Swing and miss: Seahawks will not land this potential home run free agent

The Seattle Seahawks needed to find a few linebackers for 2024. Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, and Devin Bush were all set for free agency this offseason. Wagner seems unlikely to return, especially as Seattle had a new head coach, and neither the coach, Mike Macdonald, nor Wagner has any allegiance to the other. Wagner was a Second-Team All-Pro in 2023.

Patrick Queen signing with Seattle would have been a huge win for the team. Instead, Queen will get paid by the Pittsburgh Steelers for a reported three years and $41 million. Seattle has a defense mostly void of leaders after Seattle released safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs while Wagner is still a free agent. Queen excelled for the Baltimore Ravens but he was on a defense with lots of other great players who all learned the defensive scheme together.

Mike Macdonald was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens the last two seasons and Queen learned under Macdonald. Queen will be transitioning to Pittsburgh and not Seattle, though. He would seemingly have been a perfect fit in Seattle so one might wonder how much money general manager John Schneider is offering free agents currently.

Seattle Seahawks get a huge win by signing linebacker Patrick Queen

Queen also is very good in coverage, something Seattle's linebackers have struggled with for many seasons. As great as Wagner was (and probably still is), he was not strong in pass coverage. But with Seattle having zero inside linebackers on the 2024 roster currently, bringing Wagner back might be a must.

Seattle could draft Wagner's partner, assuming Seattle does re-sign Wagner. Even that is more of a hope now with Queen off the table and Wagner still a free agent. Either way, the Seahawks must find long-term options at linebacker and even Wagner is not that. Let's hope Seattle has a plan in place for how they want to build the defense, but so far that seems like a mystery to most 12s.

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