Grading the Seahawks offseason moves prior to the NFL draft
By Andy Excell
Jan 3, 2021; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Kerry Hyder Jr. (92) against the Seattle Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Free agents Seahawks have acquired from other teams
Kerry Hyder is not an elite DE in the NFL with a PFF grade of 68.6 for last season, in which he had 9 sacks and 33 tackles to his name. These stats do rank him just outside the top 10 in the NFL though. Hyder’s 68.6 compares to 62.3 for Damontre Moore, 60.3 for Carlos Dunlap, 60 for Benson Mayowa and 59.1 for L.J.Collier.
So this is a decent upgrade for the Seahawks and at $5.5 million a year is a good deal all ways around.
Grade: B+
Ahkello Witherspoon, also formerly of the 49ers
Witherspoon signs on a one year $4 million prove-it contract having started just 4 games for the 49ers in 2020. Essentially Witherspoon replaces cornerback Shaq Griffin at about a third of the cost.
From this, you have to suspect you are getting at best half the player that Griffin was for the Seahawks.
Witherspoon does have some potential upside though, at age 26 and with a PFF grade for last season in excess of 80, he could do just what the contract intends him to do….prove it.
Given the lack of available budget the Seahawks have, this one gets a C for me.
Al Woods, defensive tackle
The final acquisition is Al Woods at defensive tackle, Woods returns to Seattle after spending last season with the Jags. Woods is another cost-saving move to replace the released Jarran Reed.
At $3 million on a one year basis, this has merit but is not likely to be the most impactful of moves.
Getting Woods back, therefore, gets a grade of C.
Who departed in free agency and at what cost to the Seahawks
The first of the five departures to date and highest-profile is Shaquill Griffin.
Let’s not dress this up, it is a big loss. But the Seahawks simply did not have the salary cap to do anything about it, although you wonder if they have saved $6 million at TE by taking a cheaper option, could they have found a way to keep him? On that basis, this has to be a cost to the Seahawks so losing him gets a C- for the Seahawks front office.
David Moore is the next free agent departure and was at best an adequate WR3. So losing him after his best season since his rookie year should not be a loss the Seahawks cannot replace via the draft.
I have already suggested Marquez Stevenson out of Houston in the second round as part of my Mock Draft pieces. Stevenson would be an immediate upgrade on Moore. So this gets a B grade as long as they do replace him from the draft.
Carlos Hyde is a 31-year-old backup that was surplus to requirements, so absolutely the right call to let him go.
Grade: B
Jacob Hollister and Phil Dorsett were players that showed occasional flashes but little else, so again letting them go had to be the sensible call, especially as Dorsett never played a down for Seattle.
Grade: C