4 Seahawks who may have lost their jobs in loss to 49ers
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks season is now officially over and roster decisions need to be made. Based on Seattle’s Wild Card loss to the 49ers, some players involved might not need to be back. This all plays into who Seattle should choose in the 2023 NFL draft, and with their abundant cap space, which free agents of other teams to possibly sign.
Seattle currently has the fifth-most cap space in the league in 2023 at $47,517,763. None of that, of course, includes Seattle signing any of its own free agents. It also doesn’t include, obviously, those players Seattle might currently have under contract but chooses to release. My point is, the cap space Seattle is projected to have next season will change quite a few times.
Seattle has two important decisions to make this offseason. One is whether to continue down the path of retooling the team with young players and that could mean drafting a quarterback. The second part is whether to keep some of the current veterans on the team and try to build around their experience. Either way, here are four players who may not be back based on how the season ended.
Player 1: Seahawks cornerback Michael Jackson may have lost his job
Jackson has gotten better as the season has gone on. At least, a bit he has. The problem is he started off so poorly. His coverage skills are decent for someone who would be a backup on most teams but he can’t tackle consistently well and that is getting the Seahawks beat.
To be fair, Jackson did have a nice pass breakup on a fly pattern against the 49ers. Again, he is a decent start in spot duty. But Seattle needs more from its cornerbacks. With Tariq Woolen set at one outside corner for the foreseeable future and Coby Bryant likely playing in the slot, Seattle likely needs to draft a cornerback to play opposite Woolen.
Jackson might even be worthy of keeping on the roster, but he shouldn’t be a starter. Against the 49ers, Jackson received a tackling grade of 29.5, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). His season grade was 49.0 but four times he had game grades of under 30. That’s horrible. Bad tackling could mean giving up big plays and Seattle’s defense still does that far too much.