How the Seahawks can dominate Phase 3 of Free Agency

Phase 3

The players left on the market are traditionally role players or veterans who were recently cut by teams who added talent to their position group. Traditionally, Phase 3 players are depth and gap stop options, but this 2019 group is a bit different.

Names like Ziggy Ansah, Ndamukong Suh, Nick Perry, Derrick Morgan, Eric Berry, Glover Quinn, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Michael Crabtree are all still available. Now the Seahawks still have holes to fill, and most of the names above make some sense. In fact, the team has already hosted Ansah for a visit.

There is a lot of talent still on the board and the Seahawks are in a prime position to take advantage of it. Why? While most teams have spent their money already for 2019, GM John Schneider has been going to the opposite direction, clearing cap space instead of using it.

The team saved roughly $7 million in cap space with Russell Wilson‘s new deal and cleared an additional $17 million by trading Frank Clark. This puts the Seahawks with somewhere between $25-$27 million of cap space.

Now before you hit me with “what about Bobby Wagner and Jarran Reed extensions” questions, remember that, traditionally, these re-worked contracts end up saving the team money in year one. We can expect the same from Wagner’s new contract, but Reed’s extension will almost certainly not add more cap space.