The Seattle Seahawks are not quite yet done with free agency, but they do not have much to spend still. This is especially true as the team has to sign their 2024 NFL draft picks and fill out a practice squad. Seattle likely has less than $8 million left to spend.
Some players that Seattle released ahead of free agency are still looking for new teams. At least two are worthy of catching on elsewhere. The same two might players that general manager John Schneider hopes to bring back, though at a very low rate.
Besides the players that follow, there are a number of other (currently) former Seahawks who are free agents. This includes Phil Haynes, Bryan Mone, and Jason Peters. None of those three are likely to return to Seattle, and Peters might stay retired.
Former Seattle Seahawks special teams captain Nick Bellore hasn't found a home
The hope is that Nick Bellore might come back. He is fantastic in the locker room and he plays with a ferociousness on the field. His teammates clearly adore him, and his Between Two Bellores segment on Seahawks.com will be missed. But when he signed his most recent deal in 2022, the amount Seattle was paying him - two years and $6.6 million - seemed extremely high for a player who never got reps on offense or defense.
Still, Bellore would be nice to have back at something close to the vet minimum because he does lighten the sometimes tense locker room atmosphere, but he would set a great example for the young players on Seattle's team as well. No one plays with more team spirit than does Bellore.
In fact, he made the Pro Bowl as a special teams player in both 2020 and 2023. He is good at what he does and there is no dispute to that. The question, however, is if what Bellore brings in on-field activity is worth paying for a team now skimming the depths of its free-agent coffers with other players who can also perform well on special teams.
Safety Quandre Diggs hasn't yet signed elsewhere
This week there was a troll wrapped in the clothing of another website that writes about the Seahawks that "reported" that Diggs would not be returning to Seattle under any circumstances. The troll, who had nothing to do with the other website, posted his lie on X/Twitter and this caught the attention of Diggs. This was just another reason social media can be a very bad thing.
At least Diggs clarified he never spoke with the person who posted the tweet and made an implication that he would be open to coming back to Seattle. The fact is that while Diggs did not have his best season in 2023, the main reason he was released ahead of free agency was the size of his contract. Moving on from Diggs, even temporarily, saved the team $11 million and that was enough to sign two or three players as free agency unfolded.
Diggs is a good player, though. He was also a leader in Seattle's locker room and, therefore, well-respected by his teammates. He was voted as a defensive captain ahead of this past season. Prior to 2023, Diggs had made three straight Pro Bowls. Plus, he might be a great fit in new head coach Mike Macdonald's scheme.
Diggs is going to find a new home. That might even mean he comes back to Seattle as the team is still paying him more than $10 million because of how his contract was structured before he was let go. That might help Seattle, though, because maybe he would re-sign for something close to the veteran minimum. Adding Diggs back after signing Rayshawn Jenkins and already having Julian Love would make the safety group very strong.
Safety Jamal Adams is still looking for a new team
Adams is an odd case. Teams will do their best to avoid a prospect in the NFL draft who has an injury history even though there might not be a good chance the injury returns. But Jamal Adams is a classic example of a player with lots of talent who can never perform his best because he stays hurt. Adams was a good player for Seattle in 2020 and then the injuries started and he was never the same player. He was also clearly affected in 2023 but an injury he suffered early in the 2022 season.
Adams has never been that great in coverage with Seattle. With the New York Jets from 2018 and 2019, he actually was pretty good and had a passer rating allowed of 79.1 or less in each season. Twice with the Seahawks, though (2020 and 2023), Adams has allowed a passer rating of 121 or higher. That's horrible. This past season, 28 of the 34 passes thrown his way were completed and 2 went for touchdowns.
Adams also had a number of issues that did not relate directly to a certain play or two. He had a run-in with a doctor on the sidelines during Week 4 after he had been diagnosed with a concussion. He screamed at the doctor but while there was speculation that maybe Adams was acting the way he was because he was concussed, he later implied he was not sorry about the situation.
Adams had a social media spat with a reporter who covers the New York Jets as well. The safety illogically posted a photo of the reporter's wife with a caption that read, "Ew." It was a classless move by Adams.
He also left his teammates in Week 15 after being told he was not going to play against the Philadelphia Eagles. Pete Carroll allowed that to happen. Mike Macdonald likely would not and Adams might have immediately been released.