4 Seahawks who could be entering their final season with the team in 2024

The Seattle Seahawks will be going through a transitional season in 2024. The coaching staff has changed and the roster has to a good degree. We don't know if all the new pieces will fit together and produce a winner this season.

If Seattle is even worse than the 9-8 seasons they have had the last two years then more changes could be made next offseason. Head coach Mike Macdonald is not going anywhere. He was signed to a six-year deal so he won't be fired after one season. Some veteran players could move on, though.

Most of the players that follow could be released simply for financial reasons. 12s likely hope they all do well, of course, and stay with the team throughout the duration of their current deals. There is just as much chance that all the players below are no longer with the team after 2024.

Four Seattle Seahawks who might be playing their final season with the team in 2024

Quarterback Geno Smith

The hope is that Smith plays well again in 2024 and any move to release him is extremely difficult. He has been a more than serviceable quarterback the last two years and while he is not Patrick Mahomes (who is?), Smith is still easily better than half the starting quarterbacks in the NFL. But there are a few things going against him heading into 2024 and after the season.

One is that his backup Sam Howell is 10 years younger than he is, has starting experience in the league, and is a much cheaper option. Howell might not be a better quarterback than Smith, but he likely is not that far off either. Maybe Howell nor Smith is the long-term starter for the Seahawks, but Howell would at least allow the team to have cap flexibility. Release Smith next offseason and Seattle saves $25 million.

Seattle is relatively tight against the cap already in 2025. Any room they can make is positive unless that means trading someone such as Devon Witherspoon because that would be dumb. But if Seattle thinks Howell is a real option then save a lot of money by releasing Smith and drafting a quarterback in 2025 to learn for a season under Howell.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett

Lockett is likely never to play for another team and no 12 wants that anyway. He is a great person and an excellent player. But financially speaking, every player has an expiration date. This is especially true for an aging receiver who has an extremely high cap hit. Lockett might need to have a fantastic season in 2024 for Seattle to decide to keep him on the team past this coming season.

Releasing Lockett next offseason would save the team $17 million. (In fact, moving on from Lockett and Smth would save Seattle a combined $42 million.) The hope is that he is great this coming season and the Seahawks are fine with his $30,895,000 cap hit in 2025 but that last part of that seems unlikely. A $30 million cap hit is huge for any player, especially a receiver who will turn 33 years old in 2025.

Lockett's numbers trended far lower in 2023 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba might see even more targets in 2024 and those would probably mostly be taking away what Lockett sees instead of those passes that go toward DK Metcalf. Lockett is a great person, one of the best receivers in Seattle history, but he gets really expensive beyond 2024.

Defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones

This is a make-or-break season for Jones in Seattle. He certainly was not as productive as the Seahawks hoped he would be in 2023 after general manager John Schneider brought Jones to Seattle with the most expensive free agent contract Schneider had signed a free agent to. Releasing Jones was not really an option this offseason as there would have been a negative effect on the cap. But next offseason, Seattle could release Jones and save $16.5 million.

The hope is that Jones is a better fit in head coach Mike Macdonald's defense than he was in whatever former head coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt were trying to do. Jones began on the side of the defensive line in 2023 and then moved outside much later in the season and was somewhat better.

Though he played the most snaps in his career last year, he had his second-lowest number of sacks (4.5) and tackles for loss (5). His numbers will have to increase in 2024 and he will need to prove to Macdonald he is worthy of keeping on the team beyond this season or moving on from the expensive defensive lineman makes too much financial sense.

Kicker Jason Myers

Myers is due for a great season in 2024. Every other year since 2018 his numbers have been higher than the season before but then the next season his numbers dip. In 2020, Myers made 100 percent of his field goal attempts, 2021 was 73.9 percent, 2022 was 91.9 percent, and then 2023 was 83.3 percent. At least, he made all of his extra point attempts for the first time in his career.

Myers' cap hit in 2025 moves to $6,075,000 but Seattle would save $2.7 million by releasing him. That number grows to $4.85 million meaning that Seattle could potentially draft a kicker in 2025, keep Myers on the roster until after June 1, 2025, and then release him and save nearly $5 million.

Myers has been a good kicker for the Seahawks but if his numbers dip again this year from 2023 then that might signal he is no longer as effective as he once was. He is expensive for a kicker as well, so hopefully he will be tremendous in 2024 and earn his deal for 2025.