Matthew Judon should be Seahawks preferred trade target at edge rusher

Potential extensions for Ngakoue and Judon

Now that we have a handle on the stats and trade, it is time to examine what an extension could look like. It would make no sense for the Seahawks to trade for either player without having a multi-year extension already in place.

Projected extensions:

Player: Matthew Judon

Terms: 4-years, $70 million

Avg: $17.5 million

Cap hit by year:

• 2020: $10.25 million
• 2021: $17.75 million
• 2022: $19.5 million
• 2023: $22.25 million

Player: Yannick Ngakoue

Terms: 4-years, $82 million

Avg: $20.5 million

Cap hit by year:

• 2020: $10.25 million
• 2021: $22.75 million
• 2022: $24 million
• 2023: $25 million

The difference in cap hits comes into play in years 2021-2023. With cap space expecting to increase nearly $50 million over the next couple of seasons, both of these contracts are feasible long term. Where the difference lies would in their ability to acquire/keep mid to low level players. A perfect example would be for the same cost as Ngakoue’ s 2021 ($22.75 million) cap hit, Seattle could have both Matthew Judon ($17.75 million) and Quandre Diggs ($5 million).

With Seattle already housing the league’s highest-paid quarterback and linebacker, they may elect for a more cost-effective approach to fixing the pass rush. Choosing Matthew Judon would be the way to go in this instance. This isn’t to say Judon is a slouch. In Judon’s final year in college, he amassed over 20 sacks and 23.5 tackles for a loss. Last season was his first year starting full time due to how much depth the Ravens had at the position.

Perhaps the move to Seattle would be enough to bring Judon from stud to star. Judon could be the next iteration of what we witnessed with Shaquil Barrett moving from Denver to Tampa Bay last year. After the move, Barrett led the NFL in sacks with 19.5, all he needed was an opportunity to shine.