The tension is palpable. Can’t you just feel it? Legal tampering is nigh. Free agency is … I don’t know – what comes right after night? By my informal count, within the past two months, the Seattle Seahawks have been linked to 99.8 percent of the pending unrestricted free agents due to hit the market on Wednesday. The only exception is De’Vondre Campbell, and well, that doesn’t require explanation, does it?
All the speculation is about to end, and we will soon find out who will be playing for Mike Macdonald in 2025. Since we have written so much about who John Schneider should sign, let’s take a brief moment to mention several UFAs who he absolutely should not bring to the great northwest.
These are not necessarily bad players. They are simply bad fits. All of them are likely to find a new home, and several could be major contributors for another team. I’m only suggesting that said team should not be Seattle.
Note to Seattle Seahawks: do not sign these 5 free agents
We’ll run through a few offensive players – where Seattle needs more help – and close with a couple of defenders who look better on paper than they would in action green. It’s a hard look to pull off.
Sam Darnold, quarterback
Let’s get the big one out of the way right off the bat. Sam Darnold is the most attractive quarterback likely to hit free agency this year. Seattle has just agreed to trade their own starting quarterback and does not have an obvious successor in the building. That has led many analysts and fans alike to put the two together. Sam Darnold is a 27-year-old former first-round draft pick who made the Pro Bowl last year. What’s not to like?
Before stepping in for the injured JJ McCarthy in Minnesota last year, Darnold had started 55 games for the Jets and Carolina over five seasons. (We’re ignoring his one season as a backup in San Francisco.) He completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes. He had a touchdown-to-interception ratio barely over 1:1, and he was sacked 143 times at a rate of 7.5 percent. Those are very bad numbers for a starting quarterback.
Playing under Kevin O’Connell and throwing to the likes of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson behind a pretty good offensive line resurrected his career. He deserves credit for that and will get a big contract as a result. However, the probable Seahawks offensive personnel in 2025 looks a lot more like those Jets and Panther squads than last year’s Vikings. Is Darnold likely to thrive under those conditions?
Even in Minnesota, he still took a lot of sacks and threw his share of interceptions. The Vikings just had so much offensive firepower that it didn’t matter. That is not the case in Seattle. Schneider would have to shell out a lot of money for a QB who might not even come close to his 2024 production.
Diontae Johnson, wide receiver
Seattle is also in desperate need of explosive wide receivers. As recently as 2021, Diontae Johnson was about as explosive as they come. However, since that Pro Bowl season, Johnson’s production has been on a steady decline. His defenders would point out that in 2022 and 2023, he was stuck on a Pittsburgh team that had neither the creativity nor the quarterback talent to take advantage of his unique skills.
Those skills are obvious. He is a tough, quick receiver who can track long throws and is very dangerous in the open field. He probably should never be viewed as a top X receiver, but as a complementary player running out of the slot of as a Z, he could be very valuable.
Last year called all that into question. Johnson finally got out of Pittsburgh and accomplished virtually nothing. He was first traded to Carolina, another anemic offense. Mid-season, he was traded to Baltimore, a playoff contender with some of the best offensive players in the league. They waived him in under two months.
He latched on with Houston, another dynamic offense that was in need of receiving help due to injury. He barely saw the field and was released when Houston was eliminated from the playoffs. The Ravens called him back, but he did not contribute in their final playoff loss.
Teams thinking of signing Johnson have to question how much he really wants to play. This is not remotely close to a De’Vondre Campbell situation. Johnson may have voiced complaints in the past, but to the best of my knowledge, he has never refused to play.
Still, he walked into two situations last year where he was desperately needed by quality teams, and he made no mark whatsoever. Seattle may be in need, but there are other better options to pursue.
Liam Eichenberg, guard
Eichenberg followed the path of many promising college tackles when he joined Miami in 2021. The Dolphins chose him in the second round of the draft, a few picks after the Bears took Teven Jenkins and a few picks before Washington snagged Sam Cosmi. All three were highly regarded tackles who struggled early and were eventually moved inside. Cosmi, despite a serious injury late last season, has turned out to be the best. Jenkins and Eichenberg are scheduled to enter free agency.
After a very rough rookie campaign, Eichenberg did settle in at guard, but his production has never approached his draft pedigree. Over his four years, he has been tagged with 31 accepted penalties and has surrendered 17 sacks. Those numbers have gotten somewhat better over time, but not good enough to view him as anything more than a run-of-the-mill interior lineman.
Seattle is desperate for steady play on the interior of the line, and there might be some interest in both Eichenberg and Jenkins, two young guards who have shown potential in the past. If I were taking a flyer on either, it would be on the oft-injured Jenkins. He has shown the ability, when healthy, to perform at a reasonable level.
Eichenberg’s pass grades have been consistently in the bottom half of the league. For fans eager for an upgrade from Anthony Bradford and company, Eichenberg is not the answer. At this point, he is a depth piece at best.
Chase Young, defensive end
There’s a chance that the second overall pick from the 2020 draft could land in the right spot and revive his once-promising career. Young was the defensive rookie of the year in that 2020 season, and his future seemed unlimited. An injury in year two derailed his progress, and the former Ohio State star has never completely gotten his game back.
Since then, he has bounced from Washington to San Francisco to New Orleans, never making much of an impression. He’s a run-of-the-mill journeyman at this point. But Young is still only 25 and still offers tempting glimpses of what might have been.
If he is to have a renaissance, it is not likely to come in Seattle. Mike Macdonald’s defense simply doesn’t make great use of a classic 4-3 defensive end. Young can rush the passer, but he is not agile enough to sink into coverage like a 3-4 edge linebacker.
Though his aggressiveness will result in tackles-for-loss on the occasional running play, he would be overpowered if he lined up at the end in Macdonald’s system. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds a home with a defensive coordinator who can maximize his strengths. It will not be in Seattle.
Robert Spillane, Linebacker
This one stings a bit because Spillane is a very good football player. He has turned into a tackling machine since joining the Raiders in 2023. He is an experienced, aggressive, and vocal leader.
Do you know who Spillane has begun playing over the last couple of years? Bobby Wagner. He controls the middle of the line the same way Wagner has done throughout his career. When Seattle chose to let Wagner go in 2024, it was an acknowledgment that his strengths and weaknesses did not align with the defense Macdonald wanted to play.
Wagner was never brilliant in pass coverage, and well into his 30s, that deficiency was only getting worse. Macdonald needs a very fast linebacker in the middle who can drop into zones in addition to stuffing holes. What he really needs is Roquan Smith.
For all of Spillane’s talent, that is not what he does. You don’t want him backpedaling in coverage. You want him attacking the line. So, once again, this is a case of good player and bad fit.
Oh, and just a little disclaimer. When I said at the beginning that all the speculation was about to end, I really meant that none of the speculation is about to end. The NFL runs on speculation. There is a never-ending supply.