Seahawks: What creating cap space now might mean for the near-future

Seahawks add Baker Mayfield?

Baker Mayfield is going to be chilling at home during mandatory minicamp, hoping and waiting for a trade or cut out of Cleveland. Even with all the allegations and inevitable suspension for Deshaun Watson, there seems to be virtually zero chance Baker ever suits up for the Browns again.

The former number one overall pick is set to make almost $19 million this season, nearly the same amount of cap space that the Seahawks have…hmm…convenient. Seattle could release Chris Carson, who has serious injury concerns, and save over $3 million in cap space, making plenty of room to bring on the former Heisman Trophy winner. Could a fresh start in Seattle revitalize his career, or is he destined to be a career backup?

Jimmy Garoppolo is in a slightly different category than Baker. An understudy to Tom Brady in New England for two Super Bowl titles, Jimmy G got his chance when he was traded to San Francisco in 2017, and signed a massive five-year extension in 2018, leading up to this 2022 season being the last of his deal.

During his career, Garoppolo has proven to be a very good quarterback when healthy, and a very bad quarterback when not. Even if they ended in blowing double-digit leads, Garoppolo helped guide the 49ers to the doorstep of a championship in the 2019 and 2021 season.

When the 49ers traded away their future for the selection of QB Trey Lance at pick number three in the 2021 NFL draft, the clock on Jimmy’s career in San Francisco began to tick down. Even with a successful 2021 season, the 49ers appear to be locked in on starting Lance. Garoppolo, just like Mayfield, has been excused from mini camp so he can rehab from his right shoulder surgery he had in March. Most people view this as delaying the inevitable trade.