Seahawks free agency: all the gains, big and small

2017 Seahawks who opted to stick around for 2018

Bradley McDougald. The return of McDougald was very good news for the 12s indeed. We predicted before the 2017 season that McDougald would be a key player for the Seahawks (please ignore the positive comments about Eddie Lacy in the same piece). We said McDougald would see at least 600 snaps, and he was on the field for 675. No, he isn’t Kam Chancellor, but he is pretty darn good. Seattle signed him to three years for $13.5 million, so I guess they think he’s good, too. For more on McDougald, you know what to do.

Marcus Smith. Smith is a holdover at defensive end from last year’s line. The Seahawks rotated him in for 14 games, as he had 253 snaps on the line. He also played special teams, including 23 snaps in the season finale. I expect his role to be the same in 2018. Smith signed for one year at $2.7 million. Want more? Here you go.

Mike Davis. By now you may be tired of our unbridled affection and devotion to the former practice squad player. Better get used to it, because we’ll be writing more about him. The only question I have about Davis is how he’ll get through an entire season with his all-out running style. Luckily, we expect a healthy Chris Carson to at least split time with Davis, and likely start ahead of him. I definitely see Carson and Davis as 1A and 1B in the Seahawks backfield for 2018. Come on, you know you want more on the human wrecking ball. Go ahead, we’ve got you covered.

We’ll throw in three names here that were restricted free agents, so weren’t very likely to be signed away by another team.

Dion Jordan. The former number one pick began to play up to expectations last year. Seattle placed a first round tender on Jordan. That meant he could have signed with another team, but the Seahawks could either match the offer, or would receive a first round pick in compensation. No one was willing to go for that deal. Jordan signed for one year and $1.9 million. Thankfully, we get to see if Jordan can wreak havoc for a full 16 games in 2018.

J.D. McKissic. Similar to their handling of Jordan, Seattle placed a second round tender on McKissic. As with Jordan, McKissic could have signed elsewhere, but the Seahawks could have matched the offer. If he had signed, Seattle would receive a second round pick. That didn’t happen, not even for the only player in Seattle not named Russell to score a rushing touchdown last year. McKissic saw a nice pay bump, up to $630,000 for one year.

Justin Coleman. The Salvation Army’s best promoter got the second round tender offer. Again, there were no takers. Coleman gets a sweet $2.9 for one year. I bet the Salvation Army is almost as excited as the 12s.

Related Story: Five players to bring back: Four down, one to go

As we see it, that’s not a bad haul. True, there are no Pro Bowl seasons here. But there is still a lot of talent, including a couple of players that could really break through this season. And Seattle is far from done.