NFL expert ranks Seattle Seahawks last in the NFL for offseason hope

Let's hope they are wrong.

DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks
DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks | Ric Tapia/GettyImages

The Seattle Seahawks used to be one of the franchises that did not overspend in free agency and tried to build the roster through the draft. That might still be the philosophy, but how does one accept that the team has negative cap room in the 2025 offseason? This is especially wretched because many key Seahawks are still on their rookie contracts.

The team has seemingly made errors in being too loyal to some aging players. Wide receiver Tyler Lockett, for instance, has been a great player and a better human being with the team, but he also is far too expensive with a cap hit of more than $30 million in 2025. Even with all the rookie contracts for players such as Boye Mafe and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle has put itself in a horrible position in terms of cap room.

In fact, the Seahawks have forced themselves to part with some players they may not want to. There are only so many ways a team can create space. The easiest way is to release players, eat the dead money, and create some cash to sign other players. The Seahawks currently have negative cap room in 2025, though that has to change.

NFL pundit believes the Seattle Seahawks are not set up well to improve this offseason

Seattle might earn some compensatory picks for the draft, but those are not yet known. Currently, the team has six picks, but three of those are in rounds six and seven. Seattle has none in rounds four and five, rounds where some potential long-term starters can be found. If general manager John Schneider wants to move up in the draft, he does not truly have the draft capital to help him do that.

Timo Riske of Pro Football Focus (subscription required) has ranked the NFL teams from one to 32 in terms of having the best chance to be better in 2025 than 2024, and the Seahawks are ranked dead last. The biggest knock on the Seahawks is that they have about 50 percent of their 2025 salary cap tied up in only four players: Lockett, Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, and Leonard Williams.

Williams was terrific this season and should be again next season. Lockett is far less productive than he used to be and is about to be 33 years old. Smith is a decent quarterback, but has not shown he is capable of lifting an offense to being better than the sum of their parts. Metcalf has been solid, but not explosively productive and is a poor route-runner.

This also does not take into account underachieving edge rusher Dre'Mont Jones who has a cap hit of $25,645,418 in 2025. Surely, the team will not keep him around at that number. The problem was that Schneider ever signing Jones to that kind of contract was a mistake.

Could Seattle improve on their 10-7 from 2024 in 2025? Sure. They could also be set up for real issues next season and beyond. That is what Pro Football Focus believes anyway.

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