Wilson and Hawks jabbing at each other in public

A GRIP ON SPORTS • You’re thinking of changing jobs. Your boss wants to keep you. How does that play out? Of course you go on the radio and talk with the local newspapers about each other, right? Wrong. Read on.

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• In another example professional sports only occasionally touch base with real life, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks are negotiating a new contract – in public. Sort of. See, Wilson fired the first shot a few days ago when he intimated he’d like to try to play professional baseball again. That’s after hitting .230 for two years of minor league play. But the comment, to HBO’s Real Sports, was aimed at the Hawks and general manager John Schneider (pictured). The unspoken part of the statement was “I have options.” OK, fine. Wilson, who is set to play the upcoming season on his rookie contract (it will pay him $1.5 million), and the Hawks are trying to put together a long-term deal. No one knows what Wilson is asking for ($20 million a year maybe, much of it guaranteed, the going rate for successful quarterbacks) or what the Hawks are offering ($15 million maybe) or how long the contract will be. But it’s obvious the two sides aren’t that close. Why would I say that? Well, after Wilson let it be known baseball is still a possibility, Schneider made the rounds of the Seattle radio shows. He was with his wife for the most part, promoting a charity event they are involved in, but the Wilson question came up of course. There was one statement Schneider had, in his interview with KIRO, that really seemed to be a shot across the bow (with emphasis mine):

“Every negotiation is unique in and of itself and this is no different. (This is the) ultimate team sport, he’s our quarterback, we’d love him to be our quarterback . But the thing is, we need to keep as many of these guys together as we possibly can.”

There’s a he-could-be-replaced quality to that one sentence, isn’t there? As in, “I’ve found a Super Bowl-winning quarterback in the third round before, I can do it again.” So is this really a warning shot to Wilson and his agent? Are the Hawks really telling him they want him, but at a Tom Brady-like price that allows them to keep winning? Yes it is. But that doesn’t mean they are at a take-it-or-leave it stage. Wilson is still their quarterback next year and the year after, when the franchise tag is still affordable. But then it would get interesting as the cost escalates quickly, with built-in percentage increases. All that is known. What we didn’t need, what the Hawks didn’t need, is this process to become a public spat. It’s on its way to becoming that. When the team gets back together next week for a spring workout, you know this subject is going to come up. Wilson will be asked point blank about it. Let’s hope he defuses the situation. He’s always been pretty smart at reading the field and making the play that’s needed to help his team win. Now is a good time to do that again.

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• WSU: If spring football is for anything, it is for teaching a new scheme. That’s happening on the defensive side of the ball in Pullman right now, as the Cougars are getting used to new coordinator Alex Grinch’s way. And it’s taking hold, as Jacob Thorpe’s story in today’s paper shows. Jacob also has a practice report on the blog along with video of Mike Leach afterward and a morning post . … The Cougars and San Jose State went 11 innings last night, with the Spartans earning a 7-5 win. … I found this interesting story about Xavier Cooper this morning.

• EWU: The Eagles’ spring football practice continues on, as does Jim Allen’s position-by-position preview. Today Jim examines the defensive line .

• Idaho: The Vandals announced three basketball signings yesterday, all of whom are guards or wings. Sean Kramer has more in this story and blog post .

• Chiefs: Though the Chiefs’ season is over, Portland and Everett are still going at, with the Winterhawks taking a 2-1 lead in the series last night with a 5-3 home win.

• Preps: No matter what sport in which Mead and Mt. Spokane meet, there is a rivalry aspect to it. But track, that’s on another level. Greg Lee was at the battle yesterday and has this story .

• Seahawks: The Wilson negotiations are front and center in Bob Condotta’s notes from yesterday as well as this CBSSports.com story . … Will the Hawks look for more wide receivers in the draft?

• Mariners: Is it time to panic? The M’s say no . … Manager Lloyd McClendon and catcher Mike Zunino don’t always see eye-to-eye on pitch selection . But that doesn’t mean the M’s will start calling them from the bench. … Former Mariner Charlton Jimerson has written an autobiography .

• Sounders: The Sounders had 10 shots on goal against the L.A. Galaxy. None of them went in .

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• Today is the last day to catch me on the radio for a while. I’m with Dennis Patchin and Rick Lukens on 700 ESPN this afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. You can listen here if you want . Until then …