Get in the freaking auto! From the Quantum Fiber Studio, this is Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports. Brock Eward is my hero. Jay Puder just punched me in the kidney. We're gonna see you on Manor. That really worked that way, Sherm. This is a show that has my name on it. Now here are your hosts, Brock Eward and Mike Salk. Hello! You want a running back? Because they're out there, man. Vikings are cutting Aaron Jones. nah too old david montgomery wants out of detroit he's kind of tough kind of tough dude there's always just there's always going to be running backs aaron jones for one year no thanks whatever man it's one year like it's one year like you you need one year right so can you see what demarcus lawrence did aaron jones he crumpled him like crumpled him up like an aluminum can yeah and where's demarcus lawrence i'm so glad you asked about him, Brock. Where is he right now? Is he on the team? Or is he going to retire? Because if he retires, I mean, today He's on the team. Today he is. Did you listen to Mike McDonald? He's on the team. Today. Today. We'll see about tomorrow. There's always going to be running backs, man. That's kind of what this weekend reminded me of. There's just always going to be running backs. And that's not to say that running back's not important. It is. and there's a reason that you want good running backs on your team. But they're running backs. And I'm really been relieved to hear all of the noise out of the Seahawks being all about like, yeah, we'd love to have K-9 back at the right price, but we're not going to overspend. And if he ends up going somewhere else, great. I know Jeremy Fowler said that David Montgomery might be a great fit for the Seahawks. A guy who, you know, is going to get $6 million this year. He's 28 years old. Like, that's not a tremendous amount. And it's a one-year deal, which is probably what you're looking at right now and waiting to see what happens with Charbonnet as well. I don't know. I just, that would work just fine for me. And then deal with the edge, which is important, where you think you're going to lose both Boy and Mafe and possibly Demarcus Lawrence. This comes down to a good old-fashioned supply and demand economics. And you're absolutely right. The supply of running backs every single year. It is the one position group as much as any other Salk. And it's probably the group that I fast forwarded the most through the combine. Because it's the one group that is the most like, oh, there he is. Yep, there's the next 5'9", 5'10", 200, 205, running 4 or 5. You know, it's like there's a ton of those guys. And that's not to be little. You got traded five minutes ago? You got to be kidding me. We finally do this segment. And David Montgomery got traded five minutes ago. five minutes ago literally during our last break he goes to the texans so forget about david montgomery he's out he goes to the texans for a fifth round pick yeah you know why they had to trade him sulk because they're about to pay i believe jameer gibbs the new ceiling market value for running back so it's actually fifth year value so they get uh a fourth rounder mm-hmm juice scrugs and a seventh rounder okay yeah anyway would you have done that well you didn't have a fourth or fifth rounder you gave those up for shaheed i have absolutely given up juice scrugs and play for the team so you don't just give away marcalo and you don't just give away juice scrugs no okay all right no oh that is hilarious he was literally just traded right before this segment but you still get the point i mean that's what the value is like a fifth round pick sure so are you telling me that that kenneth walker is like significantly more valuable than like than montgomery not really the only the only real question and they've already answered this question they've already given you this tell right this was not like uh breaking crazy news shefter had it others have reported it like they're not going to franchise ken walker so that tells you right there did you think he was that elite that well-rounded that much of a dude that we're going to guarantee him a one-year, $14 million deal. They decided no on that. Like, what does that tell you? What does that tell you as a Seahawks fan? What does that tell you as a radio host? What does that tell you as a sports fan? Yeah, they love him, man. He was an amazing contributor. And at the right price and the right value, they would love to bring him back. This has a lot of, like, Golden Tate vibes to me. This has a lot of Paul Richardson vibes to me. Some of these players that early on in their first Super Bowl run and victory that they had to kind of make the decision and go, yeah we'll pay Richard we'll pay Cam we'll pay Bobby we're not going to pay Paul we're not going to pay Golden we're not right I mean that's just kind of the the stage that you're at right now you know one of the challenges is you've got a bunch of them right you've got what four in that draft class there and also is some of the challenge that you can't get them all back which is not going to happen and I think just just kind of sniff test this is no inside information and in talking to anybody over there this is this one is just kind of a pretty easy sniff test the market's going to pay him. Which is great, and I love it. I'm so happy to see them kind of going down that road. The question for me is, all right, then what are you going to do on the edge? Because it sure feels as if they're not particularly interested in spending a tremendous amount of money to bring back Boy Mafe, and we just don't