SEATTLE — Even before the Seahawks lost Super Bowl XLIX in heartbreaking fashion, general manager John Schneider and Seattle’s entire football operations department had set up a temporary office in Phoenix.
Players and coaches had a game to prepare for, but Schneider, his scouts and salary cap people were already looking to 2015 and beyond while set up at the Arizona Grand Resort. Just as there was no time then to sit around and appreciate a second consecutive Super Bowl berth leading up to the game, there is no time now for mourning a heartbreaking loss, at least not for Schneider and company.
The reality of the NFL is that staying on top means always looking ahead, always creating multiple roster models that look two and three years into the future.
So while head coach Pete Carroll and his players may still be recovering from a season that came up a single yard short of a title, the Seahawks as an organization have to be moving on to the future. Carroll said on his radio show Tuesday that “I believe, in time, we’ll be stronger than ever. … We’re going to be stronger for this, we’re going to be better for this. It’s just cruddy we have to feel this.”
For that to happen, the Seahawks need to not only get over the Super Bowl loss, but make smart decision heading into the 2015 season. With that in mind, here are five key things the Seahawks need to get done this offseason:
1. Heal, both physically and mentally
Free safety Earl Thomas needs surgery, so does cornerback Jeremy Lane, and perhaps cornerback Richard Sherman and strong safety Kam Chancellor as well. On top of those who ended the season with significant injuries, plenty more will need time for their bodies to recover after playing 38 games over the past two seasons, preseason not included.
And perhaps just as significantly, the Seahawks need to properly channel such a devastating loss and not let it be their undoing. The Seahawks used their playoff loss in Atlanta to help drive them in what ended up being a championship 2013 season, and hope to use their loss to New England for similar motivation.
“There’s going to be some times you come up short, you know?” quarterback Russell Wilson said. “But the key is how do you get back up, how do you keep moving forward, how do you pull up the people with you?”
The Seahawks’ locker room was a somber place Tuesday as players packed up their belongings for the offseason, but there was also hope amidst the sadness.
“We’re going to get stronger from it,” receiver Doug Baldwin said. “We’re going to come out of this better than we’ve ever been before.”
2. Figure out running back Marshawn Lynch’s situation
A pretty strong argument can be made that getting contract extension done for Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner is the top priority, but neither of those players’ situations are as potentially volatile as Lynch’s. Lynch will be 29 next season, but was arguably better than ever in 2014. He’ll want more than the $7 million he is owed, and as he showed in training camp last year, he’s willing to hold out to get a raise.
Factor in the reports that Lynch might consider retirement, and it’s clear the Seahawks need to figure out a way to make one of their best players happy without setting themselves back for the long-term future.
3. Take care of Wilson and Wagner
The Seahawks have been consistent about rewarding their top young players with contracts before they can get to free agency, and after locking Sherman, Thomas and Baldwin up last offseason, Wilson and Wagner are due for significant raises this year. With Wilson in particular, a new contract will create new challenges for the Seahawks, who will go from having a quarterback making $662,434 in 2014 to likely more than $20 million per season going forward.
While Wagner and Wilson are both locked up through 2015, letting them play out their rookie deals and approach free agency isn’t something the Seahawks want to see happen.
4. Take advantage of what should be a busy draft weekend
While being near the bottom of the draft order for a third straight season creates a disadvantage, the Seahawks, a team that has a history of trading back to acquire more picks, will go into the 2015 draft already loaded on picks. Seattle gave up a sixth-rounder for cornerback Marcus Burley, but they’ll have either of a fourth or sixth-round pick coming back from the Jets for Percy Harvin, as well as at least a couple compensatory picks in the mid-to-late rounds for the players they lost in free agency last season like Golden Tate, Breno Giacomini and Clinton McDonald.
Seattle won’t hit on every pick, but with a lot of ammunition heading into April’s draft, this is an important time for the Seahawks to find young, inexpensive talent that can help them stay competitive when more big-money contracts start creating salary-cap constraints.
5. Make the necessary “tough decisions”
When a coach talks about making tough or difficult decision, they’re usually talking about releasing a highly paid veteran for salary-cap reasons. Last year defensive ends Chris Clemons and Red Bryant, and wide receiver Sidney Rice were all cap casualties, and while there are fewer obvious cuts this year, there are possible cost-saving moves to be made if the Seahawks think they need that money either to re-sign their own free agents or find help on the open market.
Tight end Zach Miller, who missed most of this season with an ankle injury, took a pay cut last offseason to avoid becoming a cap casualty, and would represent a modest $2.39 million in cap savings if cut this offseason.
Another veteran coming off an injury is defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, who represents a $5.5 million cap savings if cut this offseason. Or the Seahawks could save $3 million parting ways with starting defensive tackle Tony McDaniel.
All three of those players are very valuable to the Seahawks when healthy, however, so parting ways with any could prove risky, especially considering their limited success developing drafted defensive linemen.
The Seahawks could also look to save some money in 2015 by extending the contract of left tackle Russell Okung, whose cap number of $7.28 million could be lowered with a new contract.
These decisions will tie into other difficult choices involving Seattle’s pending free agents, most notably cornerback Byron Maxwell and guard James Carpenter. Maxwell in particular figures to be headed for a significant payday, and as much as the Seahawks like him as a player, they may not be able to afford him with so many other defensive players on big contracts.
The Seahawks will also need to figure out how much they can afford to be buyers in free agency. As good as they’ve been over the past few years, there is always room for improvement, whether it’s adding depth to either line, trying to find a playmaker at tight end, or adding talent at receiver.
With the Harvin trade being a bust, and with Paul Richardson possibly not back from an ACL tear to start the season, the Seahawks need to add help at receiver either through the draft or in free agency.
Herald Columnist John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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