No, the Seahawks are not trading for Stephon Gilmore

Stephon Gilmore will not be joining the Seahawks.

There has been a lot of talk amongst Seahawks fans about trading for star cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Unfortunately, that is a highly unlikely move for the Seahawks.

It’s no secret that the Seahawks defense has struggled. They have struggled to the point that an NFL record was broken for most yards allowed through 6 games. However, I can tell you with the utmost certainty that the Seahawks will not be making another move for an expensive veteran.

First, the Seahawks are extremely depleted in draft capital. They have just 4 picks this upcoming year. This is a far cry from the team’s happy place. Somewhere around 10-12 picks.

Sure, you could argue that this year’s draft is a bit more of a crapshoot. You could argue that the team should go all-in for the Super Bowl this year. However, the Seahawks have a lot of starters set to be free agents after this year. With the salary cap about to drop $20-$30 million, draft capital is more important than ever. It would be a very short-sighted move.

The draft offers inexpensive labor to fill future gaps. This is especially true for positions like the wide receiver, offensive line, cornerback, and running back. These are all areas this draft is actually quite good in.

The second reason, the team just traded for Carlos Dunlap. They have a total of $1 million in cap room this year. Given that Dunlap is also under contract next year, our future cap space has shrunk as well. We are projected to have just $17 million in cap space this upcoming off-season.

Seahawks free agents

That is a very small number considering how many key players are about to be free agents. Players like Chris Carson, KJ Wright, Quinton Dunbar, Shaquill Griffin, David Moore, Ethan Pocic, and Poona Ford. This off-season could be very expensive if we tried to retain many of our vets.

I have heard arguments about restructuring contracts to make this work. The problem with restructuring is it gives cap space in the current season at the expense of future seasons. Considering the salary cap is likely down each of the next two seasons, this would be a very risky move.

It is very unlikely the Seahawks make another big move for an expensive veteran before the deadline. The most likely outcome is Seattle trying to acquire draft capital by trading away players where we have a surplus of talent. This would be players like David Moore or Jacob Hollister.