The Seattle Seahawks are 4-5 and have lost five of their last six games in an ever-increasing downward spiral. Is there hope for the playoffs still this season for Seattle? Sure. The team is only a game out of first place in the NFC West currently.
Things could be worse, though. Seattle could not have decided to move on from safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams this offseason. Both were under contract for 2024 until prior to free agency, Seattle released both players. Both were extremely expensive and even after letting them go, the Seahawks were paying them a lot of money not to play with the team this season.
Oddly, both Diggs and Adams decided to sign with the Tennessee Titans. Both their seasons ended early, however, for two completely different reasons. Adams had injury concerns at the beginning of the season (of course!) and wasn't getting much playing time when he did return. He asked for and was given his release so that Adams could try to find more playing time elsewhere.
Seahawks have been proven correct in deciding not to re-sign Jamal Adams or Quandre Diggs
So far, Adams has not had any takers. This makes sense as the safety has not only not been able to stay healthy enough to play consistently for the last four seasons, but he became a locker-room issue for the Seahawks last year. He was told he was not going to play in Week 15, and Diggs either went home or stayed home and was not at the game to support his teammates.
Letting him go was likely an easy decision for general manager John Schneider. Diggs almost certainly was not going to be healthy enough to help the team, and he wasn't the kind of player Seattle needed in the locker room in the first year of new head coach Mike Macdonald.
Diggs might have been the tougher move. He was not as good in 2023 as he was in his previous seasons with Seattle, but he wasn't awful. He might have been a good veteran voice on the back end of Macdonald's defense. But Diggs was getting old for a safety as he is 31 years old. The safety has proven the Seahawks were correct in releasing him as he was awful for the Titans - his quarterback rating allowed is an atrocious 137.2 - and, sadly, he hurt his foot in Week 9 and is now out for the season.
Sure, Seattle lost Rayshawn Jenkins to an injury after signing him in free agency. Had the team kept Diggs and Adams, there might not have been room for Coby Bryant to play (Bryant took over for Jenkins after the safety was hurt), and Bryant has been pretty good. Is he the long-term answer opposite Julian Love for Seattle? Maybe not, but he has been better than Diggs and Adams this season.
There is a good chance that Diggs' and Adams' careers are over. Neither would have helped Seattle for much of 2024. Things could be better for the Seahawks this year overall, but keeping Diggs and Adams would have made the safety position far worse this year.