Predicting the fate of the top 3 Seahawks free agents in 2025

The 2025 offseason will be an interesting one for the Seattle Seahawks in terms of cap space. Seattle is currently well over the cap (negative-$18,008,835), according to Over the Cap, but there is little reason to panic. Plus, while a team cannot be over the cap at the beginning of a season, of course, Seattle's cap "problem" is a bit misleading.

Seattle currently has 59 players already under contract for next season. Only 53 will make the active roster. That means that some of the negative cap will fall off because players are not on the active roster.

Of the top 13 teams in the league with the most projected cap room next season, 11 of them have fewer players signed than Seattle does. The Dallas Cowboys are one that has more players signed than Seattle, but quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb are both free agents next offseason so that will greatly eat into the Cowboys' cap room unless Dallas doesn't bring them back.

Predicting what Seahawks top three free agents in 2025 will do

Nearly every important Seahawks player, except for the inside linebacker position, is already signed through at least 2025. The cap should go up again next offseason so if Seattle keeps the same team mostly intact next season, Seattle should not have major cap issues. The toughest decisions on who to try to re-sign might be the following three players.

Safety Julian Love

Prediction: Re-signs with Seattle

Love was a Pro Bowler in 2023 even though he didn't play as much as he should. His 4 interceptions were a career-high and tied for third-most among safeties. Under the direction of new head coach Mike Macdonald, Love will likely be even better. He certainly won't have to beg for playing time as he did under former head coach Pete Carroll and former defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.

The issue for Seattle is that good safeties are making a lot more money now than they were a few years ago. The 12 highest-paid safeties in the league all have contracts that pay them an average of $10 million a year or more. Should Love make his second straight Pro Bowl this year, his asking price will likely be higher than $10 million a season. The Seahawks need to pay that.

Defensive lineman Jarran Reed

Prediction: Leaves in free agency

Reed is still a good pass rusher - he had 7 sacks in 2023 - but he isn't overly good against the run. He also will turn 32 years old late in the 2024 season. The Seahawks are still trying to get a bit younger, so that makes Reed expendable.

One might safely guess that Mike Macdonald is going to get the best out of Reed in 2024. He could get close to 10 sacks. That is only going to help him get paid more by a different team, though, as he is unlikely to return to Seattle.

Edge rusher Darrell Taylor

Prediction: Leaves in free agency

This is a make-or-break season for Taylor not just as a member of the Seahawks, but in the league. He has been massively inconsistent throughout his career in terms of pass rusher and that is the only area where he has been somewhat productive. He is either incapable or unwilling to set a hard edge against the run.

There is even a chance that Taylor does not make the team in 2024. If he does not show in training camp that he is improved against the run, Macdonald probably has little use for him. The assumption should be that Taylor will be better in 2024, but if he reaches 10 sacks or more, he might be too expensive to re-sign.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage: