Kennedy Likely To Move On
Eight-time Pro Bowler Cortez Kennedy said Sunday his days with the Seattle Seahawks are probably over.
“I need a month off to take time out and figure out what I really want,” Kennedy said. “Right now I’m going off emotion. But right now I think it’s time for me and the Seahawks to depart.”
Kennedy’s statement came a day after the Seahawks’ season-ending 42-24 loss to Buffalo.
Kennedy has played all 11 of his NFL seasons with Seattle. He was the 1992 AFC defensive player of the year and earned a selection to the All-Decade team for the 1990s.
But salary cap constraints and a subpar season led to rumors he may be released after the season, even though his contract does not expire until after next season.
Coach Mike Holmgren was not available for comment Sunday, but he has said there will be sweeping changes in the offseason.
Kennedy, 32, finished the season with 49 tackles and one sack.
Watters likely gone
Holmgren hasn’t made it official yet, but Ricky Watters isn’t expected back in Seattle next season. It will be Shaun Alexander’s turn in the Seahawks’ backfield.
Seahawks fans are going to miss Watters, the 10-year veteran who has churned out 113 consecutive regular-season starts.
Watters, 31, was one of the few bright spots in Seattle’s 6-10 season. He became the NFL’s 13th 10,000-yard rusher with 10,325 and moved into 12th place on the career list behind O.J. Simpson on Saturday night in the Seahawks’ final game against Buffalo.
Bledsoe emotionally spent
Despite connecting on 18 of 34 for a season-best 312 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Drew Bledsoe acknowledged feeling mentally, physically and emotionally spent Sunday after the New England Patriots dropped a 27-24 decision to the Miami Dolphins.
“Most definitely this has been the most frustrating season I’ve had,” he told reporters. “Coming in with high hopes and then to be so close in so many games without being able to get over the top is very, very frustrating.”
Bledsoe said he was “worn out” at the finish of his disappointing 5-11 season.
“It is going to take a little while to heal up from this one. I need to get away. When I get back, I’ll be ready to go.”
The quarterback and his former Washington State teammate, nose tackle Chad Eaton, boarded a helicopter in the parking lot after Sunday’s game for a quick flight to Boston’s Logan International Airport, where they had a chartered jet waiting to take them west.
Bledsoe, his wife and sons, were scheduled to be dropped off in Montana while Eaton was planning to remain on board until the jet reached its final destination, Seattle.
Eaton is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month.
Freeman benched
Wide receiver Antonio Freeman was benched for the Green Bay Packers’ crucial season finale against Tampa Bay for missing two team meetings Saturday.
After Freeman’s latest in a long string of transgressions, coach Mike Sherman gambled by sitting down his former Pro Bowl receiver. The Packers needed to win to stay alive in the playoff hunt, but they missed out anyway when St. Louis beat New Orleans.
The last word …
“The whole Chicago Bears organization can come to my house for dinner tonight. I’ll put (Paul) Edinger, the kicker, at the head of the table.”
St. Louis defensive tackle D’Marco Farr after the Bears victory over the Lions put the Rams in the playoffs.