The Seattle Seahawks should not have cap issues this offseason. There have been a lot of articles about Seattle needing to potentially cut players to make cap room, but that is not the case. According to Over the Cap, Seattle is last in the league with $-1,090,324, but with just one or two moves, Seattle could easily get back into the positive.
For instance, Seattle could try to rework the tenders of linebackers Jon Rhattigan and Darrell Taylor, which could mean $3-4 million in cap space. The team could also move some of wide receiver DK Metcalf's base salary into a signing bonus, which could open up $5 million or more in space. General manager John Schneider has a lot of options.
Some players have no option other than to play really well in 2024, though. Should they not, they could be off the team next offseason. If they do play well, the Seahawks could make a deep run in the playoffs.
Dre'Mont Jones - Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman
Jones is apparently willing to change positions as needed for the Seahawks' new coaching staff. Throughout his career, Jones has played exclusively along the defensive line. This offseason, though, there are rumors that Jones is preparing to play a lot at edge rusher. Most likely, this is simply because head coach Mike Macdonald likes to disguise his pre-snap defense in lots of ways and Jones' versatility would only help that.
Jones is currently signed through 2025, but he was underwhelming in his first season with Seattle. In 2023, Jones had his lowest number of sacks since his rookie season of 2019 and his fewest tackles for loss since the same year. This might be because Seattle had a poor design in which to use his skills, but either way, the player did not produce.
Should Jones not meet expectations again in 2024 - and one can assume the numbers he had in 2023 did not make general manager John Schneider smile - then he could be a cut candidate next offseason. Seattle would save $16.51 million if they release Jones, which would be a chunk of savings for a team already tight against the cap in 2025.
Of course, the hope is that Jones can set career-highs in sacks and quarterback hits if he does move more to edge rusher. Macdonald is definitely going to put him in the best situation to succeed.
Julian Love - Seahawks safety
There is likely no way that Love will become complacent, as that appears to go against his personality type. He is also entering the last year of his current contract. But Love also has to know that Seattle likes him. Every other key safety from 2023 was released this offseason, and there was no mention of Love leaving. Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams did have bigger contracts, but Love still has a cap hit of $8 million in 2024.
Love was a surprising Pro Bowler last year. The surprise was not that the safety was not good but that there were a few games when defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt did not see the need to play the best safety on the team much. There was simply no excuse for Hurtt's decision.
Love could have the best season of his career this season as Mike Macdonald knows how to use his safeties creatively. Plus, as Love can play either free or strong safety, he will probably be moved around a bunch in the scheme. Love could earn himself a massive contract next offseason with a great 2024.
Riq Woolen - Seahawks cornerback
The positive this offseason with Woolen is that he showed up to OTAs bigger. Not in terms of gaining a lot of weight, but he seems to have bulked up quite a bit with muscle. He obviously saw Seattle draft two cornerbacks in the 2024 draft and reacted as if he might be losing his job soon. Should he perform as he did in 2023 when he appeared unwilling to set a hard edge against the run and got toasted on crossing routes, then Woolen could be out of a job next offseason.
This would be quite the precipitous fall for a player who made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season of 2022. As a rookie, Woolen showed no fear and did not mind coming up and punishing a ball carrier. This seldom happened last year. Maybe Woolen played a bit scared after hurting his knee in minicamp, but he should be fully healthy now and needs to prove himself to the new coaches.
Jason Myers - Seahawks kicker
Myers was not awful in 2023, but he followed a trend that has been part of his career since 2018. That is that Myers will have a year where he makes more than 90 percent of his field goal attempts followed by a season where he struggles to make barebly better than 80 percent of his attempts. Last year, Myers made 83.3 percent of his attempts. If the trend continues, Myers will be excellent in 2024.
What if that does not happen, though? If he has another year where he barely makes 80 percent of his attempts - the NFL average is around 85 percent - then Seattle might have no other choice but to begin looking for a new kicker. That would not have happened this offseason as releasing Myers would have had a negative impact on the salary cap. If he is released next offseason, the team would save about $2.3 million.
Geno Smith - Seahawks quarterback
Geno Smith has certainly said all the right words since Seattle traded for Sam Howell this offseason. He has been team-first and player-second. Smith is still expected to be QB1, and Howell will be QB2. The issue for Smith is that Howell, like any competitor, is not going to show up to camp and be resigned to his fate. He is going to want to battle to start. Plus, he is ten years younger than Smith, and all things being equal otherwise, Howell might be the wiser choice to start because he has a much longer shelf life.
Smith has proven that he can be a good starter in the league, however. He led the NFL in completion percentage in 2022 and the NFL in game-winning drives and fourth quarter comebacks in 2023. He is not a bad quarterback, though many pundits want that to be his narrative.
Smith does need to prove to the new coaching staff that he is worthy of starting for the rest of his contract, which runs through 2025. If the coaches and John Schneider are not sold on Smith after 2024 - if he underperforms this season - then Seattle could make Howell the start, release Smith, and save $25 million next offseason.