TERRY MOSHER

TOP OF THE TOWN – This is going to be interesting to watch as the Seahawks – John Schneider and Pete Carroll – wiggle their way out of a salary cap dilemma that right now is just over $20 million. There is a great need for a pass rusher, and, of course, a great need to beef up an offensive line that needs it. Cornerback Shaquill Griffin, K.J. Wright and Chris Carson are free agents, so what to do with them? Schneider and Carroll have already released Carlos Dunlap to free up $14 million of cap room, but it doesn’t seem to me that $20 million is going to work to solve all the problems that need to be solved. As I have previously written, I hate the salary cap. It is there to make the NFL an equal opportunity league where in theory all teams have the same right to be good (or bad). But the cap is like a maddening string of Christmas lights that takes hours to untangle before putting them on the tree. Every transaction affects the cap and what a team does today affects what it can do tomorrow (or next year). The cap limit also forces teams to waive, release or trade Pro-Bowlers to not just stay under the cap but provide room to make the necessary adjustments of their current players but also to trade for or sign other free agents. It’s a mess, really, and whoever is in charge of working with the cap on each team likely has no hair left after pulling it out while solving a multitude of money problems. How will Schneider and Carroll solve the problems associated with Carson, Wright and Griffin? Will they just let them go via free agency and take the cap money saved by their departures to sign some cheaper help at their positions? Then there is the bigger problem, fixing an offensive line that forced the most positive person in football to complain that he was getting hit too much and he wanted better protection. I’m talking about quarterback Russell Wilson, who unwittingly opened up a Pandora Box when he opened his mouth. Every national and local broadcaster and writer has been talking about him since, and all of them are wondering where Russell Wilson will end up – back in Seattle or in Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans or Dallas, the four teams he would agree to be traded to. Well, Dallas is now out since Dak Prescott just signed a 4-year 160 million contract, but Chicago is very interested in obtaining him. Few people expect the Seahawks to trade Wilson. You don’t get franchise quarterbacks as easily as you would pick apples off a tree. No, they are difficult to get and for teams to ditch them is extremely rare. And Wilson has not asked to be traded. But his discomfort has shaken the franchise and led to a very public discourse. This unexpected experience with Wilson has made Carroll the bad guy even how injustice that is. Winning a Super Bowl would take care of that. But the Seahawks are not going to get over the hump with a quarterback angry that he’s not being protected well enough. That has to be fixed if Wilson is to stay and it isn’t going to be fixed until the issue of a limited salary cap is solved. So as I said to open this, it’s going to be interesting to see how it is fixed or will it be fixed. Enough for today. Stay safe.

Be well pal.

Be careful out there.

Have a great day.

You are loved.