Seahawks should target edge rusher Matthew Judon in a tag and trade

It is no secret that the Seahawks were sorely lacking on the defensive line in 2019. Seattle should be aggressive in remedying the issue.

All four of the Seahawks defensive line starters are slated to hit free agency. This is both problematic, as well as exciting. With such little production achieved with the previous group, it gives the team a new slate to rebuild the once-vaunted defensive line.

The first priority for Seattle will likely be re-signing Jadeveon Clowney. His contract should end up in the ballpark of the deal Frank Clark signed last off-season. Previously I wrote about what a Clowney extension would look like, and while costly it might also be very needed.

Fortunately, Seattle is slated to have roughly $60 million in cap space going into the off-season. Seattle also has 6 picks in the first 4 rounds of the 2020 NFL draft (including the compensatory picks). This is more than enough cap space to re-sign Clowney and acquire another premier defensive lineman.

Seattle typically avoids the bidding wars that occur in free agency, simply due to the abundance of money that is thrown at players from desperate teams. Player monetary evaluations are blown out of the water, year after year. The simplest way to avoid overspending on another defensive end this off-season would be to look at the trade market.

With reports coming out that the Ravens coach John Harbaugh thinks that Matthew Judon will be pretty hard to keep, and other reports throwing around the franchise tag. It is becoming a common thought that the Ravens will likely try and orchestrate a tag and trade for the talented edge rusher.