Shaun Alexander overated??

[VaderFin]

Dollars to donoughts says he won't be leaving Seattle. In fact, I would be very, very shocked if he did.

I'll wager you a Krispy Kreme factory that he's gone next season. He restructured his deal before the start of this season that made him a UFA at the end of the season. One of the things in his contract is that the Seahawks can't franchise him. I'm not exactly aware of their exact salary cap situation, but after giving big contracts to Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck and Leonard Little, not to mention that Hutchinson is also a UFA this year as well I'm sure there's not too much left in the pool, at least not enough to satisfy Alexander's needs. Couple that with several teams who have runningback needs and the means by which to pay him, it doesn't bode well for Alexander returning next season

Seeing how Little isn't playing for Seattle that isn't going to hurt them too much. The market for a RB is not like the market for a QB. I have good friends who live in Seattle all of whom think he will get it done with the Hawks. Seattle would be insane to not get him taken care of. Only time will tell..

[Shader]

Well you guys can worry about combine numbers and your personal opinion of talent all you want. I'll go with stats. Over the long run, you are your stats. Alexander is a great player BECAUSE of his stats.

In the short term, stats aren't necessarily important:

Samkon Gado is an example. He had around 100 yards and 3 touchdowns last week. Does this make him a great player? No, it's just one game. He got some goalline carries, a lucky shovel pass, etc.

Shaun Alexander has been getting better every year..leads the league in touchdowns....leads the league in yards.....and

LEADS THE LEAGUE IN YPC for running backs with enough carries. Only Tatum Bell has a higher ypc, but Alexander has over 130 more carries, so that's not quite fair.

Tomlinson (considered by all here to be the greatest rb in the NFL), on a team with a better passing attack than Seattle, has 4.3 ypc.

When someone can find a reason why Shaun Alexander is overrated, I'll be glad to read it, but so far, not one person in this thread has approached anything close to a good reason.

[sharptongued1]

Dollars to donoughts says he won't be leaving Seattle. In fact, I would be very, very shocked if he did.

I'll wager you a Krispy Kreme factory that he's gone next season. He restructured his deal before the start of this season that made him a UFA at the end of the season. One of the things in his contract is that the Seahawks can't franchise him. I'm not exactly aware of their exact salary cap situation, but after giving big contracts to Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck and Leonard Little, not to mention that Hutchinson is also a UFA this year as well I'm sure there's not too much left in the pool, at least not enough to satisfy Alexander's needs. Couple that with several teams who have runningback needs and the means by which to pay him, it doesn't bode well for Alexander returning next season

Seeing how Little isn't playing for Seattle that isn't going to hurt them too much. The market for a RB is not like the market for a QB. I have good friends who live in Seattle all of whom think he will get it done with the Hawks. Seattle would be insane to not get him taken care of. Only time will tell..

I meant to say Grant Wistrom (sorry, wrong St. Louis DE). I might be a bit more optimistic had he (Alexander) not witnessed first hand what they did with Walter Jones that led him to fighting for the no franchise clause in his contract. And if there's not a market for runningbacks out there then why did you see three go in the top five this past year and it's projected to have three go in the top ten again this year? I'd easily say that close to half (shooting from the hip here) the teams in the NFL are in need of a franchise runningback and have the cap room to satisfy what will no doubt be huge contract demands from Alexander. You say you have friends in Seattle who think a contract will get done. Is this wishful thinking on their part, or do they have some, "insider" knowledge? From reports I've read/seen, he wants to test the market. That doesn't bode well for the Seahawks organization, surely you can admit to that. And you're right, we really don't know what's going to happen until it does, but it is fun to speculate nonetheless.

[sharptongued1]

Tomlinson (considered by all here to be the greatest rb in the NFL), on a team with a better passing attack than Seattle, has 4.3 ypc.

It's not like they're worlds apart here, they're 9th (236ypg) and 10th (230 ypg) respectively (with Seattle missing their top two wideouts for a large chunk of the season).

[Shader]

Also, Alexander is beginning an assault on the record-books. If he can stay healthy for 4-5 more years, he'll be in the top 4 all-time in rushing, and again, barring injury, he's a cinch to be number 2 all-time in r ushing touchdowns, with only Emmitt Smith ahead of him with 164 touchdowns.

Not bad for a guy with average talent.

[Shader]

I personally hope Alexander gets traded from Seattle. When he continues to post big numbers for another team, maybe he'll finally get the credit he deserves.

[Shader]

I personally hope Alexander gets traded from Seattle. When he continues to post big numbers for another team, maybe he'll finally get the credit he deserves.

[sharptongued1]

Did you just say the Seahawks gave a big contract to Leonard Little?

Again, I meant Grant Wistrom. My mistake.

