Tag: justin britt

Will the Seahawks bring back restricted free agent Joey Hunt?

The Seattle Seahawks are facing a lot of potential changes to the offensive line in 2020. Will Joey Hunt be among those let go?

The Seattle Seahawks are heading into the offseason facing a potentially massive overhaul of their offensive line.

Two starters – left guard Mike Iupati and right tackle Germain Ifedi – are going to be unrestricted free agents in March, along with key reserve George Fant.

Joining those three is restricted free agent Joey Hunt, a career backup center who ended up making eight starts last year in place of Justin Britt, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in October.

Britt is under contract for 2020, but the Seahawks could choose to cut him, which would save them over $8 million dollars in cap space in a year where they are hoping to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney and add other superstar level talent.

If the Seahawks choose to cut Britt and don’t re-sign Ifedi, Iupati or Fant, it makes sense to bring Hunt back to let him compete for that starting center role alongside Ethan Pocic and potentially a draft pick or free agent signing.

Hunt struggled mightily in pass protection last year, often getting run straight into the ground by bull rushers, but his high football IQ and low leverage allows him to excel in run protection, and he has made himself a favorite of coach Pete Carroll’s.

It’s hard to imagine this team competing with Hunt as the everyday starting center, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in Seattle competing for a backup role in 2020 – regardless of what happens around the rest of the line.

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2020 NFL Draft: Why UW’s Nick Harris is a good fit for Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are expected to overhaul their offensive line in 2020, and drafting UW center Nick Harris would be a great start.

The Seattle Seahawks are heading into the offseason with a potentially massive overhaul of their offensive line in store.

Starting left guard Mike Iupati and right tackle Germain Ifedi are both unrestricted free agents, along with backup tackle George Fant. Center Joey Hunt is a restricted free agent, and both center Justin Britt and right guard D.J. Fluker are potential cut candidates.

This almost certainly means 1-2 starters will be new in 2020, and the team will have to choose whether to pursue veterans on the open market, or to try to find replacements via the NFL draft.

One of my personal favorite targets, should they choose to explore upgrading via the draft, is University of Washington center Nick Harris.

Harris brings versatility as both a center and a guard, and scouts have praised him for his work in run protection, particularly when getting to the second level, as well as his high football IQ .

He seems to be an ideal fit for the offensive package the Seahawks currently employ, and under the tutelage of Mike Solari it’s easy to imagine him turning into a very solid NFL starter.

Most current mock drafts have him in the second or third round range, and if that holds up it would behoove the Seahawks to strongly consider him.

With Ethan Pocic, Phil Haynes and Jamarco Jones alongside Harris, the Seahawks could potentially put together a young, strong, cohesive offensive line in the next year or two.

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Seahawks carousel of starters at left guard likely to continue

The Seattle Seahawks have had a new starter at left guard in each of the last six seasons, a streak that will likely continue in 2020.

Russell Wilson has been the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks since the 2012 season. Who has lined up in front of him, particularly at the left guard spot, has been new nearly every single year.

With Mike Iupati set to hit free agency, and seemingly an unlikely candidate to be re-signed, the Seahawks are almost certainly going to have a different starter at left guard for the seventh(!) consecutive year.

Since James Carpenter made 39 starts for the Seahawks from 2011-2014, most of them at left guard, the team has cycled through Justin Britt (2015) Mark Glowinski (2016) Luke Joeckel (2017) J.R. Sweezy (2018) and now Iupati (2019).

Wilson will never talk badly about anyone or any situation he is faced with, but considering how often he has stressed the importance of continuity along the offensive line, this has to be a source of chagrin for the franchise quarterback.

The streak likely won’t end in 2020, unless the team re-signs Iupati, but there is hope that it won’t extend beyond that.

Assuming Iupati is not retained, the Seahawks could look to replace him with one of the many young, internal options they have been collecting over the past few years.

Jamarco Jones, originally drafted as a right tackle, filled in for Iupati and Fluker a handful of times this year, and looked really good as a potential NFL guard. Considering how much he struggled when he was asked to play tackle, his future may be on the interior, and he seems like a prime candidate to challenge for a starting job next season.

He’ll have to compete with 2019 rookie Phil Haynes, who thanks to a sports hernia only managed to play in two games last year. He looked pretty good in the second half against Green Bay however, and is primed to take over a bigger role in 2020.

Haynes and Jones are the primary competitors, but Ethan Pocic could be in the mix if he is not handed the starting center job by virtue of Britt’s release. Jordan Simmons and Demetrius Knox missed the entire season with injuries, but Simmons in particular looked good as a fill-in in 2018 and could be in the mix as well – and of course Seattle could use an early pick in the 2020 NFL draft to bring in some starting competition.

