3 free agents Seattle Seahawks should sign before Week 1

This past Tuesday, the Seattle Seahawks and every other team in the NFL trimmed their preseason 90-man roster down to 53. Over 1,000 players were waived on Tuesday around the league. While about half of those players were signed to practice squads, there is still an abundance of unsigned talent available to sign. Further, there are still many quality players who still have not been signed since their contracts expired at the end of last season.

The Seahawks have locked in their 53-man roster, as well as their practice squad, but with a little over a week to go until their first game of the season, there is still room for shuffling the active roster. Seattle general manager John Schneider is no stranger to making last-minute changes to the 53-man roster heading into week one. Schneider is known to make trades or free-agent signings at the eleventh hour.

So, who is available after cut day? Seattle could still make a trade, as they've been wheelin' and dealin' over the last couple weeks. But a free agent signing would be much less complicated and risky at this point. Let's take a look at three free agents the Seahawks should bring in before next weekend.

Seahawks should chase the newly-made free agents

DT Siaki Ika

The Seahawks are currently only rostering one nose tackle in Jarran Reed, and two other defensive tackles in Johnathan Hankins and rookie Byron Murphy II. It's safe to say Seattle is fairly thin on the interior defensive line. On Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns surprisingly cut Siaki Ika, the team's third-round draft selection just last year.

Ika, a 6'3, 335-pound monster of a defensive tackle, only spent a year in Cleveland after being inactive for the first thirteen games of the season in 2023. The 23-year-old rookie finished the season with only one tackle in four games played, but oddly enough finished with a pass breakup. There's only a tiny sample size to work with in the NFL, but going back to his college film, Ika was a stone wall in the heart of the defensive line.

Taking a flyer on a 23-year-old mammoth would not be the worst idea. Head coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde could be the perfect fit for a young and inexperienced nose tackle with little tread on the tires. With the serious lack of interior defensive line depth, the Seahawks could only benefit by taking on a project to develop depth at the position.

CB Caleb Farley

The Tennessee Titans released former first-round pick Caleb Farley on Tuesday. The Seahawks are suddenly looking thin at cornerback in a top-heavy position group that saw rookie DJ James waived and veteran Artie Burns dealing with a toe injury from the final preseason game. Seattle and Farley could be a nice fit.

Farley, drafted 22nd overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, has had some pretty horrible injury luck since entering the league. His rookie season was cut short by a torn ACL before his second season was also prematurely ended by a herniated disk. However, there's a reason Tennessee took a chance on Farley in the first round three short years ago.

After converting from wide receiver to cornerback his freshman year at Virginia Tech, the 6'2" freak athlete found success on the other side of the ball. In only his first full-time season at cornerback, Farley was named first-team All-ACC. Seattle has a history of success with former receivers turned cornerbacks (see: Richard Sherman, Riq Woolen).

Given his injury history, Farley should be available for wildly cheap, and developing the 25-year-old on the practice squad would be a low-risk, high-reward move by Seattle.

TE Logan Thomas

The tight end room heading into week one is looking very questionable. Both projected starters, Noah Fant and Pharaoh Brown, are managing foot injuries and rookie AJ Barner was fairly nonexistent in the preseason. Seattle does have Brady Russell and Tyler Mabry available to step up if needed, but adding a veteran tight end is looking pretty enticing at the moment.

After releasing, then re-signing, then releasing Logan Thomas again on Tuesday, the San Francisco 49ers seem pretty fine with moving on from the 33-year-old. Thomas, who's spent the past four seasons in Washington, is coming off a productive 2023 campaign in which the veteran tight end registered 78 catches for 496 yards and 4 touchdowns. His quarterback? Sam Howell.

Assuming San Francisco doesn't stash Thomas on their practice squad, Seattle should be free to negotiate with the tight end. While he was never an elite pass-catcher, Thomas has always been a reliable blocker with sufficient receiving ability. A veteran presence to help develop younger guys like Barner and Russell is also hard to pass up. Another thing -- Thomas could be dad of the year if he signed with Seattle, considering his son is a massive DK Metcalf fan.

More Seahawks news and analysis: