Seahawks 2020 offseason plan: How it should go

Money, Money, Money

So, after re-signing the players I selected, our cap situation sits at $47.470 million and we have a lot of holes to fill. So, let’s hit the free-agent market.

Sign Everson Griffen to 3-years, $32 million ($10 million signing bonus, $20 million in total guarantees)

So it is time to go about replacing Jadeveon Clowney and improve our pass rush. Everson Griffen, the long-time Minnesota Vikings defensive end, was released by the cap poor Vikings in February. Griffen was set to make $13 million in 2020, but the Vikings had to clear space just to get back to even on the cap. Minnesota will try to bring him back, but the Seahawks should swoop in while they can.

Griffen is still a productive player, despite turning 32-years-old in late December. In 2019, he produced 8 sacks, 2 passes defended, 4 run-stuffs, 13 QB knockdowns, 35 pressures, and 13 hurries.

Griffen can still disrupt the passing game and is familiar with Pete Carroll, playing his college ball at USC during Pete Carroll’s tenure. Griffen isn’t an elite pass-rusher anymore but is a solid, disruptive force who can help bring the wolfpack mentality back to the Seahawks defensive line. An alternate to Griffen might be Jason Pierre-Paul.

To help relieve some cap space, Griffen will receive $5 million base (all guaranteed) in 2020, on top of his prorated $10 million signing bonus, giving him a total cap hit of $8.3 million next season. This leaves us $39.136 million left to spend.

Sign Bruce Irvin to 1-year, $5 million deal (all guaranteed)

But we can’t just leave our pass rush alone. No, we need depth but we can’t really afford to break the bank to get it. So, it is time to bring back our old friend, Bruce Irvin. Now, Bruce isn’t quite as fast as he once was, but he still gets to the quarterback an awful lot for a guy who isn’t going to crack $7 million AAV.

In 2019, Irvin recorded 8.5 sacks in 13 games for a bad Carolina Panthers team. In 2018, between Atlanta and Oakland, Irvin produced 6.5 sacks. And in 2017, Irvin got the Oakland Raiders 8 sacks. Bruce can still get to the quarterback, and in a rotation where he won’t be asked to play every down, that has extreme value.

Irvin’s cap hit is a clean $5 million, bringing our total remaining cap space to $34.646 million. But neither of these players helps sure up the beef we lost up the middle. Poona Ford and Quinton Jefferson are nice players, but they need help. Call in the big man.

Sign Danny Shelton to a 3-year, $13.6 million deal ($5 mil signing, $10 mil guaranteed)

If you’re a fan of local college football, you may remember Danny Shelton from his days of destroying interior offensive lineman for the Washington Huskies. After interest in Shelton last spring, the Seahawks let him slip through their fingers and land in New England, where Shelton earned himself some serious coin.

Shelton is a big guy, standing at 6’2″, 345 lbs and he eats up a lot of space. He is a better version of Al Woods and will cost a bit more to acquire him, but Shelton could be worth it. In 2019, he racked up 61 total tackles, six QB hits, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble, appearing in all 16 games for the Patriots.

Shelton isn’t much of a pass rusher, but he eats up so much space inside and the Seahawks did struggle against the run in 2020. It wasn’t just a lack of sacks for Seattle’s defense. The Seahawks ranked 22nd against the run in 2019 and allowed nearly 5 yards per carry. In an NFC West that features the 49ers trio of backs, Todd Gurley, and Kenyan Drake and David Johnson, they need to be better than that.

Shelton gets his $5 million prorated signing bonus and $3.2 million base in 2020, bringing our salary cap space down to just over $30 million. But with Griffin, Irvin, Rasheem Green, Danny Shelton, Poona Ford, L.J. Collier and Quinton Jefferson in hand, our defensive line is starting to take shape. But let’s get crazy.

Seahawks sign Leonard Williams, 1-year, $9 million deal

Didn’t see this coming, did you? We have focused all of the free agency on adding edge rushers and beefy run-stopper, so naturally, let’s go sign a 5-tech to help shut down the run and potentially add some pass rush inside. Leonard Williams is a former Top 5 pick who has been a good but not great player and doesn’t have a long history of getting to the quarterback.

But the 6’3″, 305 lbs Williams is a good player coming off a down season. He did post a 55 pressure season in his second year, earning an 81.4 PFF grade. He was still solid this past year, earning a 71 grade from PFF, but only recorded 0.5 sacks.

Signing Williams is a low-risk move, that allows the player to regain value and hit free agency again in 2021 when the salary cap could skyrocket with a new CBA. Williams will have the benefit of playing in Centurylink Field, a recipe for success for a lot of similar players. Having Williams play the 5 on first and second down and moving him inside on passing downs could be exactly what the Seahawks defense needs.

You can also approach Jarran Reed on a similar deal, allowing him to try and regain value for a bigger payday down the line. Williams has a better history of getting to the passer than Reed. But the Seahawks know Reed well, so he may have the edge if all things are equal.

Leonard Williams’s cap hit is a straight $9 million, leaving us $21.670 million left to work with. We have focused so heavily on our defensive line and still have holes to fill at RB, WR, OT, OG, C, LB, and CB. But we still have some space to look for value in wave 3 of free agency, so let’s focus on the draft.