Seahawks Offseason Headlines Fail To Consider The Domino Effect

This is the 40-Something Files!

A weekly take on the state of Seattle Sports through the lens of a guy whose four decades of fandom has earned too many scars, and seen too few celebrations.

When I was a kid, maybe around eight or nine years old, I immersed myself in a complex practice. Using whatever materials I could get my hands on – Lincoln Logs, Legos, anything “tip-over-able” would do – I would strategically, individually place each of the hundreds of little toy pieces, and in the process hold hostage an unreasonable amount of floor space in the house.

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The resulting display and subsequent one-chance show was called a Domino Topple, and if you could build one that lasted more than a minute, and somehow incorporate a popping balloon into the mix, then man… that was genius!

My mother, to this day (usually as a not-so-subtle expression of displeasure with my lack thereof as an adult) likes to remind me how much patience and concentration I could muster as a child, when I would spend hours carefully placing the components, with thought given to how the movement of one piece would effect the next, and so on and so forth, until all of the pieces were placed.

Wagner’s deal, as dictated by the complexities of the salary cap, has been targeted as the first domino that needs to fall. And, as has become customary during the Carroll/Schneider regime (yet, often seems lost on the very folks who engage in the practice of smugly reporting, talking, or tweeting about the team), that means that no one outside of the organization will have seen it coming when the REAL news hits.

Back then, a nine year old kid’s mind was challenged by some neat little domino topple set off during a goofy TV variety show – and a new hobby was born. Today, however, the internet is peppered with elaborate “Rube Goldberg Machines” (like this), that apply the principles of the domino topple to limitless materials and landscapes and elevations, and you can forget about a kid’s sense of wonder… these new millennium creations blow minds of all ages.

Navigating the NFL Salary Cap, my friends, is on par with creating an elaborate Rube Goldberg Machine. Successful organizations know better than to tip the first domino without meticulously, patiently, cautiously, and sometimes ruthlessly setting each successive piece in place.

As we wade through the headlines dogging the Seahawks during this overly reported-upon offseason, we can’t help but feel like there is much more going wrong than going well between the front office and the players.

Russell Wilson, red carpeting his way into the tabloid racks (a concerning topic of discussion in itself, best saved for another time), has not come to an agreement with the Seahawks on what “everyone” thought was a no-brainer contract extension of endless piles of money and years. What could possibly be holding this up, besides… gasp… perhaps Wilson and his new basebally agent would rather he play baseball, or maybe the Seahawks and their defensey coach think they would be just as successful with (insert middling QB here).

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A self-congratulatory media engages in out of control regurgitation when one of it’s members snags a comment from the intriguing, bicycle-commandeering D-Lineman.

Because why would a team’s fan base care to focus on how Michael Bennett’s current contract status is not only solid for years to come, but also on par with similar performers at his position throughout the league, when they can get zig-zagging commentary that amounts to zero on the relevance scale?

I mean, there’s no chance what-so-ever that Bennett is playing the media like a fiddle, is there?

Bobby Wagner, a proven impact player on Seattle’s league-leading defense, has also reached that point in his rookie deal where he is free to negotiate a contract extension. Yet, there seems to be radio silence on that front. Perhaps talks about Wagner’s potential new deal are just drowned out by all the other Seahawks offseason noise. But I would venture to guess this:

I mean, except me, and now you.

Put simply, logic dictates that because we haven’t heard “boo” about Wagner’s deal, from his camp or the Hawk’s, that there’s probably something brewing. Just like there was something brewing that no-one saw coming when Percy got his walking papers, or just like there was something brewing when Jimmy got his welcome mat. Again, you can’t point to many moves Pete and John have pulled off over the years, that were previewed in the rumor mill. As the mill churns out headlines on Russ, Bruce and Michael, my money’s on Bobby’s money.

Taking into account the extreme complexities that make up the NFL’s salary cap, there’s much more at stake with each move a GM makes than just getting a deal done because the previous contract allows for it. They have to consider the cap number, the carryover, how or if to use the Franchise Tag, deadlines that change the number of players on a team’s roster that will actually count against the cap, and in the case of the best in the business at navigating these waters, anticipated changes to the cap rules for seasons to come. (For even more detail on the topic, a basic overview of the 2015 Salary Cap parameters was published back in March by SB Nation and can be found here.)