JOHN CLAYTON

Clayton: What you need to know coming out of Seahawks’ OTAs

Jun 10, 2021, 3:31 PM

Seahawks Bobby Wagner Renton VMAC...

Bobby Wagner, shown here in 2018, spoke to the media Thursday. (AP)

(AP)

The Seahawks held their second OTA that was open to the media on Thursday.

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Reporting about formations, strategy and what goes on in practice isn’t permitted. The big picture observation, though, is that just about everything is back to normal with the Seahawks, particularly on offense.

So much of that is Russell Wilson. Wilson threw the ball well, as always. Though he caused a stir after the Super Bowl voicing concern about being hit too times and the blocking along the offensive line, he should still provide great leadership and a lot of accurate passes.

Energy was at a high level both on offense and defense. It was fun to watch the offense on 11-on-11 drills. Of course, there is no tackling or contact. We found out Thursday the San Francisco 49ers were penalized for having too much contact in a rookie minicamp practice.

The Seahawks’ offense has good speed in the passing game. Second-round pick Dwayne Eskridge is indeed fast. Tight end Gerald Everett, a free agency addition, is getting good reviews.

As for the defense, middle linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke Thursday and said he still thinks we could see a return of K.J. Wright, who remains a free agent.

“I think as long as I’m here the door’s open,” Wagner said.

So much of that has to do with how close the two linebackers are and what they have meant to the leadership of the defense. But at the moment the chances of a Wright return doesn’t look good. Jordan Brooks is moving to the weakside linebacker spot, and he looks to be in great shape and shows great speed, much like he did last year.

Wagner said the OTA boycott by more than 50 players was because they wanted to control when they reported, not that they didn’t want to practice at all. More players continue to show up each day, with safety Quandre Diggs and defensive end Carlos Dunlap among the players who joined Thursday. The Seahawks should have perfect attendance next week at minicamp.

The OTAs are in the books. The team has three days of mandatory minicamp next week and then will be off until training camp.

Finally, the new contract for punter Michael Dickson came through. It’s a four-year deal at $14,699,059, making him the second-highest-paid punter behind Johnny Hekker of the Los Angeles Rams. He got a $6.5 million signing bonus, and the deal lowered his cap number by around $1.1 million to $2,372,538.

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Clayton: What you need to know coming out of Seahawks’ OTAs