Seahawks' new deal with former starting cornerback a win for player and team

The Seattle Seahawks did not seem to need a cornerback in the 2024 NFL as the team already had Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Tre Brown, Mike Jackson, and Artie Burns. There did not seem to be room for a new CB. So Seattle did the interesting thing of not just taking one cornerback but two.

Neither of the 2024 picks, Nehemiah Pritchett and D.J. James, appear to be candidates to move back to safety so that means Seattle has a bloated cornerback group. One player that might have made sense to release from a strictly financial standpoint was Jackson as he was tendered a contract this offseason as a restricted free agent. The tender meant he would have made a little over $3 million but with no guaranteed money.

In other words, Seattle could have cut Jackson and carried no dead cap with the move. Jackson, however, was a full-time starter for Seattle in 2022 and he also started four games in 2023. He also was pretty good when he did play as he allowed only a 75.1 quarterback rating when targeted in 2022 and a decent 95.1 in 2023.

Seattle Seahawks new deal with cornerback Mike Jackson is a win for team and player

Jackson also prior to 2023 was a solid tackler, especially compared to almost the rest of the Seahawks defense when many players struggled with their ability to take opposing ball carriers to the ground. Jackson missed four of his tackle attempts (10.5 percent) last season while Tre Brown, in comparison, missed 15.0 percent of his attempts. Riq Woolen missed 14.5 percent of his attempts.

Instead of releasing Jackson, though, Seattle signed the cornerback to a new contract on Monday. This is a win for the team and the player because the deal lowers Jackson's cap hit from $3.12 million to $1.22 million saving the Seahawks $1.89 million in cap space. Seattle now has about $3.4 million in cap room.

Jackson wins as well because instead of being guaranteed no money should Seattle have released him, his contract now guarantees $167,500 (not a lot compared to many other NFL players but a good number for the average person) along with a base salary of $1.055 million should he make the team.

That last part is important, of course. Unless rookies James or Pritchett are unexpectedly terrible, they will likely be on the roster. Woolen and Witherspoon are definitely going to make the team. That means Jackson could still be in a roster battle with Brown and Burns.

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