The Seattle Seahawks have to create cap room. There is no way around that argument. The team currently has $-5,230,353 and there is no way of doing business with that albatross hanging around the team's financial neck.
Outright releasing the five players that follow would save $36.5 million pre-June 1. A team can release two players each year with a post-June 1 designation. The problem is the team cannot spend any of the money saved by releasing a player with a post-June 1 date. However, all the players combined below would create $56,860,000 post-June 1.
A few of the following players would be tough roster decisions. Two are fan favorites. But Seattle has to make cap room and here are five players who could be cap casualties.
Seattle Seahawks tight end Will Dissly
2024 cap hit: $10,070,000
2024 dead money: $3,100,000
Cap savings if released: $6,970,000
The problem with Dissly is three-fold. One is that if Seattle does release the tight end, that means the team would have emptied completely all the proven veteran players they have on the unit. Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson are free agents leaving Dissly as the only veteran who has shown he can catch and block consistently decently.
The second issue with Dissly is that he has not been a factor as a receiver for the last couple of years. This is somewhat frustrating as in his first two years before he was injured and both seasons ended early, he appeared to be a surprisingly good pass catcher and could run a bit once he caught the ball. Maybe a new coaching staff, including new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, will help make Dissly more productive.
The third part of the issue is that Dissly is an exceptional blocker and one of the best in the NFL at the tight end position. He makes more than many offensive linemen in the league, but he is also just as good of a blocker. But Seattle saving nearly $7 million by releasing Dissly might be too much to pass up. Maybe they could sign him to an extension and roll some of the money into a signing bonus to spread out over a few years.
Seattle receiver Tyler Lockett
2024 cap hit: $26,895,000
2024 dead money: $19,790,000
Cap savings if released pre-June 1: $7,105,000
Cap savings if released post-June 1: $17,000,000
I don't want Lockett to leave. The hope is that the team can work out an extension with arguably the franchise's second-best receiver ever. But he had his worst season in 2023 since 2017 and he is a smaller receiver that relies on diminishing quickness to get open. Lockett is valuable, but he is also taking targets away from soon-to-be second-year pro Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
But look at the savings for the team, especially after June 1. Lockett is currently signed through 2025 and there is no reason to think Lockett will get better than he was in 2023. Seattle would not be able to spend the $17 million until after June 1, but there could also be some good veterans still floating around. Even the $7 million pre-June 1 could go toward a new safety potentially.
Seahawks defensive lineman Bryan Mone
2024 cap hit: $5,890,000
2024 dead money: $500,000
Cap savings if released: $5,390,000
Mone probably would be a good run stopper but he was injured in 2023 and there is no way Seattle keeps him around at his current salary. Mone has never proven to be consistently productive enough to earn that kind of money. Hopefully, Seattle could work out a new deal with Mone after releasing him but not cutting him from the roster at his current salary would be criminal.
All of that said, Seattle does need to find some defensive linemen who can stop the run. Mike Macdonald would probably be able to find the best use for Mone as well. He likely is never going to be a Pro Bowler, but 2024 could be Mone's best season by far if the Seahawks can find a way to keep him.
Seahawks safeties
Quandre Diggs
2024 cap hit: $21,262,500
2024 dead money: $10,262,500
Cap savings if released: $11,000,000
Seattle might not move on from two of their safeties, but either way, Julian Love needs more reps. How damning is it on Clint Hurtt's former direction of the defense that early in 2023 there were games he did not play Love as much and yet Love made the Pro Bowl anyway. Why? Because Love was excellent when he was on the field.
Diggs, meanwhile, had a down year, his worst since he joined the Seahawks in 2019. He also isn't getting any younger. But that cap savings: $11 million? That is far too much to pass up for a team needing to create cap room even if Diggs had been as good as he was in seasons prior to 2023.
Jamal Adams
2024 cap hit: $26,916,666
2024 dead money: $20,833,334
Cap savings if released pre-June 1: $6,083,332
Cap savings if released post-June 1: $16,500,000
Adams is like Lockett only Lockett is still pretty good. There is little reason for Mike Macdonald to keep Adams around after Adams decided to leave the team in Week 15 - he either went home or stayed home - after being informed he wasn't going to play. That likely doesn't have a happy outcome for the safety on a team led by Macdonald.
The player also did not show again in 2023 that he can be counted on to be consistently healthy. The sad part is that a 2020 version of Adams would probably be a beast on a Macdonald defense. But that was three seasons ago at this point and Seattle gains more by releasing Adams either pre-June or post-June 1 than keeping him on the roster.