know what's going to happen yet with DeMarcus Lawrence. And even if DeMarcus Lawrence returns, part of the thing that made this team so special this year was being able to bring four different guys off the edge, especially when two of them are older people, right, in both Chenna and DeMarcus Lawrence. Yeah, you know what they're going to do? So where are you going to get that? Yeah, well, I think what they're going to do is they're going to look at a draft class that does. Unlike running back, this one's got a lot of different flavors of different shapes, different sizes, different backgrounds, different production. I'll give you one guy tomorrow. I'll make sure my one little combine guy tomorrow is an edge player. So you think they go draft? They go young and edge. I think they go draft, and then you know what else I think they do? because this is such a deep edge class those those edge free agents aren't there's not going to be enough musical chairs for them and you know the savvy wise one an agent's going to go you know where you need to go you need to go where kyle van nooy and jadavian clowny had their best years in baltimore you know where you need to go you need to go where demarcus lawrence and boy and like yeah is yeah you need to go there uh because that scheme that system that stadium that environment the people around you, that D-line room, yeah, I think that one sells itself pretty darn well. So I'm going to let – what is it? Patience is a shortcut. I'm going to have a little patience here through this process. All right. And because I firmly believe that their sell is better than anybody else's sell. Well, good. I just – the only real point here, and it's funny to do this literally as Montgomery is getting traded to the Texans, and thank you to the 9 million people who texted in to let us know about that. Appreciate you. That was really helpful. you can stop now we've gotten enough text we've we've clarified the record but thank you they're just trying to confirm old and lazy i get it i thank you i appreciate it maybe it's just that ian rapaport's the only one with the news so i'm waiting for more people to go out and say it before i truly believe it but the the the point being brock edge over running back that's just an importance value and we've spent all around the city a lot of time talking about ken walker and that's fine but please just try to remember that what happens on the edge of the defense is a lot more important than who's getting carries behind the set behind the quarterback all right um hawk blogger in what 20 minutes so we'll get a little sense of what was going on at the combine he was there boots on the ground i'm sure he was aware of david montgomery getting traded good with us the three or four times he's kind of talked about names oh yeah he's been I think it was about this time last year, in fact. I think, in fact, on next Monday, Gino was – and then it was DK like a week later. And I think it was some of his – he kind of mentioned that. He also had Grace Abel at around this time. He said that Dion's kid wasn't going to get drafted in the first round. So, yeah, there's a lot of reasons to listen to Hawk Blogger. He's coming up in 20 after everything you need to know next. highlights don't win games the full box score does i'm brock huard and most business leaders aren't short on data they're short on clarity numbers are scattered across erp crms and spreadsheets making decisions reactive instead of confident and that's not how great businesses are built marquee iq brings all your data together into one clear view even if it lives in disconnected systems or offline so you can see what's really happening and act faster stop running your business on highlights, get the full picture. Visit data that wins.com to see what marquee IQ can do. When you're running the hurry up and don't have time for your favorite Seattle sports shows, listen to the podcast on demand. How about that? Unbelievable. What a thought. Every hour, every interview, every look behind the scenes. He is your new Seahawks head coach, Mike McDonald. We want to play a certain way and you're just going to chisel away at it every day. Find us on seattlesports.com, the Seattle Sports app, or wherever you get podcasts. All signs continue to point to it being the right hire. Never miss a minute of Seattle sports, the home of the Seahawks. Need to know. 15 minutes past every hour with Brock and Salk. Presented by Marquee Data. Here's what you need to know. Up first. Shut it down, Brock. No more hype machine. The Mariners lost three straight this weekend. To the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rangers in spring training action. And I couldn't even sleep last night after all of this. But if you watch Naylor's at bat, Salky's hitting 0-59. Is he really? He's got paid. He's shut it down. Obviously, that's what's happened. No, it was cool to see the kids debut this weekend. Both Kate Anderson and Ryan Sloan were out there. Kate Anderson struck out the side in the first. The stretch and the 0-2 on the way to Sheets. Fastball strike three called. He got him looking. How about that for a Cactus League debut? kate anderson striking out the side here in the bottom of the first inning fanning bogarts and duhar and now gavin sheets the padres leave a couple kate anderson heck of a start here in the cactus league and that it for the padres in the first a gold star right out of the chute for young kate anderson we go to the top half of the second There you go A three performance in the first inning Didn fare as well when he went back out