Seattle, WA
Seahawks free agency 2024: Other Ravens names worth noting
The NFL free agency frenzy, scheduled to start Monday at noon New York time, is already well underway between cap cuts and signings across the league getting things revved up in recent days. There has been no shortage of big names hitting the market as a result of teams needing to save salary cap space and the Seattle Seahawks have been one of those teams making lots of moves as the Hawks and new head coach Mike Macdonald, under the direction of general manager John Schneider, are set to embark on a new era.
However, the time for moving on from the names on the roster has effectively passed for the Seahawks, and Monday marks the start of adding names in free agency. A report late Sunday indicated that the Hawks were set to host free agent safety Rayshawn Jenkins Monday, and there has been no shortage of links noted to many of the bigger names from the Baltimore Ravens set to hit free agency.
Many fans have hoped that Macdonald recruits many of the biggest names from the Ravens to Seattle, including Patrick Queen, Jadeveon Clowney and Geno Stone, and those are absolutely names that would address positions of need for the Seahawks in 2024. In addition, there are other, less well known names from the 2023 Ravens that Seattle fans should not be surprised to see linked to the Hawks in the coming days and weeks.
These are not the names of the young, high level free agents like Queen and Stone, and rather are the more targeted names that could potentially fill multiple roles for Seattle, including on defense and, specifically, special teams. With free agency set to take its toll on the special teams units of the Hawks, they could be looking to add veterans with experience to the group who can also help teammates learn the intricacies of Macdonald’s defensive scheme. Thus, keeping that in mind, here is a look at the top non-specialist Ravens from 2023 in special teams snaps, along with their contract status and age for Week 1 of the 2024 season:
- LB Del’Shawn Phillips (375 snaps): Unrestricted Free Agent – 27
- LB Malik Harrison (307 snaps): Unrestricted Free Agent – 26
- LB Trenton Simpson (258 snaps): Signed through 2026 – 23
- TE Charlie Kolar (251 snaps): Signed through 2025 -25
- LB Tavius Robinson (244 snaps): Signed through 2026 – 25
- FS Daryl Worley (239 snaps): Unrestricted Free Agent – 29
- SS Geno Stone (231 snaps): Unrestricted Free Agent – 25
- CB Arthur Maulet (188 snaps): Unrestricted Free Agent – 31
Of the names on that list that are set to hit free agency this week, Stone is of course the most notable, following his seven interception 2023 campaign at just 24 years of age. However, Phillips and Harrison are both interesting names to watch. Neither played a significant role on defense for the Ravens, but Phillips logged over 600 special teams snaps in two seasons in Baltimore, following a 2021 campaign spent with the New York Jets when he was on the field for 374 special teams snaps. Worley and Maulet are names worth noting simply because of the roles they could fill, but given their age and limited ability to contribute on the defensive side of the ball, they would seem likely to be a tier behind Phillips and Harrison.
So, as the legal tampering period gets started, these may not be the high end, game changing names that fans want to hear, but these are the types of targeted acquisitions it would not be a surprise to see the Seahawks add.
Social media is absolutely flooded with the images, video and words showing a vibrant city and region full of the joys of our soccer heritage. The supposedly dying city of Seattle put on an exceptional show for the world’s game and once again is convincing USMNT players to consider the Sounders for their next stop.
None of that happens with a suburban stadium in Renton. None of it.
The championship banners in Lumen? They’d be gone, reducing the symbols of local soccer excellence from the TV feed.
All those packed local bars with their Sounders scarves, posters and kits? Gone.
This isn’t a hypothetical. Plenty of MLS teams are in metro areas hosting the World Cup. The other US MLS teams aren’t getting this kind of love. LA hosted a bigger US win, but that match experience was not an advertisement for the Galaxy or LAFC.
When Santa Clara hosts the Round of 32 match you are not going to hear a word about the 50-year-old San Jose Earthquakes. If the US advances to the semis in Arlington you won’t hear a peep about FC Dallas. If they make the final in East Rutherford the Red Bulls will be a footnote.
But when the world’s game comes to Seattle the Sounders are the conversation, because this team is in the heart of a city and region that loves it.
