NFL teams are constantly looking forward to what the next offseason might bring in cap room. This is why some teams proactively sign players to contract extensions and some wait. The Seattle Seahawks usually wait until the offseason a player's contract is up, but not always. Seattle extended DK Metcalf, for instance, well before his contract status might have caused some drama.
As things currently stand, Seattle has just $7,760,630 in cap space in 2024. They will need to make decisions about keeping some players already under contract past this year, such as possibly quarterback Geno Smith, and Seattle needs to try to extend some players whose contracts are up after 2023. While Seattle is 21st in terms of cap room currently in 2024, lots of things can change before then.
There are several players on the 2023 roster who need to be kept with the Seahawks. It may take a bit of money to sign them - quite a bit when it comes to one player on this list - but these guys should simply make the team better for many years. The following three players need to be extended prior to free agency starting next year.
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Jordyn Brooks
I do realize that Jordyn Brooks might not even play in 2023 and that the Seahawks declined his fifth-year option already for 2024. But Brooks' fifth-year option would have paid him $12 million and due to his injury, his market value might be diminished. That might sound harsh but that's the facts of life in the NFL.
But I do think that Seattle should bring Brooks back and bring him back on a multi-year deal. He has proven to be a fierce tackler - he was sixth in the NFL in combined tackles in 2022 and would have ranked higher if not for his late-season injury, and he was second in combined tackles in 2021 - and he has a career missed tackle rate of just 5.4 percent. Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers is an awesome linebacker but his missed tackle rate over the last three seasons is 6.2 percent.
Brooks will only be 26 years old during the 2023 season, too, so assuming he bounces back well from a significant knee injury (and player seem to come back even stronger nowadays from such injuries), he should have several seasons left to play at a high-level. Plus, Seattle's current inside linebackers, Bobby Wagner and Devon Bush, are only signed to one-year deals. Even though Brooks could be better in coverage and attacking opposing quarterbacks, he should still be a part of Seattle's defenses for the next four-to-five years.
Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu
There is no comparison between Uchenna Nwosu and every other edge rusher the Seahawks had on the team last year in terms of consistent and high-end production. Yes, Darrell Taylor also had 9.5 sacks, just as Nwosu did, but 6.5 of Taylor's sacks came in weeks 13 through 18. Taylor had just 3 sacks in the other 10 games (in Week 12, Taylor didn't even register a single statistic).
Nwosu was far more consistent through out the season and sacks are just one stat. In terms of quarterback hits, he had 26 and second-best on the team was 13. Nwosu had 12 tackles for loss and second-best was 8. He had 61 total pressures and Taylor had just 27. Quinton Jefferson actually had 42, but still trailed Nwosu by a great distance.
Nwosu is also just 26 years old. In fact, he's not much older than Taylor, though Nwosu has been in the league for five seasons and Taylor just three (Taylor missed his first season with an injury). My point is that Nwosu should have a number of seasons left to play at a high level. Plus, extending Nwosu now could help the Seahawks free up some cap space right now.
Not that Seattle really needs to sign another free agent, but if they wanted to bring in someone like Jadeveon Clowney, there'd be money for that. Also, extending Nwosu now would avoid any kind of bidding war which Seattle has historically not chose to participate in.
Seattle Seahawks left guard Damien Lewis
The collective interior of Seattle's offensive line hasn't been viewed with great admiration for many years now. But left guard Damien Lewis is kind of unfairly clumped in with the rest of the people who play center or right guard for the Seahawks. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus (they require a subscription), Lewis was the 11th-highest-graded guard in the NFL in 2022.
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Lewis allowed only 19 pressures and 3 sacks last year. Yes, he had several penalties in the playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers for illegal man downfield, but these penalties seemed quite odd to be called during such an important game. Not saying it was fixed by the NFL by any stretch - the 49ers were better than the Seahawks in 2022 - but only that the number of penalties called on Lewis in that was was, well...odd. (Lewis was only called for four penalties all of last regular season, for instance, but was whistled for three illegal man downfield penalties.)
Lewis was drafted in 2020 out of LSU because of his prowess in run blocking and he played right guard. He's got athleticism, sure, but he's incredibly strong. In his first season, he proved his worth when the Seahawks ran the ball but not so much in pass protection. After being flipped to the left side in 2021, Lewis didn't seem to play as well. But in 2022, he had his best season yet and actually graded out even better in pass protection than run blocking even though his run blocking grade was solid too.
Lewis is just 26 years old and plays a position where he could be a high-performer for the next five years at least. His cap number is $3,274,299 this coming season which is a bargain for a player of his qaility. He's going to get a substantial raise in 2024 by someone, but let's just hope it's the Seattle Seahawks.