Pete Carroll: Seahawks door remains open for K.J. Wright, though no roster add for a while
This door has been open for so long it may no longer have hinges.
Coach Pete Carroll reiterated Thursday what he’s been saying all offseason: the Seahawks are still considering the possibility of bringing back still-unsigned K.J. Wright to the only NFL team the 10-year veteran linebacker has known.
“The door is still open for players,” Carroll said following the third organized team activity practice for the team’s younger players while veterans stay away.
“We’re still working it, figuring out the roster and how it’s going to go.”
Seattle recently signed 13 rookie free agents and this week added 2020 undrafted rookie tight end Cam Sutton as the 90th and final man on the offseason roster.
At this point in the NFL offseason, rosters are mostly set. Teams have carried out their contract plans to fit players under the league’s salary cap for the year. There aren’t many new player evaluations taking place for guys to get cut and roster spots to open, not until training camp begins at the end of July.
So the 31-year-old Wright may remained unsigned for a while.
Carroll indicated the Seahawks are basically going to go with the 90 players they currently have into training camp. Then they will see where needs and opportunities take the team from there.
“Until we get on the field and can see how things are starting to come together, there won’t be major changes in what’s going on because we’re pretty committed at this point,” Carroll said.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re not tuned in to all of the options and opportunities that are out there because we are. K.J. is OK at the point. He’s doing fine.
“And if we get a chance to call on him, we’ll go after it and see if we can put something together.”
The Seahawks have remained in touch the last few months with the ultra-respected veteran who was its longest-tenured player through the end of the 2020 season.
This month, general manager John Schneider said: “Quite frankly, there’s so many coaches...that were on our staff that are different places we thought (Wright) would be signed by now.”
Carroll said in early May he had a “really good sit-down talk” with Wright.
“We needed to hear where he’s coming from and talk about the future and what’s possible moving forward. We’re right on the nose with this deal,” Carroll said. “Like John said, K.J. is one of the classiest players you could ever expect to have in your program and been a fantastic player.
“The door is not closed to us for what we’re doing moving forward. We’ve been really clear about that, and we feel good about where we are with K.J.”
Yet the Seahawks have moved on to considering who may be their outside linebacker, post-Wright.
This month at rookie minicamp, 2020 second-round pick Darrell Taylor was a strongside linebacker—Wright’s position. Seattle drafted Taylor as a defensive end, before he missed his entire rookie season following leg surgery.
Wright turns 32 this summer. He’s made it clear he wants to play in 2021. He wants it to be for the Seahawks—but only at a salary he feels will reward him for playing one of the best of his 11 NFL seasons with Seattle last year.
“You know, that’s up to you know Pete and John,” Wright said in January. “They know how much I mean to this team. They know that I’m a baller. They know I’m a great teammate a great leader.”
After strongside linebacker Bruce Irvin’s season-ending knee injury in September, Wright switched from a decade playing weakside linebacker. That cleared 2020 first-round pick Jordyn Brooks to play weakside linebacker on early, run downs last season.
On passing downs in nickel defense, Wright stayed in and essentially moved back to weakside linebacker next to All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner.
The Seahawks’ decision is how much to offer Wright for what could be an increasingly reduced role—a strongside linebacker in a defense that wants to use one less and nickel defensive back more with Marquise Blair’s return from knee surgery that knocked him out of the 2020 season.
Wright’s decision? With no other team offering him what he wants, either, and this far into the offseason, how much might he drop his price he believes he’s earned? That’s after one of the better seasons of his career last year.
“It would be a great investment, in my opinion, if they invest in K.J., and to bring them back in the building,” Wright said four months ago.
“You get what you pay for. And I bring a lot to the table still.
“So they’ve got to choose wisely.”
