Four key Seahawks that could be casualties of salary cap cuts
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks aren’t going to have much cap space in the offseason. Difficult salary cap cuts are likely and important players will need to be let go. This happens with nearly every NFL team, especially ones that are successful season after season. Good teams have good players (obviously) and paying those good players for a long period of time is difficult.
Heading into the 2020 season, Seattle had some decent cap space but then they traded for Jamal Adams (cap figure of $9.8 million) prior to the season and Carlos Dunlap (cap hit of $14.1 million in 2021) in-season. Seattle still owes Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner a combined $49 million next year.
This means that Seattle will have to either be really creative in making some cap space or cut one of two expensive, yet very productive, veterans and then hope that those players who replace them are very good themselves. This is an iffy proposition to count on. Seattle isn’t so good in can afford to have two players not fill the production of excellent but released players.
Seahawks future success
Seattle, in fact, could easily finish last in the NFC West next year with a little digression. The San Francisco 49ers are going to be healthier, and therefore much better, next year and the Los Angeles Rams aren’t going away. The Arizona Cardinals are improving as well.
Who the Seahawks sign as free agents and how good they are in 2021 is clearly going to be a big determinant of whether Seattle is successful or not next season. But maybe a bigger factor in that is who Seattle chooses not to release. And here are four players that would be tough cuts but might need to be for future success.