for the second but that okay Of course, Brock, you could tell he was super amped up heading into this one, right? I think you'd be surprised. I mean, it's just another game for me. I think when you have that mindset, it makes you a lot easier on yourself. You don't have as much nerves, you know. How do you establish that mindset? How is it so simplistic for you to be able to apply that? I think it just comes with, like, experience. Also, when you, like, see the other starters, like, they're just so calm. I think when you're calm out there, it just makes life a lot easier on you. I love it. Was not excited, just kept it chill. Hey, how come? Well, it just comes with experience. Isn't this your first start? Yeah, on the bigs, but did you watch the College World Series? Fair. Like 20,000 maniacs? Yeah. Do you see every one of my home starts at LSU with 20,000 maniacs? Like, dude's been in big moments. Like, we talk about these college NFL or college football players, so getting the NIL, he's got NIL. He was a big, big deal. He was a demigod down in LSU with what he did. So first spring training start? Come on, bro. There's nothing. Adrenaline? Didn't even mean anything to him. It's hilarious. I've been there. I've done that. Yeah, he's got a – Bring on the World Series. Give me the ball in game seven. Let me shove. He definitely has a little bit of tood. There's no doubt. There's a little bit of attitude there. The Cliff Lee comp is just tremendous. and maybe Max Freed as well. Let's see. It was also Ryan Sloan's debut. He had a clean inning of work, one, two, three, which was great out of the pen. And let's see. I think I have some Ryan Sloan sound also. Oh, yeah, here you go. Here's his confidence. Yeah, I mean, it's great. I mean, I think the amount of work I put in just goes to the confidence. I think I know my stuff's good and getting to face these guys It just kind of continues to stack on to that confidence that I can go out there and compete with really anyone, and my stuff's good enough to do that. Yeah, your stuff's good enough. These two kids feel pretty good about themselves, huh? Kind of love it. They're not hurting for confidence. But honestly, Salk, it's not like out of thin air. It's great. As they said, they measure all these pitches. They know them. What did Ryan say to us? And you heard it this morning. They just go out there and encourage us to use the club we got. My driver hits it 350, Salk. Yeah, and it's going to hit it 350, whether I'm in the minor leagues or the big leagues. Do I care what course I play on? I really don't. I really don't. Am I going to hit it 350 today at Chambers? Let the big dog eat. Probably not. Luke Rayleigh hit his first home run of the spring. So did Cole Young. I love that Cole Youngs came off a lefty. Just really, really great news there. Here's the second thing you need to know. NFL Combine, fewer and fewer people out there. Here's Matt Miller of ESPN. It is a trend. It's every year we see less participation, you know, and like I've been, this is my 14th or 15th combine. It used to be, you know, very rarely did players not work out. And it was, you didn't work out if you knew you were going to be a top pick. Now, like no one does the three coming anymore. You know, like no one does the bench press anymore. And so it is a, I think, concerning trend. In fact, one running back did the three control this year. One running back divided. One did the three control. drill and like that's an important drill like it shows a lot it shows you know body control and balance and agility and first one running back did it combine gonna go away brock no and the three cone drill i totally disagree with who cares about bench press and put in three cone drill and any of that let me see your 40 seriously let me see your 40 your vert your broad that's all i need to see and the majority of guys did that like i don't need to see your three cone i don't need to See your shuttle. Doesn't that help with all of the, you know, like, bed? I would think you love that stuff. Your tape shows all of that. And you know what? So does your broad jump and your vertical and your 40. I thought that stuff would be really important to you. All of that, like. Actually, no. God, this blows me away. Totally surprised by that. All right. Yeah. NFL salary cap numbers are out, Brock. And it's going to be over $300 million for the first time. $22 million increase over last year's cap. So the NFL is making money. They're doing all right. Yeah. Probably going to help with the value of the team that is currently for sale right here in Seattle. Here's the third thing you need to know. Cool weekend hockey-wise here in Seattle. First Friday night, it was the Torrent setting the all-time American attendance record for a women's hockey game. 17,335 people. They opened up the entire top of Climate Pledge, and then they sold that out, too. So that's incredible, huh? It is, especially for a team that's, as you told me, you know, like not at the top of the top. They're not having a great season on the ice. They're an expansion team, right? Yeah. And they have one of the game's biggest star, and Hillary is on the injured list a little bit. So even with all of that, like, I don't care. I just want to be a part of this. I want to see it. 17,000. And they wanted to go, I think, just to, you know, honor the Olympians. They have a few of them on their team, not just Hillary Knight, but Alex Carpenter and the rest of them. So that was Hannah Bilko. It was great. And then they played. Did they get a shout out? Did the Olympians get a little special shout