Hawk Talk highlights: What’s next for the Seahawks, Kam Chancellor?

Kam Chancellor’s holdout and its effect on the Seahawks were leading topics during the latest edition of “Hawk Talk” with Danny O’Neil. The full transcript can he found here. Highlights are below.

tom page asked how other players in Seattle’s locker room feel about Chancellor’s holdout. He cited some recent comments from fellow safety Earl Thomas that may have indicated disagreement with Chancellor’s decision.

O’Neil: I think it’s possible to read a lot into players’ comments. In this case, that can be particularly problematic. I thought the same thing about Thomas’ tone and choice of words, but then again, Thomas is a different kind of guy and I don’t think I always read him correctly. I think every player in there would tell you that this team won’t be as good without Chancellor as it will with him. And every player would say that Chancellor needs to be his own best advocate. None of them are going to condemn what he’s doing, but that doesn’t mean they advocate it either.

Carroll: ‘There’s not much going on right now’ between Seahawks, Chancellor

An anonymous guest asked about the accuracy of the NFL Network report stating that the Seahawks and Chancellor were only $900,000 apart in negotiations.

O’Neil: That is not an accurate synopsis of the situation. As I understand it, the Seahawks have told Chancellor he needs to report before anything gets done. They have gone back and forth and there was room for compromise and give and take before, and that’s done. There’s not a bargaining gap or an amount that Seattle needs to get to. They’ve told him to report.

Hal2000 asked whether there’s a chance that DeShawn Shead or Kelcie McCray start at strong safety over Dion Bailey against Green Bay.

O’Neil: I don’t think so. I think that the Seahawks asked – and answered – the question of Bailey vis-a-vis Shead in the preseason and McCray doesn’t have some wealth of playing experience, either. If McCray is an option, it’s only down the road.

An anonymous guest asked if the absence of cornerback Tharold Simon had anything to do with Richard Sherman sliding into the slot on against St. Louis.

O’Neil: I don’t think so. If anything Simon’s absence was the reason you saw Shead playing outside. Simon is never going to be a slot corner. Ever. If he plays, he plays outside. Now the fact that Shead was out there tells me that Seattle may have been looking at Simon playing outside if he was available.

An anonymous guest asked if the play of Seattle’s linebackers against St. Louis was as bad as it seemed.

O’Neil: I don’t think the linebackers distinguished themselves and judging from Pete Carroll’s comments on Monday – he said the cornerback play was not the problem – I’d guess a chunk of those big completions over the middle had to do with linebacker zone drops.

Wally questioned the Seahawks’ strategy of not ramping up their defensive pressure on the Rams’ game-tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

O’Neil: That’s bedrock in Carroll’s approach. He believes his team can play better, longer than opponents, and when you get in late-game situations, he doesn’t want his team getting desperate or taking chances. He wants them to keep playing at the same pace and energy that they’ve been playing the previous three quarters and trust that the opponent is going to be the one that eventually folds up under weight of the moment. And I get that there are people who believe that’s not the right approach, but Carroll has got a pretty good track record for how his teams have finished games over the past 15 years not to mention finishing seasons.

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