Seattle Seahawks: A detailed plan for how to make 2022 better
By Geoff Shull
What the Seahawks should do with their own free agents
The Seahawks have the 6th-most cap space entering free agency. They have money to spend. however, they also have a lot of notable free agents.
Below I outlined a list of players I believe will either re-sign or leave in free agency. A quick note on contracts, 2 years, $20 million equates to $10 million per year. Teams rarely use this as the ‘cap hit.’
They usually try to have an inclining balance method to their allotment so that the cap hit starts off small and grows yearly, along with the cap rising. For this example something like $6 million cap hit in year one and $14 million in year two.
Seahawks free agents and predictions (receives a new contract with Seattle):
- LT Duane Brown: 2 years, $26 million (SEA)
- DJ Reed: 3 years, $28.5 million (SEA)
- TE Gerald Everett: 2 years, $11 million (SEA)
- C Ethan Pocic: 3 years, $18 million (SEA)
- RB Rashaad Penny: 2 years, $5.5 million (SEA)
- DB Ryan Neal: ERFA $895k (SEA)
- DT Bryan Mone: ERFA $895k (SEA)
- CB John Reid: ERFA $895k (SEA)
- WR Penny Hart: ERFA $895k (SEA)
- LB Tanner Muse: ERFA $895k (SEA)
Players that will leave in the off-season:
- FS Quandre Diggs
- CB Sidney Jones
- RT Brandon Shell
- DT Al Woods
- DL Rasheem Green
- TE Will Dissly
- CB Bleassuan Austin
Some notes on the reasoning behind the above predictions:
- Seattle saw their most consistent offensive line in years and will want to keep continuity (Brown and Pocic). Brown is still a solid stop gate LT. Pocic has improved in each of the last two seasons at center and has shown enough to be a solid option.
- DJ Reed has been the Seahawks most consistent CB since his debut last year. If there was one player to build the secondary around for the future, it’s Reed.
- Everett and Penny finally started to show up at the end of the season. They left enough out there that the team will be interested in how they produce next season on team-friendly deals.
- Sidney Jones and Quandre Diggs are likely gone simply because the team cannot pay everyone. With Reed and Adams under contract, they will have to search for less expensive options.
- Shell lost his job after enduring an injury. Unless he wants to come back on a minimal deal as a backup, he is likely looking for work elsewhere.
- Al Woods could very well come back. The cost will be the sticking point. He had a career year in 2021.
- Rasheem Green is one of the youngest players in free agency. He is the same age as many of the draft-eligible DE’s. He will get paid more than his production has shown. NFL experience + youth = potential, which pays bigly.
- Will Dissly has not been the same since injuries riddled him early in his career. He could be back on a low-cost contract but I elected to keep just one tight end.
These moves will indeed wipe out the vast majority of the cap space ($5.5 million remaining). However, a couple of moves could be made, follow me onto the next slide.