This is how the Seahawks should approach the offseason
By Geoff Shull
Seattle will likely double-dip into free agency to acquire move pass rush:
The biggest remaining holes would be at DT, OL, TE, and depth for the RB/WR rooms.
This free agency class is riddled with talented on the defensive line. This is extremely fortunate for Seattle, which ranked in the bottom 5 in sacks and hurries produced. Seattle may have signed Clowney to an extension, however, they still need more speed to help produce additional pressure from the outside.
Seattle could go one of two ways here. Sign a proven veteran that would be a stop gate player and hope the player still has juice left in the tank. This would be an inexpensive route and medium risk. The other option would be to sign a young edge and hope the player continues to produce/develop. This will likely cost Seattle a pretty penny and carries a significant amount of risk.
A few ageless wonders Seattle could target
Robert Quinn played 14 of the 16 games this season due to a suspension that kept him of the field for the first two games. When he was on the field however, he was great. Quinn totaled 11.5 sacks and 16% pressure rate across 349 defensive snaps. He clearly is still playing at a high level and will just be entering his age-30 season at the kickoff for the 2020-2021 season. He likely won’t be cheap to target for Seattle to target. I can see a contract coming in around a 2-year $20 million that is incentive-laden deal similar to Ziggy Ansah’s.
Proposed deal: 2-year, $20 million with incentives that could increase the total to $25 million.
Adrian Clayborn is a name that was hot on the market just two years ago when he registered 9.5 sacks for the Atlanta Falcons. Since that time his production has fallen off, he has amassed only 6.5 sacks over the last two years combined.
So, you may be wondering why we would target him? I have one key stat for you, his pass rush win-rate is top 5 in the NFL this past season at 21.1%. This metric is used to show how often the defensive lineman can beat the opposing offensive player in 2.5 seconds or less. The only players that were higher than him this season were JJ Watt, Myles Garrett, Joey Bosa, and Za’Darius Smith. He may not have the hard stats (4 sacks this year) but he wins the battles and makes others around him better by collapsing the pocket.
Proposed deal: 2-year, $5.5 million with incentives to increase the total to $7 million.