Ripping the Sounders away from these types of moments for revenue control while eliminating the free marketing to players and fans is laughable. Renton’s Legacy Square is doing a wonderful job for thousands of visitors a week. It is not Seattle. Nor is Southcenter’s shows in Tukwila.
Moments like Friday, the future Women’s World Cup matches and maybe even a US Round of 16 with hundreds of thousands of people experiencing Seattle’s soccer culture are only possible while soccer is a major tenant in a downtown stadium.
It’s why Don Garber praises the Sounders, and hardly ever mentions the flood of owners who built tiny houses in the burbs. “MLS isn’t what it is without the Sounders.”
The Sounders aren’t what they are without Lumen Field in Seattle. Full stop.
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Catching up on Sounder at Heart
Here’s what you missed on the site this week.
World Cup
Next Seattle match: Wednesday, June 24 between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar.
Sounders
Next match: July 16 hosting Portland Timbers during rivalry week.
Reign
Next match: July 4 at North Carolina
Defiance
Next match: June 21 vs Real Monarchs.
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Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
World Cup
NWSL and women’s soccer
Puget Sound and other stuff
Ranger Suarez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Friday night.
Suarez (3-3) struck out five and walked three in 6 2/3 innings. His no-hit bid ended with Josh Naylor’s one-out double in the seventh.
The 30-year-old lefty earned his first win since April 27 against Toronto.
Caleb Durbin put the Red Sox ahead with a second-inning solo homer, his fifth of the year. Durbin had his second three-hit game this season, with his first coming against Tampa Bay on June 10.
Ceddanne Rafaela scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Marcelo Mayer drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single.
Carlos Narváez added a sacrifice fly before Seattle finally escaped the inning on a diving catch by Dominic Canzone in right field.
Suarez issued a two-out walk that loaded the bases in the seventh on his final pitch of the night, but Justin Slaten ended the threat by striking out pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford to preserve a 5-0 lead.
Mayer added one more insurance run with a ninth-inning RBI double. The Mariners got on the board thanks to Julio Rodríguez’s two-run homer in the ninth.
Seattle starter Bryce Miller (3-1) struck out seven in five innings. He allowed three hits and one run.
Luis Castillo, who has started in all but three of his 258 career appearances, gave up five runs in four innings of relief as the Mariners revived their “piggyback” rotation.
Up next
Red Sox LHP Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) starts opposite Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28) on Saturday night.
Seattle, WA
Seattle fans pack waterfront hours early as USA defeats Australia, advances in World Cup
SEATTLE — Soccer fans descended on Seattle’s waterfront well before kickoff Friday, staking out their spots early to watch a highly anticipated World Cup matchup at Seattle Stadium between the United States and Australia. That patience paid off as Team USA won the match and now advances to the knockout round.
The atmosphere at Pier 62 was electric from the start, with fans lining up for prime viewing positions, whether down on the water’s edge or taking in the sweeping scene from the waterfront overlook above.
“I mean, look at all these people that are here hours beforehand to celebrate this incredible game,” said Paul Hanson, who was rooting for Team USA. “The hairs are going up on the arm.”
The energy was a draw in itself.
“The energy is amazing, everyone’s in a great mood, it’s just a lot of fun to be down here,” Maggie McNeil said.
Not everyone in the crowd was wearing red, white, and blue.
Lizzie Manning hails from Melbourne, Australia, and is now living in the Pacific Northwest.
Manning told KOMO News she hasn’t been back home in nearly a decade, but taking in the U.S.A-Australia match with the waterfront crowd gave her a taste of it.
“Whenever I see another Australian I’m like, ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, oy oy oy,’” she said. “I feel so close to home. I need a meat pie, life’s good.”
“I’ve met so many people who are visiting from other countries,” Seattle resident Maddie Chaplain said. “I sat next to a couple yesterday who was eating dumplings for the first time from Argentina, that was so awesome.”
With Team USA advancing, fans like Aaron Olson say they’ll be back for more.
“USA’s gonna win it,” Olson said. “I will come down here every game. This is spectacular.”
The World Cup watch parties continue on Pier 62 throughout the tournament. They are free and open to the public with online registration, but capacity is limited.
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