Article:The Hoch's Nest: Seahawks Rumors are Swirling

Free Agency starts on Friday and the NFL is already in full rumor-mode. By the time the Combine rolls around the players, coaches and front-office personnel have turned into a group of caddy, rumor-mongering high school girls.

Again, this season rumors are leaking from the RCA Dome as if the seal around the pipe had eroded away, and the Seahawks have a couple of high-profile players that are the subject of these slips. WR D.J. Hackett and PK Josh Brown are both Unrestricted Free Agents when Friday rolls around and the question still remains: Will they be in Seattle next season?

WR D.J. Hackett Hackett is a great receiver. He was on the verge of a breakout season, was starting at WR and was poised for a big payday. Then he got a high ankle sprain. He finished the season only playing 6 games, snagged 32 passes for a total of 384 yards and 3 TDs.

Now his agent has said that he wants to test the market.

I say: Test the market D.J. You have yet to show that you can stay healthy and that usually equates to a short-term contract. Everyone in your position wants a huge contract; one that is equal to your potential, but you are in for a reality check. I am sure there are some teams out there that will overpay, but do you really want to play for the Raiders?

It would be sad to see him go, but he is hallucinating if he thinks he is getting a massive payday.

PK Josh Brown Pundits like to discuss how much a kicker means to a team. They ask questions like this: “Why couldn’t another kicker make that?” I believe that the answer came in the Super Bowl when Bill Belichick showed what little faith he had in his rookie kicker and went for it on 4th down. 

These are usually good arguments, though. Most Kickers are able to average over 85% of their kicks, so why couldn’t you just plug in a different guy?

This is why you can’t plug someone else into Brown’s roster spot: Without him we would have not made the Super Bowl.

That is the truth. He made four game winners in 2005. Without those kicks the team may not have locked down the #1 Seed. They may have had to go on the road, and as we have all seen, they have trouble with that.

Yes, he had a tough year in 2007, but I don’t place the onus on him. They had three different long-snappers and an Offensive Line that was seen as a failure. Anyone would have had some trouble with that.

The detractors say that kickers are expendable, but are they really? Ask Bill Parcells if that is true. Remember 2006 with the Kicker carousel that took place in Dallas? Mike Vanderjagt shanked a few so they brought in Shaun Suisham who was almost worse the Mike, so they signed Martin Gramatica. Is that what the Seahawks want?

They also should have learned from the trouble they had with Punters. Before they found Ryan Plackemeier they had a consistent rotation of punters. Remember Ken Walter (2004), Donnie Jones (2004), Tom Rouen (2003, 2004, 2005), Leo Araguz (2005). They hadn’t had consistency since Jeff Feagles left.

Of course they transitioned from Rian Lindell into Brown pretty easily, but there is more to the player then the position. He has stated he wants to retire a Seahawk. So what is the hitch?

According to reports it is around $300K. That is a lot of money…to you and me. But to a team or player in the NFL this is chump change. Why can’t they reach an agreement? Is there a reason he shouldn’t be the highest paid Kicker in the league?

I will get comments: He isn’t the best kicker in the league. Great. But is Nate Clements the best CB? No. But he is still making almost $2M more then the next guy. Is Marc Bulger the best QB? Or Reggie Bush the best RB? (These numbers were taken from USAToday ; column of Total Salary)

It will be a sad day if they let him go.