3 Seahawks who could be playing their final two games in Seattle

Poona Ford

Poona Ford is a very good run-stopper but he still doesn’t get much pressure from the interior position on the defensive line. He is the 31st-ranked defensive tackle in terms of pass rush per Pro Football Focus.

One of the reasons Seattle traded Jarran Reed before the season (one of them is, of course, Reed freaked out about his contract) was that the team hoped Ford had the ability to slide over into Reed’s three-technique and put pressure on quarterbacks.

Ford hasn’t done that. He only has .5 sacks and 3 quarterback hits this year. There are a lot of good qualities Ford has but pass rush is not one of them. The problem is that Ford is due $9.675 million in 2022 and that is far too much for an interior defender who doesn’t chase down quarterbacks.

For instance, Al Woods makes $2.411 million this year and has been even better than Ford. Woods has more tackles, more sacks, almost as many tackles-for-loss (Woods has 4 and Ford has 5) and is higher-graded than Ford per Pro Football Focus.

Woods is having a great season and Ford is a good player. But paying Ford over $9 million next year is not acceptable. Maybe they can re-work Ford’s deal and sign him to an extension. Ford is just 26 years old and has a lot of good years left. But releasing him might be an option too. Doing so could save Seattle nearly $5 million and that could go towards two Al Woods-types.