out? Yes, they got quite a bit of a shout out. Yes. I think it was multiple shouts out. I like it. They'll be in Ottawa on Wednesday. Kraken played Saturday night and finally played some good hockey. I think I even saw Lane Lambert smile after the game. It was bizarre. I know. I think it happened, though. They beat the Canucks? They did. Who were bad? Here was Chandler Stevenson. Schwartz to the point. Larson with a shot. Fought off the rebound. They score! Chandler Stevenson! Yeah, shout out. You know who deserves a shout out, Brock? Who, Michael? John Forslund and every visiting announcer who has to call a Canucks game. Did you know the Canucks have three players on their team not related named Petterson? What? Marcus Petterson, Elias Petterson, and Elias Petterson. With a D or a T? Two Ts, I believe. Okay. But there's an Elias and an Elias. And they're not related? None of them are related. Is that a Canadian name? What is that? I believe Swedish. Oh, Swedish. We got a lot of Swedes on that team. A lot of Swedes. Yeah. They need a Peterson and a Patterson to really make it work. That is everything you need to know. So we didn't see the breaking news. Including an Elias and an Elias. What are the odds of that? Good luck. Way to go, Johnny. So I stand corrected on something else, Saul. Not only did we miss the David Montgomery news. We did. He got traded to the Texans. In 1999, when yours truly was a third-round draft pick, I thought that the salary cap in the NFL was around $100 million. I'm going to guess it was closer to $50 million. Yeah, so in 1999, it was $57.2 million. Yeah, you were off by a lot. Yeah, we're about 5.5X since then. That's decent. That's a pretty good return on investment if you happen to own an NFL team. Not bad work if you can get it. Brian Nemhauser does not, but he was at the Combine, and he's been able to give us some pretty great insight from these little trips he takes. So he will do that next. Hawk Blogger on with Brock and Salk on CL Sports on 710. Highlights don't win games. The full box score does. I'm Brock Heward, and most business leaders aren't short on data. They're short on clarity. Numbers are scattered across ERPs, CRMs, and spreadsheets, making decisions reactive instead of confident. And that's not how great businesses are built. Marquee IQ brings all your data together into one clear view, even if it lives in disconnected systems or offline, so you can see what's really happening and act faster. Stop running your business on highlights. Get the full picture. Visit data that wins.com to see what Marquee IQ can do. For decades, Seattle has lived and breathed baseball. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the memories made at the ballpark. At Levitt Group Northwest Insurance, they get it because they call Seattle home just like you. They know this community. and they know what it takes to protect it. That's why they listen, shop around, and tailor coverage for your home, car, or business. Call 877-4-LEVIT. Levitt Group Northwest. Insurance you can count on season after season. 877-4-LEVIT. We are Seattle Sports. 710 a.m. on your radio. Streaming through the Seattle Sports app. Get new videos, podcasts, and articles on the Seahawks and Mariners from your favorite Seattle sports personalities daily. From the Quantum Fiber Studio, this is Brock and Sock. Weekdays 6 to 10. On Seattle Sports and 97.3 FM HD2. All right, I got to admit something to you, Brock. Are you okay with me giving a little, what do you always say? Is this a confession? I said this at the men's conference Saturday. Confession, good for the soul, bad for the reputation. Good for the soul, bad for the reputation. as we welcome in our friend, Hawk blogger Brian Nemhauser. I will confess to you guys, I have been less focused on the draft this year than ever before. It's early, Michael. It is early. It's March 2nd. But the season went so long, right, all the way through the Super Bowl and then the parade, and then you got the Mariners who have a World Series contending kind of a roster. I have spent less time even thinking about the draft than I normally would of at this point. Didn't pay any attention to the Senior Bowl like we did last year. It's just been a different kind of a vibe. The Seahawks aren't going to pick until 32. They only have four picks. So I do need some help kind of getting up to speed because I'm guessing I'm not alone of being people that just haven't focused on the draft yet. And on top of that, on top of that, and the biggest factor is you've got your own looming free agents in a way that we've never experienced like this. Certainly not in a while, that's for sure. So, Brian m hauser hawk blogger you were there as you've been the last couple of years in indy how was the combine well i'll tell you one thing boys it was not warm like it was down there as i was seeing you guys in spring training it's pretty warm it was i got there and i literally i immediately had to go find someplace to buy like a beanie and like warmer shoes like i did not come prepared for the teens that we were dealing with. So a little jealous of your Arizona weather. But no, it was great. And for people that I think, people that don't know, and I didn know this honestly until I started going the Combine really not about the draft Like believe it or not it not about the draft Most of the conversations that happen there are about free agency And I think that the thing to really pay attention to this week, guys, we just deemed this in a show I was doing pre-agency, after the Combine and before free agency. Last year, this