Fantasy News

Seattle on Friday agreed to a contract with Julius Jones, reportedly worth $3 million per year. Considering that the Seahawks also signed T.J. Duckett last week and have Maurice Morris under contract, it looks certain that Shaun Alexander will be released. Alexander is under contract for $4.5 million for the 2008 season, but he’s not worth that kind of money. He’ll be 31 on opening day, and he’s been plagued by ineffectiveness and injuries the last two years.

The NFL has modified it’s June 1 salary cap rules, so look for Alexander to be released sooner rather than later. Seattle may release him now but still treat it, for cap purposes, as if the move was made in June.

It remains to be seen if the Seahawks overpaid for Jones. He had a couple of nice games early in his career, but his production has declined as Marion Barber has emerged. It was a surprise, in my opinion, that the Seahawks were willing to give him that kind of money. They also signed Duckett to a five-year contract worth $14 million.

Jones had three huge games at the end of his rookie season in 2004. He ran for 150 yards in a Thanksgiving Day win over the Bears (who had his brother starting at tailback), then went for 198 yards and 3 TDs in a Monday night win at Seattle. And Jones closed that season by running for 149 yards in a game against the Giants.

Jones was a so-so starter in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, rushing for 2,077 yards and averaging 4.0 yards per carry. He slipped to 588 yards and averaged only 3.6 yards per carry last year as the team expanded Barber’s role. He’s scored only 11 TDs in 45 games the last three years (in part because Barber got most of the goal-line carries in Dallas).

The guess here is that Seattle will go with a committee approach, with Jones, Duckett and Morris splitting time. Morris is the best pass catcher of those three; he’ll definitely be their passing-downs guy. Duckett should get most of the short-yardage and goal-line work, and he should also get at least 25 percent of the work in general – if he can keep his weight under control. Duckett looked good in Detroit last year, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

As for Alexander, he’ll be released soon, and he’ll find some team that will sign him to a contract with some incentives. Detroit, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Chicago and New Orleans (if Deuce McAllister gets cut) all look like possibilities.

--Ian Allan

• Comments [1]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.