Seahawks: With Doug Baldwin signed, who’s next?
By Keith Myers
With Doug Baldwin signed, the Seattle Seahawks have all of their core players under contract through at least the 2017 season.
With Doug Baldwin signed to a massive 4 year extension, all of the heavy lifting for this offseason is now complete. The Seattle Seahawks lack any other big moves that need to be made before the 2016 season.
There is still a hefty list of players with contracts expiring after the 2016 season, but none of them have the on-field impact that Baldwin has. Take a look:
| Player | Pos | Type |
| Deshawn Shead | S | RFA |
| Cooper Helfet | TE | RFA |
| Ryan Robinson | DE | RFA |
| Steven Terrell | S | RFA |
| Marcus Burley | CB | RFA |
| Mohammed Seisay | CB | RFA |
| Brock Coyle | LB | RFA |
| Garry Gilliam | RT | RFA |
| Sealver Siliga | DT | UFA |
| Bradley Sowell | LT | UFA |
| Kelcie McCray | S | UFA |
| Brandon Williams | TE | UFA |
| DeAngelo Tyson | DT | UFA |
| Brandon Browner | S/CB | UFA |
| Chris Clemons | DE | UFA |
| Michael Morgan | OLB | UFA |
| Steven Hauschka | K | UFA |
| Jordan Hill | DT | UFA |
| Tharold Simon | CB | UFA |
| Christine Michael | RB | UFA |
| Patrick Lewis | C | UFA |
| Luke Willson | TE | UFA |
*List taken form Over the Cap.
I left out all of the exclusive rights free agents, since there isn’t any reason to bother with signing them early. If the team wants them, they’ll either play for the minimum or they won’t play at all.
There is also no reason to invest in backups that are going to be restricted free agents. Unless they are about to become starters and put up big seasons, no other team is going to be willing to give up a draft pick for them before next season.
The only RFA that might fit that description is Gary Gilliam. There is just too much uncertainly on whether or not he’ll be a viable left tackle at this point for the Seahawks to make a big investment in him.
There is also no reason for Gilliam to sign a below-market deal either. If he does well this season, than he’ll demand a much larger contract next offseason. Basically, there’s just no incentive for either side to want to get a deal done now.
As for the unrestricted players the list, there is very little that the Seahawks need to be concerned about. The majority of the players on this list aren’t even certain to make the 2016 roster.
Think about it this way, why would Seattle invest in Patrick Lewis beyond this season if they don’t even know if he can hold off either Justin Britt and Joey Hunt for his job. Similar issues exist for guys like Luke Willson and Jordan Hill.
The one exception might be kicker Steven Hauschka. He’s been a major part of Seattle’s special teams success over the last few seasons, and isn’t in danger of being replaced. While he is over 30, he’s only 31 and kickers tend to play well into their mid-30s before they start to decline.
Will we see a Hauschka extension before 2016? I doubt it. Seattle let his contract expire before re-signing him before. Plus there’s always the franchise tag if they decide that they have no other choice.
Next: Doug Baldwin is here to stay
Overall, the Seahawks are in great shape from a contract point of view. They’ve got everyone important signed, and can already begin looking ahead to next offseason.