is when DK Metcalf got traded. This is when Geno Smith got traded. This is when Ernest Jones was signed. This is when, in years before, Russell Wilson was traded and, you know, all these different moves. So I think that when John Schneider left last week, he was on my flight home. I think he had all the information he needed to decide whether or not he's even going to have a first round pick this week. Or maybe, maybe Max Crosby becomes a Seahawk this week. Okay. Okay. So, okay. And you just had to do that, Brian. Really? In the first two minutes of the interview, you really had to go there? Yeah. Because who wants to pick 30 seconds? Let's bring it. Well, I appreciate you saying it. I appreciate you bringing it. Let's be very clear. All this talk about running backs and whatever, positions that just don't matter that much, compared to defensive end edge. And if boy, Mafia is going somewhere else, and if we don't know whether or not Demarcus Lawrence is going to return, and if you've got one more year left on Derek Hall's deal and Chen is older, another year older, isn't that a position of tremendous need while still being a position of tremendous importance? A hundred percent, a hundred percent. And all this, it's not just a conversation with the agents and the markets and all that factors. And it's, where is their strength in the free agency market and where is their strength in this draft? And how does that then make you decide as a general manager where you're going to put your chits, like where are you going to make your bets? And I'll tell you this guys, this draft is just not that good. Like it's just not that good. I think you hear this every year. Oh, there's really only like 11 to 15 first round picks really in this draft. I'm not sure there's really a single blue chip player other than maybe I'd put Caleb Downs, the safety in that in that mix. But even Mendoza, to me, like he would not have been one of the top four quarterbacks taken two years ago if you were in that class. So I think this is a very, very like mediocre draft. I don't think the Seahawks value the 32nd pick that highly. And I think that if you look at this and say, you don't still know for sure about DeMarcus Lawrence, Nuchenna Nwosu is a $19 million cap hit. You can save 11 and a half million by moving on. You've got Derek Hall going into the last year of his deal. And you got Boye Mafé likely leaving. That to me by far is the most important position for them to address. And for as good as the Seahawks were last year, I think we can all agree their edge rush was not dominant. dominant it was good it was a good edge but it was not a dominant edge rush you add you add max crosby to that group there's no other move you could make that would have a bigger impact for this team over the next few years than making that one well this is going to overwhelm then a lot of the conversation because as we teased you coming on it was last year you had made mention of the geno situation and the in the possible pivot it was the gray's able fashion fascination coming out of the combine. So is this just you putting on your thinking cap and walking through it? Is this because last year we know that John and Pete had a deal to trade Gino and DK for Max, and then the GM was like, over my dead body, Pete, get out of here. We're not doing that. What is this kind of born out of to stir it up? This is not a report. I'm not basing this off a sourced conversation so I'll be really clear there but it is based off of a number of conversations with a number of people across the league with the organization outside the organization and what they value and how they go about their business and so I do believe it's very likely Max Crosby gets traded this week why because the Raiders need to know how they're going to approach their free agency and that's a huge piece of their overall cap situation if that trade gets made why wouldn't the Seahawks be a team that's interested? We know that they've actually been interested twice. There is not only the one that you mentioned, Brock, but at trade deadline, the report was that the Seahawks had a move made for Boye Mafé to Kansas City that was contingent on them acquiring Max Crosby, and they couldn't come to the deal there either. So we know that they like him. We know that this is a position of high value. Why wouldn't they be involved? The only question is, you know, what are they really willing to give up? and is it enough? You know, if it's two firsts in Derek Hall, are you making that move? Like, that's... I would not. For the record, no. I would not do that. That'd be a flat no. Because that, to me, is wrong. Because it's robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm not interested in robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm interested in adding. And I would... The two firsts, I think there's a conversation. Giving up one of your other young edge rushers, I don't understand what the value would be there. The whole idea is to put together an edge rushing group that can come at you from different angles. So I would I'd be out on that as much as I like Max Crosby. That's a no thank you. Here's the logic for that. And this is where it ties back to the draft and didn't mean to take us completely off the draft. We could talk draft because it's all related. Right, guys. So so this is actually a good edge class. It's not like full of dominant players, but there are guys that are that give you a little bit of Derek Hall vibe. You can get a guy in the second round that you like at edge. So imagine making the move for Max