Three players from 2021 the Seahawks will miss most in 2022

Number 3: Former Seahawks cornerback D.J. Reed

The only thing I can figure with how the Seahawks approached Reed’s free agency this offseason is that they were afraid he gets hurt too much. He does miss time. But when he is on the field, he is Seattle’s best cornerback. At least, he has been for the last two seasons. Reed doesn’t create enough turnovers but he also doesn’t allow many long completions and is a great coverage corner.

But Reed can also play the run well. In 2021, Pro Football Focus gave Reed a grade of 85.6 in run support, the fifth-best in the league. Against the pass, Reed graded at 75.4 which was the 15th-best in the NFL. Either way, Reed was very good.

In Reed’s first season in Seattle, his passer rating allowed was just 75.8. In 2021, in 14 starts, he was even better with a passer rating allowed of 67.8. He allowed just 5.8 yards per target and just 42 of the 88 times he was targeted were completions.

Another thing that made Reed’s leaving a little surprising is that he is just 25 years old and should have several good years ahead of him. Yes, he would have been expensive to keep (the Jets signed him to a three-year deal worth an average of $11 million a season) but he likely would have been worth it.

And while the Seahawks might be thinking that long-term Coby Bryant or Tre Brown will be as good or even better than Reed, there is certainly no proof of that yet. Reed showed he could be good on the field and Seattle will miss him in 2022.