Seahawks: What to do with LB Leroy Hill

Published on February 26, 2009 by T.C. T.C.

leroy-hill1

The Seahawks have one of the best LB core in the NFL with Julian Peterson, Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill. They also have one of, if not the most expensive LB core in the NFL.

In the 2006 off-season they signed Peterson to a seven year 54 million dollar contract.

Then last season they re-signed MLB Lofa Tatupu to a six year worth about 40 million.

Now this off-season they have placed the franchise tag on Leroy Hill which would give him about 8.3 million for next season. We want their to be less of a cap hit this year so they are able to sign other free agents and their #4 NFL draft pick.

But Hill already rejected a six year 36 million dollar deal.

So now the Seahawks have some choices to make heading into free agency, and they also have to address DT, WR, and OL this off-season.

Here is a list of choices of what they could do with Leroy Hill:

1) Trade him to a team that needs a great LB, or a team that has a player that doesn’t want to be there anymore, i.e.… Eagles CB Lito Sheppard, Chiefs RB Larry Johnson (Seahawks might throw in a 2^nd or 3^rdround pick) or DT Glenn Dorsey.

What this would do is fill one of the Seahawks other positions of need, and it would allow the Seahawks to draft either DT: B.J Raji or LB Aaron Curry in the 2009 NFL draft.

2) Remove the franchise tag off of Hill and let him walk, this is probably the worst on the list, but the best cap wise.

3) Raise up the years and dollars on the contract, Almost like Tatupu- Six years 40-42 million.

My choice would be #1, Here is why.

Let’s lay out each possible trade of the three possibilities above.

1) We trade Hill to the Eagles for CB Lito Sheppard, that would give the Seahawks two top CB with Trufant and Sheppard, and it would improve the secondary greatly.

2) We trade Hill to the Chiefs for RB Larry Johnson, this would be great, because it would give the Seahawks a great running game again, and it would also make Offensive Coordinator Greg Knapp happy. Then the Hawks would draft OT Jason Smith.

3) We trade Hill to the Chiefs for DT Glen Dorsey, this would give Seattle a young Albert Haynesworth, and then they can draft LB Aaron Curry or WR Michael Crabtree

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Tags: Chiefs, Dollar Contract, Dollar Deal, franchise tag, free agents, Glenn Dorsey, greg knapp, Hawks, Julian Peterson, Larry Johnson, Leroy Hill, Lito Sheppard, Lofa Tatupu, Mlb, nfl draft, Nfl Draft Pick, offensive coordinator, Raji, Rb, Running Game, Trufant

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Seahawk Fanatic says:

February 26, 2009 at 2:12 PM

In spite of his mounting legal problems, the Seahawks took no chances and put a franchise tag on productive but undersized linebacker LeRoy Hill. In tagging a player that many clubs within the league were likely to pass on, the Seahawks likely took themselves out of the free agency derby.

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