Crosby. Now you have by far a better edge. Like there's no question Max Crosby is a better edge than Derek Hall, as much as I think we all like Derek and think he's part of the future. Then you have still Demarcus Lawrence. You could keep a Chenin Wosu if you choose to, or you maybe find a new deal. And then you draft a young edge. I'll give you a couple names that I like. I like the knee Dennis Sutton on from Pittsburgh Penn State. Excuse me. This guy is six, five, two fifty six runs for six at that size. One of the best athletes you're going to see. If you don't like him, Zion Young's an interesting name who actually looks a lot like Derek Hall in his play style. So imagine, Mike, you get in a situation where instead of Derek Hall, you have one of these Malachi feel like there's a couple other guys. I know I'm still going to say no. and I'll tell you why. First of all, in your scenario, you traded your first-round pick, and second, so these guys are second-rounders or later? Okay, fair. Zion Young's a first-rounder most likely, but I think the first two guys I mentioned could be second-round picks. Let's say with your second-round pick, you literally drafted Derek Hall. Yes. In two or three years, he'd be good. Like, that's the fear. I watched Derek Hall over the course of what has now been a few years. Love the kid. Love the player. It took him a few years in order to figure it out. Now, some of that I'm sure was getting finally into the Mike McDonald system. And, you know, we can talk through whatever happened before Mike McDonald got here and why all those edge guys didn't really advance as much as they should have. But it still took some time. And he's not alone in that. Trey Hendrickson, sort of the same deal, right? A lot of these edge guys take a few years before they turn into what they're ultimately going to be. well I think the Seahawks also like what they saw in Conroe tool and Jared Ivey who were undrafted free agents last year who were on the roster by the way they weren't even necessarily on the the ready squad and they didn't play much so these guys they wanted to protect these guys I talked to both of those guys as they left for the locker you know left for the offseason Conroe tool knows he needs to put on some weight to be able to defend the run better he already has you know shown some flashes of the pass rusher so i think that there are some some additional guys along the the path i don't think you can count on those guys yet but look mike you know i'm a little surprised because you were brian let's be brian brian brian let's be really clear about something okay yeah let me be really clear about my partner of 17 years if jay glazer or adam shifter and we break into our show well it'll probably be bumping stacy's show that's when all the news breaks if if news breaks that Max Crosby has been traded for, and it's two firsts in Derek Hall, my partner is going to end up being very excited. I'll be excited about it, but I still think they gave up too much. And it's not that I don't, yeah, hey, you got to draw a line, man. It's because you don't see the rest of the plan, I think. And I'm not saying you. And I'm sure there would be a rest of the plan because you're not going to go into it with just one pass rusher. But I just, for me, it's not about just having one guy. It's about the depth at that position. and it is of all the position, that and D-line, all the way across the defensive line, including the edge, I just think there is a... Depth, depth, depth. Yeah, you need both quantity and quality, and this would be, to me, a nod against the quantity. But what you are getting... Yeah, here's the thing that I don't think we know enough and why John Schneider, to Brian's point, has been so after this guy, because he's exactly, exactly what Mike McDonald would take from even great to elite or elite to Hall of Fame. And I don't think that's an exaggeration. The dude plays the run in the pass in a way that is good as DeMarcus Lawrence was this year. So, and he was, this guy's at a different level and gear and stage of his career. And he's going to give you that for at least a couple more years. Now, Brian, there's a lot of money tied to him. Correct. He's got like, I remember talking to Brady about this and why a trade was also kind of hard because you are assuming a huge base salary each and every year. Yes. uh he's it's a very tradable contract though so in that sense that's not going to be the the thing that's going to keep it from happening but yes like he is he is under contract uh you know this year he has a 30 million dollar base next year 29 million 2028 it goes down to 26 and then 27 so like this is a guy that to me you're saying we're going to win another one we might win another two and for us he's more valuable to us than he is to the raiders because they're not going to contend in the next couple of years. And there's other teams that are not willing to give up what the Seahawks are willing to give up because they have more needs than the Seahawks have. Like to me, like I don't, you guys know, I don't like to just bring up names because it's a fun thing to talk about. I know it fun to talk about but I think that there every reason that this would make sense for this And this would be the week just like this would be the week right Pre agency as you said this would be the week for it so and i also think we going to find out whether they sign these free agents like rashi shaheed or ken walker or kobe bryant this week all this stuff's going to happen this week to determine then what they have to to actually go after