Five free agents Seahawks should sign this offseason
By Lee Vowell
Left guard Matt Feiler
The Seahawks got dominated physically against the Rams in the playoffs. It was an embarrassing display of football. Sure, Seattle should have tried to run the ball more often early in the game and quarterback Russell Wilson is in such a funk for whatever reason that Wilson did the offensive line no favors. Still, the offensive line was awful.
Left guard Mike Iupati has played two seasons with Seattle now and they basically have gone like this: Iupati makes it through most of the season and plays pretty well but as the season goes on Iupati starts to break down and his play gets worse. Then Seattle has to play Jordan Simmons who is a decent backup but not a starter.
Matt Feiler can fix Seattle’s left guard issue. Feiler is still just 28 years old so can be a good starter for several more years. Per Pro Football Focus, Feiler received a grade of 66.3 – 28th out of 83 guards in the NFL – but that also marked his lowest grade in several seasons. Feiler is simply a consistent blocker who protects the quarterback and run blocks equally well.
Feiler also won’t break the Seahawks bank as he should be expected to get anywhere from $5-7 million annually. Sure, that’s more than Seattle was paying Iupati but the 6’6″ and 330 pound Feiler is also a better player at this stage of each player’s career.