Seahawks could completely rebuild with these roster cuts 12s would hate
By Lee Vowell
There is renewed hope for the Seattle Seahawks to get back to being a Super Bowl contender soon. Why else move on from long-time head coach Pete Carroll if the team did not believe that the change would mean good things? Seattle has had back-to-back 9-8 seasons and made the playoffs two seasons ago, so a big step backward should not be expected or accepted.
Let's assume that Seattle is suddenly a lot worse this year. The team is in a bad way in cap room next year already - the Seahawks are 27th in cap space at negative-$6,121,351 in 2025, according to Spotrac - so the only way to make the roster better is by hitting big on the draft (always iffy) along with getting rid of some of the players who are not performing as well as hoped.
Should Seattle need to commit to a full retool, releasing or trading most (if not all) of the following players is a possibility for various reasons. The team would save a total of $88,122,971 which would open up a lot of room to bring players in to help rebuild. This might mean a step back for a year or two (and, in all fairness, no one wants to have to see that), but for the long-term success of the team, these changes might be needed should the team suffer through a bad 2024.
Five Seattle Seahawks who might need to be moved on from in 2025 if 2024 goes south
Quarterback Geno Smith
Cap savings in 2025: $25 million
OK, maybe some 12s wouldn't hate it if Seattle got rid of Geno Smith, but maybe they should. There are reasons that Smith gets disrespected that simply are not logical. One is that he doesn't play well when games are in their biggest moments. His seventh-highest completion percentage and seventh-best QBR in fourth quarters for any quarterback with 100 or more passes in the quarter in 2023 would appear to disprove the theory.
Smith is signed through 2025, and he could have been the Seahawks starting quarterback for four seasons by the end of 2025. That doesn't seem much like a "bridge" quarterback but one worthy of being a long-term starter. Still, if he underperforms in 2024, he likely won't be with Seattle next season as the team needs all the money it can save.