in free agency next week and you know we could talk about the draft but like i think the cornerback class is really strong i think they can get some corners i think there's if you like i know Brock you love the offensive lineman there are some interesting I think names at the guard position that couldn't end up falling to you but I don't know that there's any but it's this way this this week and next week sets a table for all the rest of what do you see happening of the of the free age of the current free agents do you see them getting a deal done with any of them my best guess is it's kind of it's an odd one is I think Rashid Shahid might get done this week And I don't think that's the most important signing that they could make, but I think it might be the most likely because one, I think Rashid Sheeid has been very clear. He wants to come back. That has not changed since the moment he was traded for here. And I think the Seahawks would like to have him back. And generally when that's the case, there's an opportunity to find a middle ground and get that deal done before free agency begins. Now, Ken Walker, I think the, everything I'm hearing and it was hearing at the combine, I think the number is going to be too high, at least for what the Seahawks are willing to spend. And there were some running backs that did well at the combine that might have made, you know, Seattle feel better about some of the other running backs that they could get. David Montgomery was just traded from the lions. So that's not an option, but I think the other name to watch is Kobe Bryant. I, I kind of assumed he was gone because Tai Okada had stepped up, but again, the Seahawks wanted Kobe Bryant back. They negotiated with him before the season. He, I think, loves it here. That's another one that it's a very deep safety class. His agent might have found out he's not going to get the same deal he thought, and maybe they come back to each other. So those are the two that I think are most likely. Biggest takeaway from your sit down with Mr. McDonald in Indy? Man, the Seahawks are, gosh, are they set up well. They just are set up well. And it's not just because of the players on the roster. It's a guy that you guys have spent time with Mike. You know what Mike's, like, his journey has been. And he is so comfortable now in those moments. I know. It's crazy. Our little butterfly. He was in his cocoon of pausing, his cocoon of pausation. And now he's been a hardened, he's the Super Bowl gauntlet. He just conquered it, right? Staring to the sky instead of the cameras in the post-Super Bowl victory. sitting in front of the podium over and over and over and over again every day at the Super Bowl. So by the time he got to the combine, look at him. He was a butterfly just flapping his wings with everybody. It was great. I will tell you a couple newsy things I got from him, though. So I asked him, I've been waiting to ask him this question for a while, which is, can Nicky Manwari play outside corner for you? And he said, absolutely. And, you know, he also said he could potentially play deep safety. but he was really, we were focused on outside corner. He also said, and I asked this question intentionally, if you found another player that had Nick skills and I couldn't even finish the sentence and he said, yes, like, could you, could you have two players like that in your defense? He says, yes. And the reason I asked that is because there is a player in this class that reminds me a little bit of Nick. He's not the same, but he reminds me a little bit of Nick and that is a manual McNeil Warren, a safety from Toledo. so if Nick can play outside corner that might have some effect on Josh Jobe it might have some effect on who they draft so that's that was interesting to me that that you know as many places as as uh Nicky Manwari can play that's one I don't think we've talked about you know what strikes me the most and I said this a little bit to play there I think that you want to get the best players most talented players on the field and if if he is Mike did say to your point Mike Mike McDonald said, you don't want me training to run a slow marathon, right? So you don't want to put a player just there because they can play there. You want to put them in the best position, but if you get another player with that skillset, that might end up being the best personnel you can put on the field. It strikes me. And I said this last week, and I just kind of listening to McDonald and reading and just kind of capturing everything I could from afar last week down in the desert, Brian, it just strikes me how much perception and reality is so skewed when it comes to John and Mike. Because typically, historically, defensive coordinators are what? Defensive coordinators are all the reactionary ones. Defensive coordinators are reacting to the Shanahan and McVay and all the offensive just evolution. And yet Mike McDonald might be one of the most evolutionary coaches there is in the NFL. That's just how his brain works. I don't want to stand pat. What are we going to do? How are we going to evolve? John Schneider in much the same boat. you would think a GM of three decades would be like, eh, old, stodgy, cutting his ways. He's the exact opposite. He's just one and he doesn't present that way necessarily at all. But yet these two, do you get that sense when you're around them? And man, from an innovation, from an evolution, from a push the envelope, they're about tip of the spear in the NFL. I a hundred percent agree, you know, especially with, with Mike and that look, Look, one of the other