Seahawks can turn major player losses into great player gains

The Seahawks lost three key players in the last two weeks. The loss of Frank Clark, Doug Baldwin, and Kam Chancellor can pay dividends for years to come.

It’s an understatement to say the Seahawks have undergone big changes this offseason. 12s were just settling into the idea of a defensive line without Frank Clark when worse news came. Doug Baldwin and the Hawks both intimated his time in Seattle could be over, and now we know it’s true. Add in the release of Kam Chancellor, and many 12s are reeling at the news. Generally, I don’t care for aphorisms, but in this case, “It’s always darkest before the dawn” truly fits.

There is no doubt that Clark was phenomenal for Seattle last season. There’s every reason to assume he will continue his stellar play for the next few years, at least. There’s also no doubt that his trade set in motion an amazing draft haul for the Seahawks. Let’s not forget that it was going to cost the Hawks over $17 million to keep him for 2019, with no guarantee he would stay any longer. Actually, there was no guarantee he was going to sign the franchise tag offer at all.

In his stead, the Seahawks signed defensive end Ezekiel Ansah. It’s quite true, he doesn’t solve the pass rush problem completely. However, he signed for $9 million, half of that guaranteed. That’s $8 million less than what Seattle would have paid Clark. I wasn’t a fan of signing Ziggy at the contract numbers that were being thrown around when he left the Lions. At $9 million, I’m very happy. As I wrote earlier, “If Seattle could get him at a steep discount, he might be worth it. And by steep, I mean in the neighborhood of $8 to $10 million per year.” Even if he misses the first month of the season, he could be terrific.

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Seahawks will rely on more than Ziggy

Of course, he isn’t the only player the Hawks signed to rush the passer. Cassius Marsh was signed just weeks ago to bolster their attack. Marsh signed for $1.85 million; that still leaves a minimum of $6 million for the Seahawks to sign more players. I am in no way stating that Ansah and Marsh will equal Clark’s production – but they certainly could, as long as Ziggy is healthy. Granted, that’s a very big if, but he has averaged .6 sacks per game. Subtract the anticipated four-game delay, add in Marsh’s 5.5 sacks and you have 11.5 sacks, close to Clark’s 13 of 2018. Let’s not forget that Seattle drafted L.J. Collier in the first round. He isn’t the same type of player as Clark, but he’s almost certainly going to get a lot more than three sacks, which is the most any player not named Frank or Jarran had last year.

Which leads to the releases of Baldwin and Chancellor. Chancellor’s loss on the field hit the Seahawks last season, so his release is strictly an emotional loss for 2019. Baldwin’s departure stings far more, as he was Seattle’s second-leading receiver last year – and man does it ever seem weird to write that. Replacing his production really shouldn’t be an issue with the additions of the three receivers Seattle drafted: DK Metcalf, Gary Jennings, and John Ursua. Replacing the man, as was the case with Chancellor, will be far more difficult.

But the departure of these two Seahawks icons gives the team an additional $9 million in cap space for 2019, and add another $20 million in space for 2020. As Kole Musgrove notes in the cited article, $9 million just happens to be what Seattle paid Ansah. As he also writes, that additional $20 million the following year could certainly ensure extensions for both Bobby Wagner and Jarran Reed.

Change is often a bitter, bitter pill. Seattle now has just three players left from the Super Bowl championship team, as amazing as that sounds: Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, and K.J. Wright are the last men standing. Change may be bitter, but note that all three of those players’ names begin with a W. I’ll take that as a sign of things to come.