Seattle will almost certainly have a new starter at left guard again in 2020, but Wilson and the fans can hope whoever it is ends up sticking around for a while, creating continuity up front for a team that sorely needs it.

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Justin Britt making really good progress in return from ACL injury

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Justin Britt is making good progress while rehabbing an ACL tear, but his timeline remains unclear.

The Seattle Seahawks suffered a litany of injuries to their offensive line in 2019, often resulting in players being forced to play out of position and contributing to Russell Wilson’s league-leading 48 sacks.

Perhaps the biggest loss was starting center Justin Britt, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 8 against Atlanta, costing him the rest of the season.

Britt was replaced by backup Joey Hunt, and while Hunt drew praise from coach Pete Carroll for his high football IQ, he was often overmatched in pass protection, which often resulted in the pocket evaporating for Wilson almost immediately.

Carroll provided a little update on Britt’s status at his post-season press conference on Monday afternoon.

“I saw him the other day, he said he is making really good progress,” Carroll said. “He’s been around a lot. He’s very active in here, so we know that he’s working hard at it. He should be able to get back on normal schedule. After you get about five or six months into it, you have to kind of figure out what’s going on. So, I don’t know how that’s going to turn for him.”

ACL surgery typically comes with an 8-12 month recovery period, so Britt’s availability for the start of the 2020 season remains unclear.

What also remains unclear is his status on the team, as Seattle could opt to release Britt before the final year of his contract is up, saving $11.4 million against the cap – money they could use to bring back Jadeveon Clowney or pursue other free agents.

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Seahawks designate Ethan Pocic to return from injured reserve

The Seattle Seahawks designated center/guard Ethan Pocic to return from injured reserve. He will be eligible to play starting December 15.

The Seattle Seahawks designated versatile offensive lineman Ethan Pocic to return from the injured reserve on Thursday.

Pocic is now eligible to return to practice right away, but he cannot play until December 15, when the Seahawks take on the Panthers in Carolina.

Additionally, Pocic will not take up a spot on the 53-man roster until the team officially activates him. His designation to return also means Seattle can no longer activate anyone else from IR this season. They used the first of their two allotted returns on veteran tight end Ed Dickson, who was unfortunately placed back on the IR a few days later.

Pocic only appeared in two games this season, starting one, before getting hurt and eventually landing on injured reserve. His return will be welcome for a team that lost starting center Justin Britt to a season-ending knee injury – as they are now starting Joey Hunt at center which left them with no backup who is capable of playing that position.

Pocic has also proven himself capable of playing both guard spots and even tackle as well, making him a really nice option to have on the bench. Plus, if Hunt continues to struggle in pass protection, Pocic could see regular time at center before the season is up.

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Seahawks tied for 2nd-most players on the injured reserve

The Seattle Seahawks are no stranger to the injury bug. They’re still finding ways to win despite having one of the highest injury totals.

Injuries, like in any sport, are a part of the game of football. Some injuries can derail seasons and others can, unfortunately, end careers. The Seattle Seahawks are no stranger to the injury bug, but they aren’t letting it impact them this year.

Heading into their bye week, the Seahawks are tied with the Texans, Jaguars, and Broncos with 13 players on the injured reserve. That is good for the second total, behind only the Falcons. Of that group, Seattle surpasses only the Falcons in terms of money on the IR.

The teams at the top of the list, at least financially, lost their starting quarterbacks. The Seahawks find themselves near the top in both categories because of the sheer quantity of players on the IR – although they have been fortunate that the impact felt by many of those losses has been minimal. As such, the team’s record is 8-2, and they just dethroned the last undefeated team in the league.

One of the biggest contributors to Seattle’s cap money tied to the IR is tight end Ed Dickson, who is expected to be activated soon. His return will be a big help on the field, which only adds to the potential of this team down the stretch.

Even though the Seahawks haven’t lost a player like Ben Roethlisberger or Cam Newton, they are still stinging from the losses of starting center Justin Britt and tight end Will Dissly.

Hopefully, the “big money” injury (a la Russell Wilson or Tyler Lockett) isn’t on the horizon and the team can continue to heal.

On the other end of the bye week, the Seahawks will be taking on the  Eagles, likely with the help of Dickson.

A healthy Dickson not only lowers the amount of money tied up on the injured reserve, but it also gives Seattle more depth at a key area of need for the rest of the season.

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