h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Or, thankfully, by his team. Worth every penny, I'd say, as it gives a strong signal to other players about how we value the workers...

Well, Darrell Jackson finally signed just before the draft, if only for a year...

And the draft? Well,

1 11 Trufant, Marcus CB 5-11 199 Washington State
2 42 Hamlin, Ken FS 6-3 209 Arkansas
3 73 Hunter, Wayne OT 6-6 303 Hawaii
4 110 Wallace, Seneca QB 5-11 196 Iowa State
4 135 Bates, Solomon ILB 6-1 243 Arizona State
5 165 Davis, Chris FB 5-11 235 Syracuse
6 183 Moore, Rashad DT 6-3 324 Tennessee
7 222 Brown, Josh K 6-1 202 Nebraska
7 224 Wallace, Taco WR 6-0 196 Kansas State

Not sure what to make of a strange bag (though i do think a sixth round pick for Norman hand was a pretty good deal...). Trufant is obvious quality, but most sources seem to think Hamlin may be a stretch, and Hunter probably isn't the answer at LT that we really need. Taco Wallace (great 'do, btw) may provide us with some much needed special teams threat. Josh Brown looks good to fill the gap left by 'Shakey' Lindell

The real pick here is Seneca Wallace, who Holmgren has said wil get his chance at QB, and is already heading the poll of second day QB's likley to impact on their team on NFL.com. Not sure how i feel about him at all...

Potential sleeper seems to Bates, the ILB in the 4th...

Ok, hands up anyone who was surprised by our snapping-up of inside linebacker Randall Godfrey?

Hmm, thought not...

Oh yes, fabulous. The 'Chickens season gets off to it's usual spectacular start.

Chad Eaton (DE) out for the season (knee)

Lamar King (DE) on the Inactive (Unable to Play) list.

Shawn Springs (CB) out for 8 weeks (shoulder)

Chris Terry (RT) suspended for 4 weeks (drugs)

No sign of Walter Jones (LT).

Holmgren best hope that Hasselback/Alexander/Robinson/Jackson are as good as everybody thinks they will be this year.

Do you think they're going to be good with only 3/5 of an offensive line?

What's the deal with Big Walt then?

Well, Pork Chop was going to be the starter in any event as soon as Walt didn't start training camp. Jerry Wunsch will back up Matt Hill at RT and we'll have to see. Apparently as a unit it was highly effective against KC in week 3 of the pre-season, so we'll have to see.

At least it's not due to injuries this year and we know when Terry will be back.

As for Walt, well, I think he'll be out of there before the end of the season. Having sat out 16 games might convince him that he needs to re-adjust his attitude. I certainly can't see Holmgren or the Front Office putting up with this sort of behaviour for a second year.

Oh whoopee f***in' do. Walt has reported and signed a one year tender.

Frankly, it'd please me no end to see him warm the bench while Pork Chop started and Wayne Hunter took his roster spot next year. Not gonna happen though. We'll just keep banging through the motions until he does this to us again next year.

Turning matters around, if you were in Big Walt's situation ... what would you have done?

As for the future, it'll depend on how he plays this year. If he has an outstanding Pro Bowl year no-one'll hold it against him. If he's less than great he'll probably be gone. But it would also depend on what/who the 'Hawks can get to replace him.

What would I have done? Speaking entirely personally I would have taken the offer on the table which ALREADY would have made me one of the three highest paid LT's in the game. How much more does he think any other team will give him? How much more does he think any other team CAN give him?

How much longer can this sort of madness go on? It's frankly pathetic. He either wants to play for the franchise or he doesn't. If he doesn't then we'd be better to let him go and take the knocks for a year while Pork Chop or Hunter work up into a starting LT.

Everybody seems to be agreed that this team is on the verge of being a good team with reasonable prospects. Most of what is an exceptionally young squad (on average) are now signed long term. Walt doesn't seem to want to commit to having to work for a living, it seems to me.

I suspect the Big Walt rationale goes something likes this ... (ably supported by his agent).

Fair goes, but competitive instinct says I want to be the highest-paid tackle in the league. Not just the 2nd or 3rd best. I've worked hard, made the Pro Bowl.
And afterall that other guy over at the Ravens isn't as good as they say he is. There's no stats to back up him being better.
And after all I'm only going to get 6 or 7 more years of big money so I gotta make my money while it's there.
And if I take what's offered straight off "they'll" know they can offer me less money next time and I'll take it.
And what loyalty is there anyway. All very good saying I want to play for this franchise, but they'll be quick to get rid of me when I'm an ageing veteran.

That logic is fine uhntil one looks at it this way;

He's spent two years on minumum tender for his position, when he could have been earning really big bucks. During thast time a lot of franchises will have assessed him and, one suspects, decided they can do without such a disruptive player.

He's done it twice to us. How does any team now say 'He surely won't do it to us?'. They can't.

It's also clear that his agent has been, to say the least, economiical with the truth about the situation for most of the summer.

It seems to me that the thing Mickey Spagnola over at DallasCowboys.com always preaches is correct.

How many teams are really interested in acquiring a player that's been cut by his former team and then pay him mega-bucks to come play for them? There's always a reason behind a player getting cut or waived by a team.
If the teams have in deed seen his attitude over the last couple of years in Seattle, a lot of teams may be tentative to sign him even if he does get released.

And if Seattle had decided to release him and they onlly have a couple of relatively unproven backups, there had to be a bigger reason than salary cap issues behind it.

I don't think it is a salary cap issue. We went into the post season with more than enough cash to cover Walt's demands and those of our other critical players (Simmons and Jackson) as well as pick up some free agents. This is now an argument about perhaps as little as $100,000 a year, which is effectively the difference between what we've put on the table and what Orlando Pace is making at the Rams.

The other concern has to be the quality of the back ups, but Pork Chop made big strides last year and in the off season by all accounts. He may not be the best, but he will play with full effort and give it his best shot - you can't ask for much more than that, really.

All true enough. Over in Soccerland, a good example is Paul Gascoigne or Stan Collymore. PLayers with great talent, but always on the move for some reason or other.

However as team owner you employ a good coach to sort out difficulties like this. This is what separates the great coaches from the good. Generally other players on a team will put up with a "misguided genius" player while he manages to produce. But once he wanes, the coach has to act.

Considering Holmgren's record with 'difficult' players - Favre, White, Watters spring to mind instantly, and his turn around of Reggie Tongue, I don't think there's much problem with his track record. in that respect.

And our front office seems more than sorted now. I'm inclined to think that the problem here is walt and Walts agent.

Interestingly there is an entry on "Game Theory" on the Front Page (of H2G2) today. Easily applied to negotiations between player/agent and teams.

Whoa. For the first time since I've been following the game, we appear to have made Kirwan's Power Rankings. I must say i had forgotten that it was the NFC's top scoring offence that we held to 10 points last week...

Slight inaccuracy there Sharkey ...

"it was the NFC's top scoring offence *of last year* that we held to 10 points last week"

Clearly there were more teams (including the 'Hawks) that scored more than 10 points in week 1.

Well yes. Not a deliberate ommission, I assure you.

I was joshing with you. Actually it was written like that in the Power Rankings and I thought it strange there too.

High hopes for week 2?