3 free agent cornerbacks Seahawks should still sign for 2021
By Lee Vowell
D.J. Hayden
Hayden would not be a long-term answer at corner for the Seahawks but he would be good for at least 2021. Throw out his numbers in 2020 when he was limited to just five games with the Jaguars due to a hamstring injury. In the two seasons before last year, Hayden was really good and was still not on great teams – the Jaguars won 11 games combined in 2018 and 2019.
This meant Hayden wasn’t getting a lot of help with the Jaguars but was still good enough to limit opposing offenses. While Hayden does have a bit of an injury history, his injuries seem to come every other year (literally). In every odd-numbered season since 2015, Hayden played 15 games or more. So he would be due to stay healthy in 2021 too, right?
In 2018, Hayden had a quarterback-rating-allowed of 85.1 and allowed just 6.9 yards a completion against him. Hayden had a better QBR-allowed in 2019 at just 81.8 and 9.3 yards per completion. Pro Football Focus had him graded as a top-25 CB in both 2018 and 2019.
Hayden isn’t huge but still nearly 6-feet tall so he has plenty of size. He’s solid against the run too so he could be on the field a lot. He will be 31 years old this season, but again, Hayden wouldn’t need to be a long-term answer; He would just help the team win in 2021.