things I talked to him about is he had a bunch of the coaches had special projects they worked on last year. I know for a fact Mike McDonald spent a lot of time diving in specifically into Sean McVay's offense and Kyle Shanahan's offense. And I think you saw some of the fruits of that labor, at least in the 49ers games this season. And so I asked him, like, what do you what do you have to trim out of your offseason when you lose, like, basically two months, six weeks, whatever you want to call it? He's like, I don't know yet. he's not willing to he's not willing to say what he's not going to do but you know you got to recuperate a little bit you got to refresh because these guys are coming back the the players are going to be coming back to the facility in a few weeks uh really well you man rory was already posting last night right didn't i see something that he was already back in the seahawk gym so i think it's all going to come really fast it's going to come really fast and i think that you know the the good news there brock is a lot of the innovation and a lot of the things that they need to set as a foundation they did last year and now this season it's about building on top of what's already been set and and probably more tweaks than than large you know large changes pivots yeah so what do you think uh push comes to shove it's pre-agency week i like the way you kind of frame that we may steal it i'll give you credit i don't just steal without giving credit so yeah this is pre-agency week give me a percentage of something that sulk and I are going to be talking about like, whoa, something's going to happen this week. That's going to dominate a bunch of our airtime. Do you think it's likely? I think it's over 50%. I think it's over 50%. That would be like, that'd be my best guess. That's pretty high. Yeah. Yeah. And that does not mean that I think it's an over 50% chance that they're going to trade for Max Crosby, but that certainly would be the top, the top thing on that list. look you don't have to trust me just look back at John Schneider's track record this week has been a very very active week in the last four years very interesting very interesting you got Salky's wheels and gears well yeah because a game wreck I got a text here from Aaron in Denver Salky always wanted a game wrecker I still do but I also love depth on the defensive line and and I think that was a big part of why they had such success. I'm bummed that for whatever reason, Boyamafe does not seem to be on their radar. I think I understand why, but I'm still bummed about it. I really like him as a player. I don't love him as a player, but I really like him as a player and I like the role that he played. And if that's walking out the door and we don't know what's going on yet with – and they have to. They have to at some point find out what's going on with DeMarcus Lawrence. Did you get any smell of that at all, Brian? Where are we at there? No, I mean, I got that from DeMarcus during like post post Super Bowl in the locker room, but you don't know where that's his feelings are. And then obviously there's some comments he made during the parade. You also don't know how certain you can be about those. I think the indication is that he wants to come back. I think part of this might be guys. He might want a little bit more money. Like he outplayed that contract. So this might be a little bit of a leverage game to say, yeah, I might retire. but if you give me a little bit more to recognize how good he's got a sixth mouth to feed for crying out loud, a lot of mouths to feed. He and Jake Pete's man. Can you imagine like the dinner tables there? Kind of Sean and Phillip. Yeah. Sean Alexander. Like, Oh really? You don't know anything about this. Yeah. Hold my beer. All right. Thank you, buddy. This was great stuff. Thank you for going to the combine and for doing all of this hard work while we were not working very hard in the desert. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, we were hanging out. It was great, but it wasn't like it was hard work. Huh? Did you golf? A little bit. Oh, wow. You don't want to talk about it, though. You don't want to talk about it. All right, that tells me all I need to know. I played. I played at Phoenician. I played at Sun City. It was fine. It was fine. I played okay. Okay. All right. All right. I don't know. I thought we were grinding 10-hour days. I didn't feel like I was grinding. No, you didn't know. I didn't feel like there was any grinding. Zero. Yeah. It was a grind in Indy, but it's great to see you guys, and we'll talk again soon. All right, Hawk Blogger, go find all of his stuff, the video and the writing and all of it. There it is. We did not care. Is the book? I didn't even mention the book. Shame on me. The book, which came out on Amazon. What did you write that thing, like a day and a half? It's a compilation of my stories from this season. Oh, all right. I thought it was like AI. You were like, hey, write a book about the Seahawks. No, no, no. This is all my words, for better or for worse. You can get it at hawkblogger.com slash book. So hopefully people are enjoying it. Thanks, buddy. There you go. There goes Brian Nemhauser, Hawk Blogger himself. Brock, we still got another hour to go, and obviously now I've got a little something extra to talk about, plus a rant that I saw. We got a – there's a walk on. Plus I read maybe the dumbest thing I've ever – from a quality reporter. Really? Maybe the dumbest thing I've ever read in my life. Oh, that's exciting. All that coming up in the next hour on Brock and Salk.
