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How the Seahawks should approach 2024 free agency

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How the Seahawks should approach 2024 free agency


While John Schneider is getting ready to tamper, we should all temper our expectations for the early stages of NFL free agency from a Seahawks perspective.

Seattle does have cap room and the ability to make some moves when free agency opens but whether they actually will is the question. John Schneider rarely dips his toes into the first wave of free agency where the big contracts are given out. Last year’s 3-year, $51 million contract to Dre’Mont Jones is an outlier.

How did that work out?

Jones still has the chance to play up to that contract but the fact that some were already debating whether he should be kept on the roster is telling. The Seahawks went after a top outside free agent and might be regretting that which could inform how Schneider will approach free agency in 2024.

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I do think they’ll prioritize Leonard Williams, but they shouldn’t move heaven and earth to make a deal happen. Losing him would be a gut punch, though the trade capital used to acquire him is already gone so that shouldn’t be a factor. On the positive side, Williams has already been in the building and the front office staff was able to see how he fit in the organization. If Schneider reels him back in for a few more years, the culture fit won’t be questioned.

Williams is really the only guy that I want the Seahawks to give a big contract to in this free agency period. Outside of that – and particularly with players that haven’t been with Seattle – Schneider should look for value. That means no Patrick Queen. You could maybe convince me that the Seahawks should sign one of the top offensive guards but that would only be if they strike out on Williams. I don’t think Seattle will be handing out multiple top-of-the-market deals this year.

That doesn’t mean that the Seahawks should sit out of free agency altogether. Instead, I’m expecting them to dole out a handful of mid-level contracts on one or two-year deals to fill holes ahead of the draft. It’s not exciting but that’s been Schneider’s modus operandi for much of his time as the GM of the Seahawks. This gives him insurance in case the draft falls in an unexpected way.

Look at the 2023 outside free agent signings from our own recap.

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Except for Jones, all of the deals were for one or two years. It was much the same in 2022 for Justin Coleman, Quinton Jefferson, Austin Blythe, Uchenna Nwosu, and Artie Burns.

There are some positions that are loaded with free agents where value can be found like the safeties. Seattle just cut Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs. Julian Love is returning but his running mate for next season is a question mark. It seems like every NFL team also shed some salary at the safety position because the free agent list is LONG. This is a chance for Schneider to hunt for value and potentially get a very good player on the cheap.

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Think of how this worked out with Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett in 2013. Both guys signed short-term deals and were eventually rewarded with long-term contracts after they proved their fit in Seattle. Ditto for Uchenna Nwosu, who signed a short-term deal and earned a contract extension with his play for the Seahawks.

It could turn out the same for Julian Love, who signed with Seattle last offseason. His market didn’t materialize as he imagined, and the Seahawks scooped him up. Considering the purge at the safety position that Schneider just orchestrated, it seems like a pretty shrewd move.

The Seahawks currently have holes at interior OL, tight end, linebacker, and safety. Depending on what happens with Williams, we might have to add interior DL to the list. Seattle needs to field a complete roster, but they don’t need to break the bank to fill all of these spots. Look at what Macdonald did last year with guys like Kyle Van Noy and Jadeveon Clowney in Baltimore. Clowney signed with the Ravens in August and Van Noy in September. Both players were on cheap, one-year deals and produced 18.5 sacks combined for the Ravens.

Speaking of Baltimore, I do expect the Seahawks to sign at least one player from the Ravens to help instill Macdonald’s culture. Maybe it’s Geno Stone if he’s cheap enough. I already mentioned Clowney and would endorse that move. It could be Kevin Zeitler on the OL, which should only be a one-year deal given his age. These players provide another type of value that could be more important to Seattle than any other team given their familiarity with Macdonald.

He’s inheriting a roster that already has plenty of young talent. Now, Schneider can augment that even more with smart, calculated free agent additions to stock the cupboard and free up the possibilities heading into the NFL Draft.

