The Seattle Seahawks finally won a game and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15. The team is now 7-7 with a very real chance of going 10-7 and making the playoffs. Seattle would still need help with a Minnesota Vikings loss (but they play the Detroit Lions twice) and a Los Angeles Rams loss (but they still have to play the San Francisco 49ers once), but that should happen.
There are a couple of ways of looking at Seattle making the postseason. One is simply, yes! Seattle is playoff-bound.
But the other might be that making the playoffs, and beating three teams at the end of the season from Week 16 on that are not very good, might cover up some sins. The Seahawks still need to make some changes to make 2024 better. That includes moving on from the following five members of the organization.
No. 1 - Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt
If I was a betting person, and I am not because I always lose and I don't have Elon Musk kind of wealth, I would bet that Clint Hurtt is back as the Seahawks DC in 2024. There are numerous reasons for this including that Pete Carroll doesn't like to make coordinator changes until well after the time for them to have been made. 12s got four years of Ken Norton, Jr. as DC. Hurtt leaving after two seasons doesn't seem logical.
Plus, as bad as some of Seattle's defensive numbers are through Week 15, they are likely going to improve. Still, through the Seahawks victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, Seattle is 23rd in points allowed (23.9), 25th in rushing yards allowed per game (127.3), and 20th in turnovers forced (19). The only area of those numbers where Seattle has improved is rushing yards per game.
But Seattle finishes the season against the Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Arizona Cardinals. None of those teams have good offenses so that should make Seattle's defense look better. That probably will be enough for Clint Hurtt to keep his job, but 2024 will likely be no better.
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No. 2 - Defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones
Jones was a splash signing for the Seahawks in 2023 free agency, which felt like the first time in forever that general manager John Schneider was aggressive in signing a player. But maybe there was a wise reason that Schneider was not overly aggressive in previous years. The risk is signing a player who doesn't pan out and you end up wasting a bunch of money on him. That has been the case with Jones so far in 2023.
Jones is currently the worst-graded interior defensive lineman on the Seahawks, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). The former Denver Bronco is currently on pace to have his fewest sacks since his rookie season in 2019 as well as his fewest tackles for loss. He has just 3.5 sacks this year which is fifth on the team. He is eighth in tackles for loss (4) and for a player with a cap hit of $23 million in 2023 that simply is not enough.
No. 3 - Center Evan Brown
Brown is another failed free agent signing. Unlike Jones who was signed for three years and $51,530,000 with $30 million guaranteed, Brown was signed for just one season for $2.25 million. While he is playing on the cheap in 2023, he also has been fairly horrible since Week 2 of the season. PFF has Brown graded at 32 among centers in the NFL so that could be interpreted as the Seahawks having the worst center situation in the league.
In the last 11 games, Brown has only had one - Week 13 against the Dallas Cowboys - where he did not allow a pressure. In nine of the last 11 games, Brown has allowed multiple pressures in each game. Much of the pressure that Seattle quarterbacks have faced as come in the middle of the line between the center and right guard. Brown needed to already be replaced by rookie Olu Oluwatimi and that should definitely happen in 2024.
No. 4 - Right guard Phil Haynes
I mentioned Brown at center so I might as well mention Haynes at right guard. He has split more and more time with rookie Anthony Bradford, but Haynes should be been the better player this season simply from experience alone. he has not been. Through the first four games of the season, Haynes had allowed just one pressure. In the five games he has been healthy enough to play since Week 4, Haynes has given up 11 pressures and has had two games where he has allowed four. He has also allowed 5 sacks in eight games.
Haynes has played in Seattle since 2019. In only one season has he played more than eight games (2022 when he played 15). Between 2019 and 2021, Haynes played a total of eight games due to health or ineffectiveness. He was never good enough to be a long-term starter and he still isn't.
No. 5 - Safety Jamal Adams
What a mess Jamal Adams has become. There is a very real chance that Adams is struggling simply because he has always been a physically gifted athlete who never had to deal with not being able to play to his peak level. Maybe he didn't mentally know how to handle his body not reacting to what he was asking it to do. I do not at all mean that Adams is dumb; suddenly not doing something well that one always has is difficult to understand.
But the fact is that Adams is terrible in coverage and he's never been great in that department. Now he is costing his team often by giving up explosive plays by misreading how the play is developing. This happened in Week 14 when the San Francisco 49ers abused Adams on a 54-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel. Adams has allowed 28 receptions when targeted 34 times for 292 yards. He is too much of a liability to keep in 2024 no matter how big his contract is.