Alexander, Seahawks agree on deal

This story got one important piece wrong: Alexander did not sign the franchise tender. He signed a 1 year contract for the same amount of money. The deal he signed came with the two big stipulations. The first is that the 'Hawks won't put the tag on him again next year, the second is that he must approve any trades.

I'm often impressed with how many details the national media miss or get wrong.

I'm also impressed by how some of the nuances of the deal are missed by the local sports guys. Specifically, how this deal really gets both parties out of corners they'd painted themselves in. The Hawks couldn't offer a longer contract during these negotiations because the franchise tag would be unusable by the organization for the duration of that contract. By signing a one year deal, they merely lose the ability to franchise tag someone else this year, which is impossible anyway becasue the window has long since closed.

This does not indicate a lack of desire for a long term deal on either party. They simply had to sign a one year deal first, to avoid losing future franchise tag ability. I'm optimistic that both sides will sign a longer term deal either during next season, or shortly thereafter, as was done with Hasselbeck and Jones this year.