3 remaining free agents with prior Seahawks connections

Former Seahawks defensive end Carlos Dunlap

Dunlap was released (again) by the Seahawks this offseason. This appears to be at his request. He was released last offseason too but came back after not finding any offers on the free market. Once again, however, Dunlap hasn’t found any offers. It appears more unlikely, though, that the Seahawks and Dunlap will have a reunion this season.

Seattle is trying to get younger and Dunlap, while not old in human years, is older for an NFL edge rusher. He was also seriously misused for most of 2021 by Seattle. In fact, the entire Seahawks defense suffered last season under the regime of former DC Ken Norton, Jr. The team didn’t allow that many points because it was always on the field.

That Seattle gave up the 12th-fewest points last year is one of the more misleading raw statistics one might see. Seattle allowed sustained drives so therefore there was less chance of teams putting up a bunch of points on Seattle. One reason for this is Seattle’s anemic pass rush and one player not allowed to do his job – chase down opposing quarterbacks – was Dunlap.

It isn’t coincidental that by the end of the season when the Seahawks went 4-2 in the final six games, defensive players were getting back to their normal positions. Instead of being dropped into coverage, Dunlap rushed the quarterback. In the final six games, Dunlap had 8 sacks and 1- quarterback hits. He proved he can still do his job well when not tasked with covering receivers.

But Dunlap wanted to be released this offseason and the Seahawks did so. It is odd that Dunlap hasn’t caught on somewhere already but he won’t be back in Seattle. It’s just a shame Norton, Jr. wasted Dunlap’s talent last year.