This is how the Seahawks should approach the offseason
By Geoff Shull
Players that could end up as cap casualties
The first player to be cut is the most obvious candidate, Ed Dickson. Dickson was signed to a 3-year, $10.7 million deal back in 2018. In two full seasons with Seattle, he has only seen the field in 11 of 35 possible games due to a slew of injuries. This should be a no brainer, cut Dickson to free up $3 million in cap space. 866k of his 2020 salary would revert to dead cap.
The second cut would be Justin Britt. Britt has been the lone staple of the offensive line since 2014. This year, before his season-ending injury, he posted in the bottom 5 in the league in pass protection. In just 285 offensive snaps, Britt had 7 blown blocks (2.5% of snaps resulted in a blown block). To put into perspective, Germain Ifedi had 18 blown blocks on 627 snaps (2.9% of snaps resulted in a blown block). This is the worst of Britt’s career, not to mention Britt holds the 4th highest cap hit amongst centers in 2020 at $11.42 million. If Britt were cut, Seattle would accumulate an additional $8.5 million in cap space. $2.9 million of Britt’s salary would revert to dead cap.
The only other two who would be candidates as salary cap casualties would be DJ Fluker and KJ Wright. Fluker had a terrible year, he finished the year just slightly above Ifedi (58) in offensive snaps per penalty/sack with 66. Fluker had the highest percentage of blown blocks when combining pass and run protection amongst the Seahawks guards at 4.9%. Seattle would gain an additional $3 million by letting Fluker go (and potentially resigning him to a less expensive deal).
Wright had a good season, he bounced back from his injury-riddled 2018-2019 year with a career-high in tackles and passes defended. The only reason he would be on the chopping block would be due to his ballooned contract that has a $10 million cap hit for next year, his age 31 season. If Seattle cuts him, the team would regain $7.5 million in cap space. The team clearly needs more speed on defense, while KJ produced a lot of tackles, he has shown signs of slowing.
Cut: Dickson, Britt, Fluker
Did not cut: Wright
Seattle is now sitting at $49 million in remaining cap space.