3 pressing priorities for Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald in 2024

The Seattle Seahawks have reportedly hired a new head coach. Mike Macdonald, now formerly defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, will be coming to Seattle to replace Pete Carroll, according to multiple reports. Now that Seattle has their man, Macdonald has to begin fixing things.

At least he does not have to do so immediately Macdonald's contract pays him for six years. If Seattle isn't perfect in 2024 under first-year head coach Macdonald, that is OK. Much improvement would be nice, though.

Also, to be noted is that Seattle will be going from the NFL oldest head coach (Pete Carroll) to the league's youngest (Macdonald). Macdonald is just 36 years old. Let's hope by the time he is 50, the Seahawks have at least four more Super Bowl victories.

Seattle Seahawks DL issues

There are a couple of issues that Macdonald will have with the Seahawks defensive line that he did not have in Baltimore. At least, that is the fact right now. The biggest difference is that Seattle does not have the kind of young talent that the Ravens had. Most specifically, Baltimore had a player such as Justin Madubuike while Seattle had to trade for Leonard Williams just to have a player close to Madubuike's ability.

Williams might leave in free agency as Macdonald is coming to a team with very little cap room. So while Williams might be of the same talent level (or maybe even slightly higher) as Madubuike, Macdonald won't likely have Williams or Madubuike. Unless, of course, Seattle creates enough room to sign both Williams and Madubuike and that is a dream that won't come true.

Instead, Macdonald will get a defensive line that includes Jarran Reed, Dre'Mont Jones, Cam Young, among others. Jones underperformed last year but maybe Macdonald can get him to be at his best. Reed was good in pass rush but not against the run. Macdonald has a lot to fix, but he has proven he can make those changes.