What an extension for Seahawks star LT Duane Brown could look like

The Seahawks have made quite a few great trades over the Pete Carroll, John Schneider era. Recently we have Pro Bowl FS Quandre Diggs for just a fifth-round selection. Carlos Dunlap for a 7th round selection and a bench player.

If we want to go back to the early years, Marshawn Lynch for 4th round pick and a conditional late-round selection was a gold-stricken trade. Trading Darryl Tapp for Chris Clemons and 4th round selection.

One could argue that one of their best trades was the acquisition of star left tackle Duane Brown. The Seahawks offensive line since Max Unger’s departure has been desolate. The group lacked a leader and lacked an anchor to build off. Acquiring Duane Brown has been a god-send for the team and Russell Wilson.

The current Seahawks leadership has made a living off getting the better of these trades.

Brown is a 5-time Pro Bowler, with one All-Pro nod. He has been the beacon of consistency that the Seahawks thought they were getting when they sent a second and third-round selection to acquire him back in 2017.

In his four seasons with the Seahawks, he has only missed four games. Many fans are so focused on the time-managed practices they don’t fully appreciate just how durable the now 35-year-old left tackle has been.

Despite getting older, Brown does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. It is because of this, he is seeking yet another contract with the Seattle Seahawks. Pete and John are actively working to get this done.

So, let’s go over why it would be smart to extend Brown now and what I think the extension will look like.

Duane Brown’s greatness

It is common knowledge that the two most important positions on offense are the quarterback and left tackle. It is safe to say that the Seahawks have one of the best in Duane Brown.

Anyone who blindly throws Duane Brown’s age when arguing against extending him hasn’t been paying attention. Football analysts/coaches around the country have been using Browns tape as a tool for teaching the youth for years. There is a good reason for it.

Brown has one of the purest techniques out there. He plays with nearly perfect hand placement, footwork, and use of leverage. He teaches a masterclass of utilizing his playing strength to beat his opposition every Sunday. Watching his film you see a consistent game of cat and mouse. In most of these games, Brown comes out on top.

Let’s compare his 2020 season to some of the best left tackles in today’s game last year. The stats used the total regular-season snaps played, penalties accrued, sacks allowed, to find out how many snaps are played per one sack or penalty (snaps per (-) play).

Player                       Snaps      Penalties    Sacks    Snaps per (-) play
Duane Brown         1048                2                  2                  262
David Bakhtiari        758                4                   1                  151.6
Terron Armstead     857                4                   3                  122.4
Andrew Whitworth 600                5                   0                  120
Laremy Tunsil           817                6                   2                  102.1
Trent Williams          957              10                   4                    68.4
Ronnie Stanley        312                 5                   0                    62.4

The two big takeaways. Duane Brown was the most durable of the group of ‘Elite’ left tackles. He also had the fewest negative plays per snap, and it was not particularly close.

Before anyone goes off proclaiming this is just a one-year sample and it shouldn’t be taken seriously; I re-ran the numbers to include the last three seasons played by each player. The result was not much different from the one above.

Player                          Snaps      Penalties  Sacks    Snaps per (-) play
Duane Brown           2908              6                 7                 224
David Bakhtiari        2865             20                7                106
Terron Armstead     2394             11                4                160
Andrew Whitworth 2735             27                5                 85
Laremy Tunsil           2552             34                7                 62
Trent Williams          2364             27                5                 73
Ronnie Stanley         2334             14                2                146

Yet again, Brown was the most durable/played the most snaps out of the group. He also had by far the fewest negative plays out of the ‘Elite’ left tackles.

Let’s talk about another impact Brown has, leadership. The ability to impact the stat sheet is only so effective. The impact they have on those around them oftentimes plays a more important role than the individual stats achieved. This is especially true when you play on the offensive or defensive line.

When Brown practices, he constantly coaches those around him on how to attack/ counter based on what the defense shows. When Brown sits out of practice, he plays the role of coach, guiding the other players on how to be more effective.

During a game, he leads the unit throughout the battle. During the off-season, he doesn’t take any days off. You can count on him putting consistent work in trying to improve. He is the perfect role model for the younger players to try and emulate. Seattle gets so much more than an elite left tackle, they have a true leader of men.

So, what would a contract extension look like for the big man entering his age-36 campaign?

Both Duane Brown and the Seahawks want to get this done

So what could an extension look like?

The offensive tackle market has exploded in recent years. Because of this and Brown’s age, many fans think letting Brown walk and starting Forsyth may be the right call.

However, I am fairly confident that an extension will likely be a fair deal for both team and player. With Brown entering the twilight of his career, he is likely looking for a Super Bowl and stability. The Seahawks meanwhile will want to protect themselves in case Brown play starts to show signs of aging.

My proposed extension:

Terms: 2 years, $29 million

Average salary: $14.5 million

Signing bonus: $7 million

Guaranteed: $15 million

Total contract including the 2021 season:

Terms: 3 years, $42.29

Average salary: $14.1 million

Guaranteed: $16.5 million

Cap hits by year:

• 2021: $11.29 million
• 2022:  $14.5 million
• 2023:  $16.5 million

The extension saves Seattle $2 million in 2021 to help bolster the roster. The Seahawks and Duane Brown would have a mutual out after the 2022 season. If Brown decided to retire or Seattle to move on it would leave only $2.3 million in dead cap at that point. All of this has the making for a low-risk, high-reward move.

If Brown continues to play near an All-Pro level as he has, this contract will be well below what the other ‘Elite’ left tackles make. If Brown struggles or finds father time checking in, Seattle can cut Brown after one more season with little money left in dead cap. This is a move that needs to happen.