4 players the Seahawks need to move on from this offseason
By Lee Vowell
Seahawks should let go of guard Gabe Jackson
Seattle has gotten younger at many positions and still needs to remake parts of its offensive line. Rookie tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas looked to be good for many years and should only get better after 2022. Left guard Damien Lewis has been better this year and is still in just his third season. But center and right guard haven’t been very good overall.
The Seahawks started rotating right guard between Gabe Jackson and Phil Haynes in Week 5. Haynes has been better than Jackson. Jackson still has a year left on his current contract but could be owed $11,262,333 in 2023. That is far too much to keep Jackson around. Haynes is a restricted free agent who will probably return.
Possibly the biggest issue with Jackson is he is extremely inconsistent in pass protection. Per Pro Football Focus, Jackson’s pass block grade was 66.3 in Week 1 and then an atrocious 13.6 in Week 2. Jumping ahead to Week 14, Jackson graded at 67.4, in Week 15 he was 26.4, in Week 16 he jumped back to 79.3, but in Week 17 he fell back to 28.7. Jackson simply can’t be trusted with protecting the quarterback.
Jackson has allowed 29 pressures this season and 2 sacks. In 2021, Jackson allowed 37 pressures and 3 sacks. Releasing Jackson would create $4.762,223 in dead cap for Seattle next year. But that is still better than paying him north of $10 million.