Seahawks free agents Seattle should re-sign or let walk

Bring back only if the price is right

While the Seahawks do have the money to play around with a bit, they also won’t overs[end to bring one of their own back. Players like Justin Coleman have left in recent years simply because Seattle didn’t want to get into a bidding war. Here are some players worth bringing back but only

Jarran Reed

Reed was great in 2018 and then got suspended for the first six games of 2019. After his return, he was not nearly as effective as he was the year before. In 2018, Reed had 10.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. But in his 10 games in 2019, Reed had just 2 sacks and exactly zero tackles for loss. Reed has 15/5 career sacks in four seasons, meaning that 68% of his career sacks came in one year. That kind of inconsistency isn’t worth rewarding $10 million-plus a year but that is what Reed might command on the open market. If so, Seattle should let him go.

Mychal Kendricks

Kendricks was a big reason that Seattle transitioned to a base defense of 4-3 this season. His speed and tackling ability are very good. But the Seahawks also drafted a few linebackers in 2019 and one of them, Cody Barton, played a lot of snaps at the end of the season. Barton could be a really good linebacker and is more cost-effective than Kendricks.

Mike Iupati

I wish Iupati wasn’t even an option next year. It has been four years since Iupati was at his best. He has been hurt a lot but until the end of the year, he was pretty healthy for Seattle this year. But according to Pro Football Focus, Iupati was just the 47th highest graded guard in the NFL. Seattle needs to find a more long-term answer than Iupati, but at this point, that answer is not clear so bringing Iupati back might still be a possibility.

Al Woods

Woods was a pretty good run-stopper this year and when he was suspended for four games at the end of the year for performance-enhancing substances, Seattle’s run defense suffered some. He will be 33 next year, though. While that isn’t old for a defensive tackle, Pete Carroll also likes to keep his team young.

Germain Ifedi

Ifedi used to be awful, but he isn’t anymore. And he played every offensive snap for Seattle in 2019 and has missed just one game in the last three years. Health is valuable along the offensive line. But Ifedi still picked up 13 penalties this year, second among tackles. Plus, he graded as the 64th best tackle, per PFF. Seattle won’t pay him $10 million a season but some other team might.

Akeem King

King has been pretty good in a limited role the last couple of seasons. He shouldn’t ever be a starter out wide at cornerback but fits a nickelback. If he comes back to the Seahawks, he needs to be cheap. Because Ugo Amadi will be entering his second year and will probably overtake King for the same position.

Geno Smith

Seattle never wants its backup quarterbacks to ever play a down but Smith might be able to run the same kind of offense Wilson does, though nowhere near as well. If Wilson were to be injured, Smith could lead Seattle to a couple of wins.

Branden Jackson

Jackson is a rotational pass rusher who will never get a lot of snaps with the Seahawks, barring an injury or five. Jackson made $720,000 in 2019. If he comes back he might be worth $1 million but not much more.