3 Seattle Seahawks who have already earned new 2024 contracts
- A running back who is versatile
- An aging defender who is still among the league's best
- An offensive lineman who needs to be around for five more years
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks are 3-1 through four games of 2023. They are just about where many thought (or hoped) they would be. Seattle sits second in the NFC West, but firmly in the playoff picture a quarter of the way through the season.
Seattle's schedule gets a lot tougher in the third-quarter of the season, but we have a bit before we get there. The Seahawks need to take advantage of all their winnable games now. If Seattle can get to 7-3 before a four game stretch beginning in Week 12 that goes 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers (again), and Eagles, Seattle should be OK.
But several players have helped Seattle get to 3-1, of course. Some of these players also are in contract seasons. Here are three guys who need to come back in 2024 if not beyond.
Seattle Seahawks left guard Damien Lewis
Hopefully by this time most 12s have bought in to the excellence that is Damien Lewis. The fourth-year pro was a top 15 offensive guard in the league in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required) and is ranked 27 so far in 2023 even though he is playing next to mostly backups. Through four games, Lewis has allowed 7 quarterback pressures, but zero QB hits, just 1 sack, and has had just one penalty called against him.
In 2022, Lewis allowed just 3 sacks in 634 pass block snaps. Yes, he had a bad Wild Card game last year against the San Francisco 49ers when in the second half he kept getting called for illegal man downfield, but it honestly felt like the referees were picking on him a bit. The truth is, Lewis is one of the best left guards in the NFL and has been for several years now.
Lewis will be just 27 years old when 2024 begins and plays a position where he can be really good for at least four more years after the current one. The highest-paid 19 guards in the league in 2023 all make at least $10 million. Somebody is going to pay Lewis a lot of money beginning in 2024 and that should be Seattle. Maybe negotiations will begin soon before Lewis hits the open market. The Seahawks don't really have a ready-made replacement for Lewis.