The Seattle Seahawks, like every NFL team, is about to begin free agency so in the next few days they need to likely do several things. One is to somehow create more cap room even after releasing Jamal Adams, Will Dissly, and Quandre Diggs on Tuesday. This extra space could be created by trading players, releasing more players, or reworking one or two current deals.
Much of this needs to happen fast, but Seattle could do a few of the below over the next couple of months. Seattle just needs enough space to sign who they want and can still create more space later on. Perhaps they have an eye toward 2025 as well and want to create room for next offseason too.
The exciting part is that general manager John Schneider has full control over roster decisions for the first time since 2010. This means we cannot be too sure what the Seahawks might do this offseason or in the draft. But here are five guesses at what Seattle might do next.
Seattle Seahawks should re-sign quarterback Drew Lock
This might be my worst guess. Lock played surprisingly decently in two starts in 2023 and appeared capable of maybe being a lower-tier starter in the NFL. If the Cleveland Browns had Lock this past season after they lost quarterback Deshaun Watson to injury, Cleveland would have a more dangerous team. One saw how well the Browns did after signing Joe Flacco and Lock can do what Flacco does.
But clearly, John Schneider wants Lock back this offseason as the team has mentioned Lock several times in press conferences since the season ended. In fact, the team speaks about Lock as if he isn't a free agent. Lock might also be happy in Seattle and he and his wife recently had a child. He might be OK with backing up Geno Smith as well with the hopes of being QB1 one day. Seattle just needs to give him a pay raise to bring him back.
Seattle will re-work receiver Tyler Lockett's contract
This might be more of a hope than an actual logical guess. Lockett also has a bloated contract. Not that that is his fault because the Seahawks are the ones who offered him the money and he gets paid to play professional football so why would anyone say "no"? But few receivers have proved worth a cap hit of $26,895,000 and Lockett, as much as I like him as a player and person, has never been productive enough to have that cap hit.
Seattle could give Lockett an extension, however. This would allow the Seahawks to spread out Lockett's numbers over a few years which would lower his cap hit in 2024. This does push the problem that Lockett is an aging receiver that relies on quickness to get open and he had his worst season since 2017 this past year. Still, he is a good player to have in the locker room and meshes well with DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Seahawks will release defensive tackle Bryan Mone
This is probably the easiest of all my guesses. Mone was injured in 2023, and probably could come back in 2024, but there is no way Seattle keeps him on the team on his current deal which has a cap hit of $5.89 million in 2024. Releasing him saves the team $5.39 million. The defensive tackle has never been productive enough to earn a deal of anywhere close to $5 million so the Seahawks ever offering him what they did seems, well...not smart.
Perhaps even worse, Mone is 350 pounds, and he has graded better, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), as a pass rusher. Seattle needs run-stoppers first and foremost this offseason and Mone does not fit that description.
Seahawks will re-sign tight end Will Dissly
Dissly was a cut candidate because his contract was fairly fat. Plus, Seattle had turned Dissly into more of a glorified offensive lineman in the last two seasons instead of a tight end. He is a fantastic blocker, but in 2023 he set a career-low for any full season (any year where he played more than six games of which there are four such seasons) in targets, receptions, and receiving yards, and tied his career-low for touchdown catches. Is that Dissly's fault or the offensive scheme?
The good thing for Dissly is that the Seahawks will have a new offensive coordinator (Ryan Grubb) next season and Grubb might get the best out of Dissly. Plus, Dissly proved in his first few seasons he could catch and run. He hasn't gotten injured but he hasn't gotten as many chances to catch passes the last two years.
Dissly is still just 27 years old, however, so bringing him back after the team released him but at a lower rate would make sense (and probably make 12s happy). Seattle could probably afford to re-sign Dissly at around $4 million a season. The question is whether he gets more than that on the open market. Maybe his low receiving numbers actually help Seattle in that regard.