The Seattle Seahawks currently do not have a lot of money to spend in free agency. The team sits 24th in terms of cap room and actually has $-4,027. Seattle will need to create cap space even if just to sign their 2024 NFL draft picks.
General manager John Schneider will probably find a way to create a lot more cap room, though. He could release Quandre Diggs, Will Dissly, and Bryan Mone and the would make $23 million with just those three players. But what to do with the money saved?
Seattle should definitely not chase the free agents that follow, however. This is not just because they might be too expensive. In most cases, it is the likely lack of return on investment.
Seahawks should avoid edge rusher Bryce Huff
Every NFL team needs an abundance of good pass rushers. Seattle has Uchenna Nwosu and maybe Boye Mafe will be even better in 2024. But the Seahawks also saw how much the defense suffered once Nwosu was lost to the season after tearing a pec muscle in Week 7. Seattle's pass rush was still OK, though inconsistent, but their run defense was atrocious. Nwosu is good against the run and Seattle needs more edge rushers like him.
Bryce Huff is not like Nwosu. While the 25-year-old free agent to be can chase down opposing quarterbacks (he had 10 sacks and 21 quarterback hits this season), he is Darrell Taylor-esque in terms of defending the run. Huff was graded as the 10th-best pass rusher among edge rushers this year, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but he was the 13th-worst run defender (just a tad better than Taylor).
Because of Huff's age and his ability to get to quarterbacks, he likely will receive a contract of $14 million a year or so, but this should be too expsnive for the Seahawks. Maybe not if Huff could help fix Seattle's most glaring weakness - stopping the run - but Huff cannot. Seattle should not think of chasing him this offseason.
Seattle should avoid linebacker Patrick Queen
Seattle might have to completely rework its linebacker room this offseason. Starter Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks are free agents as well as backup Devin Bush. Seattle probably should think of drafting an inside linebacker fairly high in the 2024 NFL draft even if Brooks and Wagner return. Wagner is getting older and will need to be replaced sooner than later.
The Seahawks should not go after Patrick Queen in free agency, though, because Queen is a bit inconsistent, will be too expensive, and misses too many tackles. In 2023, Queen missed 9.5 percent of his tackle attempts and that is only the third lowest number of his career. In his first two years he missed at least 12.5 percent of his tackle attempts. Wagner, in comparison, has never missed that large of percentage of tackle attempts and this year missed 4.2. Plus, while Queen did get 3.5 sacks this year, he got none after Week 6.
Seahawks should avoid defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins
Seattle is likely going to need to find an interior defensive lineman or two. Leonard Williams was excellent after being traded for about a third of the way through the season, but he is a free agent. Rankins might be a little less expensive than Williams and is about the same age. Rankins, like Williams, does provide some interior pass rush, but the Houston Texans free agent is not good against the run.
The Seahawks bad run defense was a major reason that head coach Pete Carroll got fired. For the new coach to come in and be successful, Seattle has to learn to stop the run. That is unlikely to happen if Seattle signs Rankins.
Seattle should avoid safety Julian Blackmon
Blackmon seemed to find himself this year after being just decent in his first three years with the Indianapolis Colts. He had career-bests in terms of quarterback rating allowed (46.6), missed tackle percentage (4.3), yards per completion (11.8), and completion percentage when targeted (60.9). The issue is that historically Blackmon has not been good in coverage though he has been solid in run support.
Adding Blackmon as a replacement for Jamal Adams is potentially no upgrade. Blackmon could simply regress to his previous seasons where he missed at least 12.8 percent of his tackle attempts and allowed quarterback ratings of at least 106.6. Should Seattle release Adams and save $6 million with a pre-June 1 designation, Blackmon might still be of some savings but he also might not be good.
Seahawks should avoid defensive lineman Fletcher Cox
Cox might be starting to feel his age. He is 33 years old and has been in the NFL since 2012. Since has rarely missed any games in his career (just seven in 12 seasons), he has taken a lot of punishment. Cox has been mostly fantastic and could be a future Hall of Fame player, but he appears to have digressed in 2023, especially against the run.
While he still had a decent run defense grade, according to PFF, he was third-best out of four interior defenders for the Eagles. If Cox were to leave Philadelphia and come to the Seahawks, he also would not have the same kind of talent around him on the defensive line that he had in Philadelphia. This means more focus on Cox and probably less production.