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Soundgarden Enlist Jim Carrey and Seattle All-Stars for Rock Hall 2025 Ceremony

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Soundgarden Enlist Jim Carrey and Seattle All-Stars for Rock Hall 2025 Ceremony


Soundgarden were welcomed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Saturday with an all-star induction that included a performance by the band’s surviving members, a group composed of fellow Seattle musicians, and the daughter of the late Chris Cornell.

Jim Carrey, who once hosted a 1996 episode of Saturday Night Live where Soundgarden was the musical guest, inducted the band. “Spank you kindly, spank you all,” the actor-comedian told the crowd. “You might ask why would Soundgarden — the heaviest of rock & roll royalty — want Jim Carrey to induct them into the Hall of Fame? Is there some deep, cosmic connection between them, or was the ‘Spoonman’ not available?”

Lily Cornell and Jim Carrey speak onstage during the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

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Amy Sussman/WireImage

Carrey revealed that when he hosted SNL, he insisted that Soundgarden be the musical guest, and was gifted Cornell’s Fender Telecaster after the show, his most prized possession. “When the Seattle music scene exploded, it resurrected rock & roll for me,” he said. “When I heard Soundgarden for the first time, I wasn’t just excited. I wanted to put a flannel shirt on and run into the streets screaming, ‘My mother smoked during pregnancy!’”

Following Carrey’s speech, Cornell’s daughter, Lily, joined the stage. “I am just really, really happy that he got to make music with his friends,” she said of her dad. “At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. I know how much purpose that gave him, and how much it’s meant to people who have heard that music. That’s what I’ll be holding in my heart tonight.”

Taylor Momsen, Brandi Carlile, and Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron and Hiro Yamamoto perform at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

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Kevin Kane/Getty Images for RRHOF

Then came the “Seattle-centric” performance drummer Matt Cameron promised in the run-up to the ceremony. Friends like Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Brandi Carlile (who previously teamed with Soundgarden’s surviving members for a Record Store Day single), and Taylor Momsen of the Pretty Reckless (who served as opening act on Soundgarden’s final tour prior to Cornell’s 2017 death), joined the band for “Rusty Cage” and “Black Hole Sun.”

Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden perform at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

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Each member of the band — guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron, bassists Ben Shepherd and Hiro Yamomoto, who left the group in 1989 — delivered induction speeches. “Chris Cornell, we are so missing you tonight on this stage,” Yamomoto said. “We’ve heard so many stories of how the music we created became your own, and that is the greatest recognition of all. To everyone else out there — especially all you brown kids — let’s rock!”

Nancy Wilson and Toni Cornell perform onstage during the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Kevin Kane/Getty Images for RRHO

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After the all-star Seattle team-up, Cornell’s daughter Toni and Heart’s Nancy Wilson teamed up for an acoustic rendition of “Fell on Black Days.”

“It’s so surreal, and I’m so honored that I get to be here to do this for my dad,” Toni said backstage following the performance. “I just wish he were here to see this tremendous honor for himself. I know how proud he would have been, but he’s the only reason why I do music so being here and being able to share my voice because of him, is amazing.”

Toni took inspiration for her own performance from her dad’s Songbook tour in the early 2010s and “doing his renditions of these super-powerful, insane songs that he would do with Soundgarden.” ” I was always really touched by just him and his voice, his guitar, and eventually with a cellist … Everyone can relate that song on so many levels, like I fell on black days. We’ve all been there. So I personally related to that, and I really wanted to channel how my dad would have performed that song on his own.”

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“Rock and roll is almost a lost art,” Wilson told reporters prior to the performance. “Hard rock bands… the bands we grew up with are not that many roaming the planet anymore, so I’m really happy to see the new ones coming up and still honoring those that left the big dinosaur footprint behind us.”

“I think Chris would have really enjoyed this moment of recognition, because he was always moving as an artist,” Cameron said in an interview prior to the Rock Hall induction. “He was always seeking that next phase of his writing career, performing career. … Maybe down the line he will get recognized as a solo artist or [for] Temple of the Dog or something like that because his contribution to music has been absolutely massive.”



