The Seattle Seahawks need to upgrade their personnel at some key positions this offseason. That puts these four players squarely on the hot seat entering the 2025 season.
There are a few names that some other 12s might see as being in that position this offseason. Okay, there are a lot of other names you might have on your list. Many fans would put Geno Smith at the top of their lists. Seeing that both John Schneider and Mike Macdonald see Smith as their guy, that's one name you can take off the list.
One name you will see is Byron Murphy. I'm kidding, relax. Some pundits have said that he underperformed last year, considering his position as the 16th pick. They seem to have missed that Murphy was double-teamed so often that Leonard Wiliams was able to feast all season long. Murphy still ranked first among all rookie defensive tackles in pass rush win rate and third with 15 run stops. He's going nowhere but up in the rankings. Okay, let's get to the list.
These four Seahawks are on dangerous ground this offseason
I mentioned Geno Smith already. Another name that won't be on my list is Dre'Mont Jones. He's not on my list because he's so good. It's because he's already so gone. He never lived up to his massive contract. And there's no way the Seahawks will keep him on the roster for 2025. Whether they find a sucker - sorry, trade partner - or not, releasing him adds $10.6 million in cap space.
Considering the Hawks got a sixth-round pick for Darrell Two-Game Taylor - Two games because that's about how often he shows up and plays hard - they should be able to get a decent return for Jones. He's a decent player, miles better than Taylor. He's simply not worth the fourth-highest cap hit on the roster.
My third is another player I don't see with any chance of making it to training camp this year. Like Jones, Uchenna Nwosu hasn't given the Hawks a reasonable return on their investment. In his case, it's been injuries that have derailed his Seattle career. He showed tons of ability in 2022, but that has fizzled out over the past two seasons.
Nwosu set a career-high with 9.5 sacks in his first season with the Seahawks and was a force against the run, too. But he's only played in 12 of the 34 games since then. With Boye Mafe and Derick Hall stepping forward for not much more than a third of Nwosu's contract combined, it makes no sense for the Seahawks to carry that injury risk forward this year, let alone into 2026. Alright, now for the guys actually on my list.
Riq Woolen
Much like Nwosu, Woolen was amazing in his first year with the Seahawks. The big difference was that Riq was making headlines as a fifth-round rookie. Sorry, Tariq, as he was known then. It seems that since he dropped the first syllable of his name, his performance fell off, too.
He was even benched last year for the first series against the Vikings. He could still return to his Pro Bowl form; he needs to show that he will from day one of the offseason workouts.
Abe Lucas
The Seahawks right tackle is in the same position as Nwosu. Not as regardis his contract, but in that he's only underperformed due to injury. After playing 16 games as a rookie right tackle - and playing damn well - Lucas was bitten hard by the injury bug. He played on just under 90 percent of the Seahawks' offensive snaps in 2022.
That dropped to just below 26 percent in 2023 and a bit above 37 percent last season. When healthy, he's still a solid player, but the most important ability is - ah, you know the answer to that. You're a 12; you saw Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny in years past.
Sam Howell
The Seahawks' backup quarterback had his chance to prove all the Geno haters right when Smith went down with an injury in Week 15 versus the Packers. Let's just say he didn't exactly pass his audition. He didn't exactly pass anything, in fact, as he completed just five of fourteen passes. For the record, I love the trade Schneider made to get Howell. I still think he could prove to be an asset to the Hawks.
But to think that he's not on the hot seat would be ludicrous. It isn't a deep draft for quarterbacks, but it's hard to imagine that Seattle couldn't find a more capable player. The only thing keeping Howell on the roster at this point is the two higher-round picks they gave to get him (a third and fifth for a fourth and sixth). But as Mike Macdonald would say, that's a sunken cost now. If Howell can't be the guy, those picks don't matter. He has to step up this offseason and prove he was worth the trade.
DK Metcalf
In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, USMC, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" I haven't have DK here because he's underperformed like Woolen or missed so much time like Lucas. He did have legitimate injury concerns last year for the first time in his career, but he still just missed two games. Listen, we all know why he missed the Cardinals game in 2023, so no, he's not injury-prone.
Nor did he underperform last season. Well, not to a critical extent. He did drop under 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in three seasons. He also had the fewest touchdowns, five, of his career. But his drop percentage was the second-lowest of his career, and many of his other measurables - yards after catch, depth of target, rating when targeted - were right in line with his career rate.
So, why is he on the hot seat? It's very likely that both Tyler Lockett and Noah Fant will be gone this season. They were third and fourth in receiving in 2024, hauling in 97 passes between them. The Seahawks will need at least a solid third option to step up.
Even then, Metcalf has to improve his production over last year. Yes, he was double-teamed a lot. He'll need to fight through even more double teams this season to prove he deserves whatever extension he and the Hawks hammer out. Oh, and I used the term "fight through" only figuratively. Right, DK? Right.