGGING for a big time receiving target for decades... essentially since Largent retired. We now have one, and one who addresses every part of the passing game that we're missing. There are a lot of things that the Seahawks can do on offense IF they are able to protect Russell Wilson. Graham by himself takes a safety out of the box. A double TE set with Willson and Graham is going to be a nightmare to defend and if Richardson makes it back and continues to improve it's going to provide a lot of opportunities to put insane pressure on opposing defenses.

We're missing a pass blocking tight end that defenses can't sleep on. Miller was used in that role a lot over the years, and did a fantastic job at it, better than our OT's at times. That's damn important, controlling the edge rush, if we want to get Russell outside where he is the most effective.

[Oly]

I can't believe I'm about to quote Peter King, but here it is:

"But because he has only 16 first-round grades on this year’s class and the Seahawks pick 31st, he thought Graham plus a four for center Max Unger and what was to Schneider essentially a “two” was fair. Moves like this come when you’re not afraid to create one hole in your team (the Seahawks love Unger) to fill a crater (no Seahawks tight end caught more than 22 passes last season; Graham has averaged 89 catches over the last four years), and when you know you’ve got the draft to help fill that hole." (http://mmqb.si.com/2015/03/11/jameis-wi ... irement/5/)

I think he's right on both counts. That first rounder was likely to be a poor value--slotting a second round talent at low first round pricing--and so sounds worse than it is. But the bigger issue is that a player of Graham's caliber is just more valuable than even an All Pro center. The discussion on this board about Graham's blocking and our now weak run blocking OL is good, and JS has created a hole with the trade, but he's filled a crater with an elite talent.

Right now, I'd give the trade a B that will go up or down depending on what they do in the rest of free agency and the draft to fill the OL hole.

[c_hawkbob]

Fine Bob, I don't care for "soft" TE's on a run first offense, that refuses to block. You are welcome to love the move, skip the telling me how I should feel, and where I should value Graham. Dude is soft, no matter how much you or anyone else likes him. Whether it works or not remains to be seen. Unger, was indeed an All Pro center, and first round picks shouldn't be simply thrown around every other year. I HOPE the dude fits in and excels but that doesn't change my opinion about his playing style, or the cost of acquiring him.

I never said the guy was garbage, but pointing out his problems ( as well as Deions or anyone else who refuses to play his position, ALL parts of his position) doesn't seem to be devaluing him, only seeing ALL the aspects of him, as opposed to buying into the hype, what his name means, and the public love affair with him. I personally don't care for ANY player, defense, offense or special teams that refuses to, or is afraid of hitting. Doesn't matter to me if the guy is the FG kicker, Punter, a pass reception specialist, or the damn water boy. The way I see it, and that won't change because you feel it should.

Oh come on Roach, I'm not telling you how to feel or where you should stand on anything. Never have. I'm just telling you (and everyone else) how I feel and where I stand. I have no idea why you're taking it personally.

[briwas101]

I am utterly dumbfounded at the reactions to this trade.

When we traded for Harvin 95% of the board was talking about how amazing the trade was and how awesome he would he for the Hawks.

It is impossible for this trade to turn out as bad as the Harvin trade (worst move in Hawks history, top 3 worst trade in nfl history) because:
1. Graham has much much less guaranteed money owed him
2. Graham's average annual compensation is less than Harvin's was
3. We gave up a later 1st rounder in a draft that's weak at the top (supposedly)
4. He doesn't have the same personality issues / psychosis/ sociopathy that Harvin does
5. He should surpass Harvin's 17 receiving yards before the end of the first half of our first game
6. Unger is unreliable due to his frequent injuries and it can easily be justified that he is no longer worth the risk

The Harvin trade was HORRIBLE in every single possible way, and most of you people LOVED the trade.

Now the Hawks make a move that is GUARANTEED to turn out better than the Harvin trade, and people don't like it very much.

Unbelievable.

[kalibane]

We're missing a pass blocking tight end that defenses can't sleep on. Miller was used in that role a lot over the years, and did a fantastic job at it, better than our OT's at times. That's damn important, controlling the edge rush, if we want to get Russell outside where he is the most effective.

If Justin Britt becomes a decent RT and no longer requires help from a TE which is what he is supposed to do, the TE's pass blocking ability is a non-factor.

Miller helped to cover that weakness with his blocking ability but that shouldn't be a requirement. Miller's value as a pass blocker was a function of a poor Offensive Line. Ideally they would have only had him chip at most and then go out into the pattern. So no I don't see that as something "lost" from our receiving group. It's something that never should have been a necessity in the first place.

Now Miller's value in the running game on the other hand. That will be sorely missed.

[briwas101]

We're missing a pass blocking tight end that defenses can't sleep on. Miller was used in that role a lot over the years, and did a fantastic job at it, better than our OT's at times. That's damn important, controlling the edge rush, if we want to get Russell outside where he is the most effective.

Losing Miller as a blocker hurts, but the Seahawks had it all backwards in the first place with their refusal to improve the OL and their utter reliance on TEs for blocking.