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‘We’re locked in’: Spike agrees with housing freeze claims

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‘We’re locked in’: Spike agrees with housing freeze claims


Interest rates have fallen to 6.17%, the lowest since October 2024, but the rates remain considerably higher than post-pandemic levels, when they reached below 3%.

Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neil, hosts of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, detailed the potential “housing freeze” on the market that is caused by raised interest rates and homeowners being less likely to move due to immediate monthly payment increases if they were to secure a current interest rate.

“Sometimes in life you just get lucky when you’re buying a house, and my wife and I were one of those people who bought at a time when interest rates were historically low,” Jake said. “Now you’re seeing basically a freeze in the housing market. Even though the rates are dropping slightly, people are not willing to sell their homes, get out of a favorable 3-or 4% interest rate, and basically double their monthly payment.”

Spike explained how he is inadvertently participating in the housing freeze, even though his family wishes to downsize to a new home, but higher interest rates have contributed to the decision to stay at home.

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“To your point about being frozen, you know, we’d love to downsize because the maintenance is a lot on our 3,800-square-foot home, it’s a lot of space,” Spike said. “We’d love to downsize, but we’re locked in on a pretty great interest rate for our home. We’ve been there a little over 20 years now.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.




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Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign: Time, how to watch quarterfinal NWSL playoff match

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Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign: Time, how to watch quarterfinal NWSL playoff match


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The Orlando Pride’s title defense starts now.

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The defending champion Pride kick off the 2025 NWSL postseason against the No. 5 seed Seattle Reign FC on Friday in Orlando, Florida, the first of four quarterfinal matches this weekend.

The No. 4 seed Pride look to become the third team to win back-to-back NWSL championships, and the first since the North Carolina Courage in 2018 and 2019, all without their star striker Barbra Banda. Banda led the Pride with eight goals this season, but the 2024 NWSL Championship MVP was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a full thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon in August.

Both teams are familiar with each other. The Pride and Reign recently faced off during Decision Day on Nov. 2 with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Carson Pickett of the Pride and Jordyn Bugg of the Reign each scored. The Pride got the best of the Reign earlier this season in a 1-0 win in April, where Banda scored the lone goal.

2025 NWSL PLAYOFFS: Full bracket, schedule

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Here’s everything to know ahead of the first quarterfinal match of the 2025 NWSL playoffs:

What time is Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign?

The 2025 NWSL postseason kicks off with a quarterfinal matchup between the No. 4 Orlando Pride and No. 5 Seattle Reign FC on Friday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign: Time, streaming for NWSL playoffs

  • Date: Friday, Nov. 7
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
  • Location: Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
  • Stream: Prime Video

NWSL playoff format

The 2025 NWSL playoffs consists of three rounds of single-elimination matches.

The postseason will kick off with four quarterfinal matchups with the No. 1 seed Kansas City Current hosting the No. 8 Gotham FC and the No. 4 Orlando Pride vs. No. 5 Seattle Reign FC on one side of the playoff bracket. On the other side of the bracket, the No. 2 seed Washington Spirit hosts the No. 7 Racing Louisville FC and the No. 3 Portland Thorns FC vs. No. 6 San Diego Wave FC.

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The winners of each quarterfinal match will face off against each other in the semifinals. (Seeding does not reset after each round). The two semifinal winners will face off in the 2025 NWSL championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+) at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, home of NWSL’s Bay FC and MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes.

NWSL quarterfinals playoff schedule

  • Game 1: No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 8 Gotham FC – Nov. 9, 12:30 p.m. ET
  • Game 2: No. 4 Orlando Pride vs. No. 5 Seattle Reign FC – Nov. 7, 8 p.m. ET
  • Game 3: No. 2 Washington Spirit vs. No. 7 Racing Louisville FC – Nov. 8, 12 p.m. ET
  • Game 4: No. 3 Portland Thorns FC vs. No. 6 San Diego Wave FC – Nov. 9, 3 p.m. ET

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