[VaderFin]

Dollars to donoughts says he won't be leaving Seattle. In fact, I would be very, very shocked if he did.

I'll wager you a Krispy Kreme factory that he's gone next season. He restructured his deal before the start of this season that made him a UFA at the end of the season. One of the things in his contract is that the Seahawks can't franchise him. I'm not exactly aware of their exact salary cap situation, but after giving big contracts to Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck and Leonard Little, not to mention that Hutchinson is also a UFA this year as well I'm sure there's not too much left in the pool, at least not enough to satisfy Alexander's needs. Couple that with several teams who have runningback needs and the means by which to pay him, it doesn't bode well for Alexander returning next season

Seeing how Little isn't playing for Seattle that isn't going to hurt them too much. The market for a RB is not like the market for a QB. I have good friends who live in Seattle all of whom think he will get it done with the Hawks. Seattle would be insane to not get him taken care of. Only time will tell..

I meant to say Grant Wistrom (sorry, wrong St. Louis DE). I might be a bit more optimistic had he (Alexander) not witnessed first hand what they did with Walter Jones that led him to fighting for the no franchise clause in his contract. And if there's not a market for runningbacks out there then why did you see three go in the top five this past year and it's projected to have three go in the top ten again this year? I'd easily say that close to half (shooting from the hip here) the teams in the NFL are in need of a franchise runningback and have the cap room to satisfy what will no doubt be huge contract demands from Alexander. You say you have friends in Seattle who think a contract will get done. Is this wishful thinking on their part, or do they have some, "insider" knowledge? From reports I've read/seen, he wants to test the market. That doesn't bode well for the Seahawks organization, surely you can admit to that. And you're right, we really don't know what's going to happen until it does, but it is fun to speculate nonetheless.

No "insider" knowledge just the typical local angle from hearing about the team 24 hours a day. These are the same people who said Jones would get his long term deal and Hasselbeck his this year...but they said this last year long before it happened.

I didn't say there is no market for RBs just not like the frenzy surrounding QBs. I think Seattle keeps Alexander just like I think Indy keeps Edge. Certainly neither are guaranteed though.

[sharptongued1]

Dollars to donoughts says he won't be leaving Seattle. In fact, I would be very, very shocked if he did.

I'll wager you a Krispy Kreme factory that he's gone next season. He restructured his deal before the start of this season that made him a UFA at the end of the season. One of the things in his contract is that the Seahawks can't franchise him. I'm not exactly aware of their exact salary cap situation, but after giving big contracts to Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck and Leonard Little, not to mention that Hutchinson is also a UFA this year as well I'm sure there's not too much left in the pool, at least not enough to satisfy Alexander's needs. Couple that with several teams who have runningback needs and the means by which to pay him, it doesn't bode well for Alexander returning next season

Seeing how Little isn't playing for Seattle that isn't going to hurt them too much. The market for a RB is not like the market for a QB. I have good friends who live in Seattle all of whom think he will get it done with the Hawks. Seattle would be insane to not get him taken care of. Only time will tell..

I meant to say Grant Wistrom (sorry, wrong St. Louis DE). I might be a bit more optimistic had he (Alexander) not witnessed first hand what they did with Walter Jones that led him to fighting for the no franchise clause in his contract. And if there's not a market for runningbacks out there then why did you see three go in the top five this past year and it's projected to have three go in the top ten again this year? I'd easily say that close to half (shooting from the hip here) the teams in the NFL are in need of a franchise runningback and have the cap room to satisfy what will no doubt be huge contract demands from Alexander. You say you have friends in Seattle who think a contract will get done. Is this wishful thinking on their part, or do they have some, "insider" knowledge? From reports I've read/seen, he wants to test the market. That doesn't bode well for the Seahawks organization, surely you can admit to that. And you're right, we really don't know what's going to happen until it does, but it is fun to speculate nonetheless.

No "insider" knowledge just the typical local angle from hearing about the team 24 hours a day. These are the same people who said Jones would get his long term deal and Hasselbeck his this year...but they said this last year long before it happened.

I didn't say there is no market for RBs just not like the frenzy surrounding QBs. I think Seattle keeps Alexander just like I think Indy keeps Edge. Certainly neither are guaranteed though.

I agree that when a top QB prospect hits the market (when has that really ever happened though, Grbac? Delhomme?) it's much bigger than when a RB does (although Jordan getting about eleventy billion dollars from Oakland would be appealing to me as a runningback hitting the free agent market). I will say this, though. If I were a Seattle fan who hinged my hopes on SA, I'd be sweating bullets right now. So you see Edge staying in Indianapolis too? Do you think they cut ties with Wayne? Interesting. This free agent class has the potential to be one of the biggest ones in recent memory. This has me, as a Packers fan somewhat excited knowing that if we want, we'll actually be able to be a player in free agency this off-season.