Three free agents the Seahawks will regret not signing in 2024

Safety Geno Stone

As much as we all loved Quandre Diggs and as much as we wanted Jamal Adams to live up to the king's ransom Seattle gave up for him, I think every Seahawks fan felt a sigh of relief as the Seahawks announced they had released both safeties on the same day. The safety duo was not performing up to their contracts. Aging and injuries had slowed them both down and Seattle was due for some new safeties.

It was all lining up for the Seahawks to sign breakout safety Geno Stone from Baltimore, whose contract had expired in 2024. Stone, who was coached to superstardom by Mike Macdonald, would've been a perfect fit in Seattle. The 25-year-old broke out in 2023 with six interceptions in the first nine weeks of the year. He even committed a Geno-on-Geno crime, picking off Geno Smith in Baltimore's week nine rout of the Seahawks.

Much like the Patrick Queen situation, pundits alike saw Geno Stone and Seattle as a perfect fit. His defensive coordinator was Seattle's new head coach. The Seahawks needed a young, up-and-coming safety after releasing their veteran duo. Seattle had two young superstar corners, and their secondary was one safety away from being one of the best secondaries in football.

It just made sense - why would Seattle release both of their starting safeties if they didn't have a contingency plan? And Geno Stone was a perfect contingency plan.

The days passed and Geno Stone remained unsigned. He was linked to Seattle by anyone with NFL knowledge in the media. We were all sure Seattle and Stone were just finishing up some minor kinks in the contract. Seattle signed safety Rayshawn Jenkins to a small deal, but that was just a veteran depth piece, right? Right?

Wrong. Geno Stone signed a 2-year, $15 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Seahawks had missed out on another Mike Macdonald guy they really should have signed. As it stands today, the Seahawks' starting safeties are Julian Love and newly-signed Rayshawn Jenkins, who were both good, but certainly not great in 2023. However, with a young and talented corner duo to rely on, Love and Jenkins will probably be good enough.

But the frustrating part is that Seattle's safety tandem could've been far better than just good enough. Signing someone like Geno Stone, who has proven elite success under Macdonald, would have bolstered the safety position from serviceable to potentially great. The last, and only, time Seattle fielded a Super Bowl-winning team, the team had an elite, Hall of Fame-caliber safety tandem in Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.

Is it possible to win a Super Bowl with average safeties? Sure, ask the Kansas City Chiefs. But why go away from what's worked in the past? Seattle may live to regret not luring Geno Stone this offseason.

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