Now that we are in the final week of the NFL season, every franchise outside of Kansas City and Philadelphia has (sadly, this includes the Seattle Seahawks) turned their attention to the off-season revamping of rosters. Teams can add new players in one of three basic ways – through the draft, through trades, and through free agency.
This year’s draft will run from April 24-26. All teams are currently operating under a trade moratorium extending from the in-season trade deadline (which kicked in on November 5, 2024) until the beginning of the new NFL league year in mid-March. Informal discussions can occur, but no trade can be finalized until the new year begins.
In the salary cap era, it has been more difficult to swing big blockbuster trades. Of course, they still can and do occur, but it is far more common today for established players to move from team to team via free agency. It is always a period that stirs up great interest amongst fan bases as they begin seeing what new talent will be on the field in the following season.
Everything a Seattle Seahawks fan needs to know about free agency
With the beginning of free agency just over a month away, let’s bookmark a few key dates for Seahawks fans to keep in mind.
FRANCHISE/TRANSITION TAGS
Beginning on February 18 and running through March 4, NFL teams are permitted to designate one or in rare cases, two players under the “franchise” or “transition” tag. The franchise tag allows the team to retain one pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) for one season and pay him a pre-determined salary based on his position.
If the team does not use a franchise tag in a given year, it may instead use a transition tag on one player which gives it a right to match any offer that player receives during the free agency period. Were the Seahawks to “transition tag” a player – which is unlikely this year – they would have seven days from the time of the offer to decide whether or not to match.
Seattle did not have a player under a franchise or transition tag last year. Seahawks general managerJohn Schneider has used the devices sparingly in his time as general manager.
LEGAL TAMPERING
Between 9 am PT, March 10, and 1 pm PT, March 12, teams have a 52-hour window in which to negotiate with pending UFAs from other franchises. This is referred to as “legal tampering.” No contracts can be signed but terms can be agreed upon. This is why there is often a flurry of major free agent signings the moment the new league year begins. It is also why, every so often, an agreed-upon deal falls apart before it is officially put into effect.
THE NEW LEAGUE YEAR BEGINS
At 4 p.m. on March 12, the NFL's new league year begins. All expiring contracts come to an end. UFAs who have not been tagged by their teams are now complete free agents and can sign with any other club. There will be tremendous activity on March 12 and for at least a few days after as many of the league’s top UFAs find new homes.
At the risk of reviving bad memories, I’ll just point out that in the first few days of free agency last year, Schneider signed Pharaoh Brown, George Fant, Tyrel Dodson, Nick Harris, and Jerome Baker. Three of them were not on the Seahawks roster by mid-season while the other two played fewer than 500 combined snaps. Yep – that’s not very good.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENT OFFER SHEETS
Players with three or fewer years of accrued service do not become UFAs when their contracts expire if their team has made them a tender offer by the start of the new league year. Such players fall into one of two categories – either Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) or Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFAs). RFAs have three accrued years while ERFAs have two or fewer. Their clubs retain greater control over these players.
RFAs who have been tendered can negotiate with other teams beginning on April 18. If they sign an offer sheet from another club, their current team then has until April 23 to decide whether to match the offer. Depending on the type of tender, the club may or may not receive draft-pick compensation should they choose not to match the offer sheet.
If a pending RFA or ERFA is not tendered prior to start of the league year, they become UFAs.
This year, the Seahawks have two players who could be tendered as RFAs – Jaelon Darden and Josh Jobe – and four who could be tendered as ERFAs – Joshua Onujiogu, Josh Ross, Brady Russell, and Cody White.
DRAFT
Though not a part of the free agent process, this year’s draft will take place from April 24-26 and will no doubt have a major impact on subsequent moves the Seahawks might make in the later stages of free agency.
FIFTH-YEAR OPTIONS
May 1 is the deadline for teams to decide on exercising a fifth-year option on the first-round draft picks from the 2022 draft. For the Seahawks, that means they must decide whether or not to lock up Charles Cross for an extra season. If they choose not to exercise the option, Cross would become a UFA after the 2025 season.
Barring something completely unforeseen, the likelihood of Schneider exercising the fifth-year option on Cross now stands at about 137 percent.
The next couple of months promises to be an exciting time across the league. Schneider has plenty of decisions to make and does not have much money to spend, but creative GMs usually find ways to add new talent to their rosters. That work is already well underway.