Now it is 100% impossible for the Hawks to not consider the OL a priority. I don't see how they come away from the draft with less than 2 OL picks. Also, with Unger gone we might actually upgrade over the course of the season by having our starter stay healthy all year. I would take a small downgrade in talent from Unger if we can get 13+ games from his replacement who gets 1st team snaps throughout preseason and regular season.

Besides, we can at least halfway expect ONE of our OL to improve over last year (britt).

This trade helps the offense way more than having Miller would. Miller's blocking will be missed, but all he was for us was another blocker to help out our one playmaker that needs blockers to make plays (Lynch). Wilson makes plays out of broken plays and has never gotten much help from his blockers (even when Miller played).

What happens if Hawks keep Miller and Lynch gets injured carrying the bulk of the load? The hawks then have no real weapon
on offense, and Miller's value goes down because then he REALLY couldn't get sent on routes because we would REALLY need his blocking because teams could focus on stopping the passing game and not worry so much about the run.

With Graham we just added a LEGIT weapon on offense. If Lynch gets injured we still have a star playmaker (who should actually fit in well in the offense). By having a star on the outside as well as our star RB we have a way to beat the defense no matter how they choose to play us.

Want to stack the box? We'll beat them with Graham or pick up an easy 5 yards with one of our mediocre undrafted WRs.
Want to double team graham to take away that facet of our game? Enjoy giving up 5/carry to Lynch or a decent gain by a wide open WR.

Graham fits the tall jump-ball-winning receiving threat that Wilson could really benefit from. He is the offensive weapon that will draw some double-teams.

Miller was good, but his contributions to the team will never match what Graham can do for us.

[NorthHawk]

Oakland released Wisniewski (sp) when they signed Hudson for their Center spot so he might be an option for a few years.
I don't know if he played for Cable or not, but he's been a lot healthier than Unger the last 4 years.

[Agent 86]

Can I ask where the consensus came that Jimmy Graham can't block? Was it from the 2 games the 'Hawks played against them 2 years ago. There was alot of chatter then about it, and on TV, they showed some replays where he whiffed and looked soft. But I guess the Legion of Boom does that to alot of people.

Is there anyone here who watches Jimmy Graham play week in/week out?

The reason I ask is this. In Pat Kirwan's assessment yesterday, he mentioned Graham as being a "good" blocker, but obviously was used more to catch passes. New Orleans probably passed more than they ran, but I think Ingram had a decent year last year (964 yards and 4.3 YPC). I would imagine Graham was used in a fair amount of run plays.

I find it hard to believe a man of that size it a "terrible" blocker. I think this notion was founded from 2 games, and maybe some extra media attention it got. I trust PK's opinion over many of yours, no offense of course.

But I ask this honestly because I think it is being made too big a deal of when it may not even be entirely true?

[kalibane]

It's pretty well known. I'm sure he could be a better blocker if he wanted to. The problem is he's the Deion Sanders of TEs. He doesn't like blocking so he doesn't make a real effort when called on to do so. Maybe Pete Carroll's environment can change that but I doubt it.

[NorthHawk]

Like someone above said, he might be used primarily as a WR or hybrid where blocking isn't as much of a requirement.
Clearly his main purpose will be to catch passes, not block so I'm not concerned.
We re-signed McCoy so if he stays healthy for once he isn't a bad blocker - and there's always the draft or later FA for blocking TEs.

[mykc14]

I am utterly dumbfounded at the reactions to this trade.

When we traded for Harvin 95% of the board was talking about how amazing the trade was and how awesome he would he for the Hawks.

It is impossible for this trade to turn out as bad as the Harvin trade (worst move in Hawks history, top 3 worst trade in nfl history) because:
1. Graham has much much less guaranteed money owed him
2. Graham's average annual compensation is less than Harvin's was
3. We gave up a later 1st rounder in a draft that's weak at the top (supposedly)
4. He doesn't have the same personality issues / psychosis/ sociopathy that Harvin does
5. He should surpass Harvin's 17 receiving yards before the end of the first half of our first game
6. Unger is unreliable due to his frequent injuries and it can easily be justified that he is no longer worth the risk

The Harvin trade was HORRIBLE in every single possible way, and most of you people LOVED the trade.

Now the Hawks make a move that is GUARANTEED to turn out better than the Harvin trade, and people don't like it very much.

Unbelievable.

I'm not even really against this trade but you are the one who is overreacting with this post. First of all I haven't read anybody saying this is going to be as bad as the Harvin trade. Secondly it doesn't matter if it is GUARANTEED to turn out better than the Harvin trade that doesn't mean it was a good trade. It might not be as bad as the Harvin trade but people have every right to think 'hey we just lost a guy who has been very good for us, an all-pro at a weak spot on our team for a guy I don't know for sure fits in our system and a 1st round pick. I don't know if I like this." A trade doesn't have to be as bad as the Harvin trade to be a bad move and people have every right to not like it. If Graham doesn't really fit in our offense and our running game declines because of poor center play then it would certainly be a bad trade, not Harvin bad, but bad. Again I am not saying that this I think this is going to happen but people have the right to question it. Unbelievable.

