Top five free agents Seahawks must chase this offseason
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks currently have the 7th-most cap space in the NFL heading into the 2023 offseason with $31,042,644 available. Of course, this doesn’t take into account 2023 draftees or potential re-signings of players like Poona Ford. Still, Seattle is fortunate to be in the position they are in.
In fact, Seattle, a team that doesn’t normally make splashy free agent signings, could sign a high-impact player and still have money left over to sign a couple of other decent ones as well. And let’s be honest. Teams can create whatever cap space they want to get a highly productive player.
The Seahawks do need to be smart about how they spend their abundant money (and their abundant draft picks) but with the correct moves, the Seahawks could position themselves to be a very good team for many years to come. One way of getting in that good spot is to sign some of the following free agents.
Player 5: Seahawks should sign edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney (Browns)
I can already hear the groans. Clowney is so 2019 in Seattle and some of the issues he had even before 2019 are still evident. For instance, Clowney gets oft-injured and misses so much time that it almost seems like any contract he is given should be on a ratio basis. Like, “Clowney, we will give you $10 million a sign here but as you only play 75 percent of the games it will actually be $7.5 million.”
But the thing is that Clowney is still quite capable of being a great disruptor from a defensive end position and is excellent against the run. The Seahawks seem to be stuck with defensive ends who either get to the quarterback or are decent against the run but not both. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Clowney graded at a very good 75.8 overall in 2022 and 74.3 specifically against the run in 2022.
Clowney had 3 sacks as well as 29 total pressures in 305 pass rush snaps. That’s good. And while it seems like Clowney has been in the league since the 1800s, he is still just 29 years old. Surely no team is going to take a big chance and spend large amounts of money on Clowney this offseason due to his injury history, so if his market is compressed, the Seahawks need to pounce.