Seahawks: A complete list of all pending free agents
By Keith Myers
After years of leaking talent in the free agency, the Seattle Seahawks do not have any significant players who will be leaving this offseason.
The Seattle Seahawks never replaced Bruce Irvin a year ago. They struggled to replace Byron Maxwell and Golden Tate before that. They’ve seen their entire Super Bowl offensive line leave. It is impossible to replace someone like Marshawn Lynch.
Losing talent is an inevitable consequence of being good in the NFL. The salary cap makes it impossible to keep everyone. Luckily, the Seahawks get a year off from dealing with that type of talent drain.
Using the database at OverTheCap, we can see that the Seahawks don’t have many players set to leave that would would be difficult to lose.
Unrestricted Free Agents
| Player | Pos. | Type |
| Steven Hauschka | K | UFA |
| Michael Morgan | 43OLB | UFA |
| Bradley Sowell | LT | UFA |
| Tony McDaniel | 43DT | UFA |
| Devin Hester | WR | UFA |
| Jeron Johnson | S | UFA |
| Marcel Reece | FB | UFA |
| Will Tukuafu | FB | UFA |
| Kelcie McCray | S | UFA |
| Neiko Thorpe | CB | UFA |
| Damontre Moore | 43DE | UFA |
| John Jenkins | 43DT | UFA |
| Brandon Williams | TE | UFA |
| Luke Willson | TE | UFA |
There are some recognizable names on here, but none are key players. While a few of these players will return, only three would likely to do so with cap numbers that are remotely significant.
Steven Hauschka might have been a must-sign a year ago, but not now. Hauschka has lost range, and his inability to regularly convert extra point attempts is a liability. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see him return, I also won’t be surprised to see the Seahawks look for a younger player at the position.
The Seahawks want Luke Willson back, but apparently their attempts to re-sign him during the season made no progress. Willson will want to test free agency and see if there is a team out there willing to give him a Delanie Walker-type contract. Seattle drafted Nick Vannett a year ago in case Willson leaves.
The other player would be Kelcie McCray. He’s started quite a few games at strong safety over the last two seasons, and has played extremely well. It is hard to believe that he won’t get an offer from someone who needs a starting safety.
Restricted Free Agents
Restricted free agents can leave, but as long as the Seahawks tender them a contract offer, the other team has to give up a draft pick. That makes it extremely rare for RFAs to leave if their team would like to keep them.
| Player | Pos. | Type |
| Deshawn Shead | CB | RFA |
| Steven Terrell | S | RFA |
| Dewey McDonald | 43OLB | RFA |
| Mohammed Seisay | CB | RFA |
| Garry Gilliam | RT | RFA |
| Brock Coyle | LB | RFA |
Shead will be back. His knee injury will prevent anyone from giving up a pick for him this season. Gilliam will be back if the Seahawks want him, but I wouldn’t put it past Cable to dump him even though the team has no plan in place to replace him.
Exclusive Rights Free Agents
Exclusive rights free agents cannot leave their current team. They either re-sign, or they don’t play in the NFL. All will be back on league-minimum contracts will no guaranteed money, though few (if any) will make the 53-man roster next season.
| Player | Pos. | Type |
| Tavaris Barnes | 43DE | ERFA |
| Terrence Magee | RB | ERFA |
| Stanley Jean-Baptiste | CB | ERFA |
| Troymaine Pope | RB | ERFA |
| Joe Sommers | TE | ERFA |
| Ronnie Shields | TE | ERFA |
| Brandon Cottom | RB | ERFA |
| Tyler Slavin | WR | ERFA |
Stanley Jean-Baptiste is an interesting name because of his draft slot and Seattle’s need at CB. He spent the entire season on injured reserve this season.
Next: Can Seattle afford an interior pass rusher?
Brandon Cottom is the guy he Seahawks wanted to be the FB this season, but a torn Achilles ended that. He’ll be given a chance to win that job again, but that is an injury that is extremely tough to return from.