3 overrated free agents still available Seahawks must avoid

Seattle still has a lot of money to spend in free agency.
Steph Chambers/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

For any 12 hoping the Seattle Seahawks would be aggressive in free agency, you were mistaken. But you weren't alone. It was logical to think the team would spend a bit freely after general manager John Schneider released several players and Seattle was up to as much as $55 million in cap room.

As of this writing, Seattle is still in the top 10 in cap space. Many high-dollar free agents are already signed, though, so it is unlikely the team will make a splash signing. Seattle still has many needs at certain position groups such as the interior of the offensive line and linebacker.

In other words, Seattle is still going to spend some money to address concerns. Maybe it just doesn't feel that way. But whatever money the Seahawks spend, they should not throw money at these three players.

Seahawks need to avoid guard Dalton Risner (Pro Football Focus rank: 66)

Risner seems like a good person who might be good to have in the locker room, but the issue is that the Seahawks need high-quality players on the interior of the offensive line. They do not necessarily need only experience, but players who can help the rest of the line be better as well. One decent option might be Baltimore Ravens free agent Kevin Zeitler, but Risner is not the answer.

The problem with Risner is he is potentially the equivalent of center Austin Blythe. Blythe started at center for the Seahawks in 2022 and was not strong enough to open up holes in the run game. Risner is 6'5" and 312 pounds, but he is a better pass-blocker than a run-blocker as he has nimble feet but not a strong push for running backs.

For instance, while Risner graded at number 46 among guards in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he was 63rd in run-blocking. The hope is that the Seahawks get back to running the ball more next season and if they do that, Risner is not going to be of great help.