[NorthHawk]

For what it's worth, Warren Moon said (paraphrase) this trade now changes our whole Red Zone Offense as it gives us a completely different option.
I suspect it's the same for the short yardage Offense, too.

[RiverDog]

I am utterly dumbfounded at the reactions to this trade.

When we traded for Harvin 95% of the board was talking about how amazing the trade was and how awesome he would he for the Hawks.

It is impossible for this trade to turn out as bad as the Harvin trade (worst move in Hawks history, top 3 worst trade in nfl history) because:
1. Graham has much much less guaranteed money owed him
2. Graham's average annual compensation is less than Harvin's was
3. We gave up a later 1st rounder in a draft that's weak at the top (supposedly)
4. He doesn't have the same personality issues / psychosis/ sociopathy that Harvin does
5. He should surpass Harvin's 17 receiving yards before the end of the first half of our first game
6. Unger is unreliable due to his frequent injuries and it can easily be justified that he is no longer worth the risk

The Harvin trade was HORRIBLE in every single possible way, and most of you people LOVED the trade.

Now the Hawks make a move that is GUARANTEED to turn out better than the Harvin trade, and people don't like it very much.

Unbelievable.

I guess I must be that 1 in 20 as I was against the Harvin trade from the get go.

But I have not yet come out against this trade. I can see a lot of bad things that could go seriously wrong, such as if Britt doesn't come to the party like Kal is hoping he will. I'm waiting to see how we are going to address the OL slots we are missing, particularly at center, a position where experience really matters.

This is apples and oranges compared to the Harvin trade. Harvin was a locker room cancer everywhere he went and was injury prone. There were red flags galore. It's not fair to compare a proven player like Jimmy Graham to a proven prick like Harvin.

[kalibane]

We all should be hoping that Britt comes to party. It was a big reason why Luke Willson and for that matter, Zach wasn't a bigger part of the offensive game plan (Luke because we couldn't put him on the field and Zach because he had to stay in to block). Zach was a very good receiving TE in addition to being a good blocker, we just never had the opportunity to use him that way because our RT always sucks.

[NorthHawk]

After a full year, Britt should be able to hit the ground running in TC.
There will be far fewer new experiences about the NFL and the reality of the job will have set in.
I think he did pretty well for a rookie RT last year and hope he's even better this year.

[RiverDog]

We all should be hoping that Britt comes to party. It was a big reason why Luke Willson and for that matter, Zach wasn't a bigger part of the offensive game plan (Luke because we couldn't put him on the field and Zach because he had to stay in to block). Zach was a very good receiving TE in addition to being a good blocker, we just never had the opportunity to use him that way because our RT always sucks.

Of course, I'm hoping Britt comes to the party. But he's not there yet and there's the question of his ability to stay healthy. Pretty risky assumption if you ask me. And yea, we've always sucked at RT, kinda like the Mariners used to suck so badly at 3B. Breno wasn't a bad run blocker, but he got spun around a lot in pass protection. And let's not get started on how well Carpenter played the spot. Ugh.

[NorthHawk]

Why would you question Britt's ability to stay healthy?
He started all 16 games last year but got dinged up a little near the end.
That's a lot of football for a rookie especially one that plays every play on the OL.

[RiverDog]

Why would you question Britt's ability to stay healthy?
He started all 16 games last year but got dinged up a little near the end.
That's a lot of football for a rookie especially one that plays every play on the OL.

Didn't he have injury problems at Mizzu?

[NorthHawk]

2013 ACL.
It's a big one, but he's had 2 years of generally good health.
He played more snaps than any other player on the OL last year during the regular season.

[c_hawkbob]

Carroll on Russell Wilson's thought about the trade: “I talked to Russ and he was fired up about it. As a matter of fact, he had already talked to [Graham] and they were working on dates to get together in the offseason.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/seattle-seahawk ... mmy-graham

[Zorn76]

Hopefully, RW's attitude will rub off on Graham during the offseason.

That's the main thing with me concerning this trade - his attitude.

Will it be "team first" or "me first."

Given the way Wilson spreads the ball around when he does pass, JG has to know - or at least anticipate - that his personal stats could come down. That's where his state of mind comes into play.

The Seahawks are a team with loads of individual talent, each of whom put the group in front of themselves.

I hope he's on board with that approach.

[NorthHawk]

Yah, Zorn that's always a concern with the top players that haven't been developed within our system.
We really don't know what type of focus he, or any other top player has - team or individual. It's not like the Draft where interviews are taken.
It doesn't mean we should avoid them, and at some point we have to take a leap of faith if we want to improve our Offense.

[RiverDog]

I don't know if Graham's attitude is a concern. I've never heard anything about him not being a team player in the Big Easy. Pete did express some concern about some of the gamesmanship that went on between Graham and some members of our defense (Michael Bennett called him overrated), but all of that will be quickly forgotten after Graham hauls in a couple of TD passes. It's not as bad as if it would have been had we brought Crabtree in here.