The Seattle Seahawks definitely have some issues with the salary cap. This offseason should be fine after a few minor tweaks. Once the active rosters are set for Week 1, Seattle will be under the cap without being forced to cut an important and highly-paid player.
Next offseason looks worse, though. Seattle is projected by Over the Cap to be negative-$18,008,835 already. That probably means some players will need to be released, much like Quandre Diggs and Will Dissly were this offseason. Seattle has not usually been a team that struggled with salary since general manager John Schneider came to help run the franchise in 2010, but they will struggle next offseason.
Thankfully, many important Seahawks are still underpaid. That will change if the team and player have future success, but 12s can be thankful that the players that follow will remain on the team. For now, anyway.
Boye Mafe - Seattle Seahawks edge rusher
2024 salary-cap hit: $2,335,159
Mafe can be classified a couple of different ways: Edge rusher or defensive end. As opposed to some edge rushers, Mafe does not drop back in coverage very much, but make no mistake that he is much more of an edge than a defensive lineman. Still, that versatility is going to help Mike Macdonald use Mafe is ways and situations that former defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt simply did not know how to do.
In 2023, Mafe set career highs in a number of categories, including sacks (9), quarterback hits (16), and tackles for loss (9). He should improve on each of these numbers under Macdonald. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded Mafe as the 38th-best edge rusher in the NFL last year and that seems too low. Even with that number, though, Mafe's salary-cap hit for this season ranks outside the top 100 for cap hits for edge rushers.
Is Mafe already outperforming his contract? Of course, he is. The great part for the Seahawks is that he still has two years left on his rookie deal. If Mafe continues his trend of improving his production from one year to the next, he is going to be an extremely expensive re-signing following the 2025 season.
Julian Love - Seahawks safety
2024 salary-cap hit: $8,090,000
Love is entering the final year of his current deal with Seattle. He unexpectedly made the Pro Bowl in his first year with the Seahawks, which likely surprised former DC Hurtt and former head coach Pete Carroll. Hurtt chose not to play Love much in many games in 2023, preferring instead to go with Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, likely with the approval of Carroll. In Weeks 6, 9, 10, and 13, Love played fewer than half of the defensive snaps.
In all of those games except one, Seattle allowed at least 26 points. When Love played fewer than 50 percent of snaps, Seattle allowed 30 points a game. When the safety got more snaps, Seattle allowed an average of 22 points a game. This was reason enough for Hurtt to lose his job.
Love's cap hit in 2024 is the 14th-highest among safeties, even though he appears to be ascending to a top-ten safety if he is not already one. While he has played five years in the league already, he is only 26 years old, so he should have a lot of years left to play at a high level. His versatility is going to work well in Macdonald's system, too.
General manager John Schneider does not like to enter into extension talks with players proactively. DK Metcalf was a rare exception in 2022, and that makes complete sense. Metcalf is one of the best receivers in the NFL. Love could turn out to be one of the best safeties in the league in 2024, so extending him before he hits free agency might be wise.
Devon Witherspoon - Seahawks cornerback
2024 salary-cap hit: $7,241,171
Witherspoon is only entering his second season in the NFL, of course, and he won't be due to hit free agency until probably after the 2027 season. That is assuming Seattle picks up his fifth-year option that season. After Witherspoon made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, had 3 sacks, a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown, and was graded as Pro Football Focus's sixth-best cornerback, 12s can safely assume Witherspoon is going to be a very good player for the Seahawks for many years to come.
Witherspoon's contract was slotted as all rookie deals are now in the NFL. He is paid a bit higher than most since he went fifth overall in the 2023 NFL draft. In comparison to other top corners, though, his current deal is jarringly low. Based on the average year of the top contracts among corners, Witherspoon's 2024 pay ranks 26th in the league.
A couple of things are obvious, however. One is that Witherspoon is better than the 26th-best corner in the league. He is probably already in the top ten because he is versatile and disruptive and should be even more productive beginning in 2024.
The other obvious point is that beginning in 2028 - again, assuming Seattle picks up his fifth-year option - Witherspoon is going to get paid a lot more money. Jaire Alexander of the Green Bay Packers currently has the highest average-year pay for a cornerback, and that number is $21 million. With Witherspoon, his new deal is four years into the future. He could be making $30 million a season in 2028.
Uchenna Nwosu - Seahawks edge rusher
2024 salary-cap hit: $7,813,333
Nwosu's contract will go up in 2025, assuming he had a productive season and Seattle doesn't release him next offseason. Doing so would save the team a bit over $8 million but still carry a dead cap of $13,016,667. Plus, the expectation is that Nwosu will play extremely well in 2024, and there would be no thought of releasing him next offseason.
However, in 2024, Nwosu is going to be underpaid. Last year, he was lost for the season with a torn pec in Week 7, and the defense was not the same for the rest of the year. In 2022, he led Seattle with 9.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and 26 quarterback hits. He was by far the Seahawks' most productive edge rusher, and he should see those numbers increase under Mike Macdonald's better defensive scheme.
Nwosu's 2024 cap hit is paltry compared to the higher-paid edge rushers. His number ranks 47th based on average-year deals. Even when his cap number jumps to $21,498,333 in 2025, Nwosu will probably still be ranked outside the top ten highest-paid edge rushers. He is only 27 years old, and he should be entering the prime of his career, especially under the direction of Macdonald.
Nwosu could get close to 13 sacks in 2024 and 60 total pressures. He is signed through 2025 currently. In other words, he is a steal for Seattle based on how much he is getting paid.