Seahawks fans should hope 2024 free agent signings are better than these from 2023

NFL free agency is a little like baseball spring training. There is always hope for greatness in the future. But we also know that at the end of any given season, much of that hope has turned to dread. For the Seattle Seahawks, some of their 2023 free agent signees turned to bust and did not help the team. 12s should hope 2024 goes better.

To be fair, however, while we can (and probably will) make immediate grades on Seattle's new free agent signings, we simply will not have enough information to truly judge them until next offseason. For instance, if Seattle had signed linebacker Patrick Queen, that might have been a brilliant move. But Seattle did not add Queen so the other linebackers they do add will need to be as Queen should be.

But just because a free agent doesn't work out does not mean that is excusable. NFL teams only have so much money so making wise decisions can make or break a team. In 2023, Seattle was broken, and part of that was due to who was signed last year.

Seattle Seahawks should hope for a better free agent class in 2024 than 2023

Center Evan Brown was signed to a one-year deal and made the starter. After two games of decency, he dropped in quality and was not good. Some might argue that Brown was OK, but the statistics do not back up that argument.

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Brown's second-highest pass block grade for 2023 came in Week 1. His third-best run-block grade happened in Week 2. Between Weeks 3 and 18, Brown allowed multiple pressures in 11 of 14 games. Now, Seattle needs to find yet another center to start in 2024.

Linebacker Devin Bush was signed with the thinking he could hold one inside linebacker spot while Bobby Wagner was at the other until Jordyn Brooks returned from injury. Brooks, though, made an astonishing return from a major injury near the end of 2022 and was able to start in Week 1. Bush was so poor in preseason, however, that the team made him a health scratch in many games instead of having him as the third linebacker.

Bush appeared in nine games and struggled in most facets. He certainly did not play well enough to earn another year with the Seahawks. Thankfully, Bush is reportedly going to play for the Cleveland Browns in 2024 and Seattle won't have to worry about him being on the roster.

The point is that while we hope that every free agent Seattle signs turns out to be brilliant, the likelihood is that closer to half of the signees aren't that good. As long as the players that don't work out aren't counted on to be true impact contributors, fine. Otherwise, two bad free-agent signings could doom next season.

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