Grading Seahawks free agent moves so far in 2020

The Seahawks have made some free agent moves so far in 2020 but maybe not the moves they needed. Here is how the free-agent class is grading so far in 2020.

The Seahawks offseason has not been a complete disaster though it may still end up looking that way. Seattle has made several free agent moves and lost quite a few players as well. To date, this is what 12s have seen:

Signing and re-signings

Receiver Phillip Dorsett

Offensive lineman B.J. Finney

Tight end Jacob Hollister (re-signed)

Edge rusher Bruce Irvin

Offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuechi

Tight end Greg Olsen

Defensive tackle Jarran Reed (re-signed)

Offensive tackle Brandon Shell

Breakdown

The Seahawks also traded for cornerback Quinton Dunbar in an important move to make the secondary better. If Seattle works out an extension with Dunbar, this would almost count as a free agent signing.

But overall this is a pretty underwhelming group. The Seahawks clearly focused on remaking their offensive line and not their defensive line. But are Shell and Finney better than Fant and Ifedi? And if the answer is even, “Not sure,” then that isn’t good. If Seattle wanted to make its offensive line truly better then they needed to sign better players.

At least Seattle re-signed Reed. I have to believe Reed will be more like he was in 2018 moving forward and less like 2019. That said, I do not think Reed is going to get 10 sacks but 7 would be nice. If Reed gets only 3 or 4 sacks, though, and few tackles for loss, this was a bad signing.

Olsen and Dorsett are good signings because they didn’t cost too much and both signed one-year deals. Of course, we don’t know exactly what Dorsett will be paid yet, but my assumption is that it isn’t too high.

The Irvin signing could be a good one. He wasn’t a problem player when he was with the Seahawks at the beginning of his career. He just left for more money. He has proven he can get to opposing quarterbacks, so if he can do that with the Seahawks and get 6 sacks or more, brilliant.

Departures

Offensive lineman George Fant (to the Bills)

Right tackle Germain Ifedi (to the Bears)

Defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson (to the Bills)

Defensive tackle Al Woods (to the Chargers)

Breakdown

This is where it gets a bit tricky. Fant and Jefferson got paid. The Seahawks were not going to pay Fant $10 million a season and the Bills did. Buffalo also paid Jefferson $13.5 million for two years. Seattle should have been close to this number but maybe is still holding out for Clowney and afraid to spend that much on Jefferson. That might turn out to be a bad risk.

Ifedi stays healthy but isn’t great. If the best thing you can say a player is, “Well, he plays every game…” that might not be a good thing.

Summary

The Seahawks could still make some free agent moves, like signing Clowney, which will improve their overall grade. But the question is, based on the Seahawks free agent moves so far is Seattle better in 2020 than they were in 2019. Offensively, assuming the line signings break-even, then yes. Defensively, even with the Dunbar trade, no.

Grade: C-