The Seattle Seahawks have cleared even more cap space with their latest deal. More importantly, they settled another position of need by restructuring Uchenna Nwosu's contract. That's the definition of win-win in Seattle.
The Seahawks have made some noise in free agency, that's for sure. New QB Sam Darnold and wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Smith filled three major holes on offense. DeMarcus Lawrence filled a similar hole on the defensive line. Those are all high-risk, high-reward moves.
So it was gratifying to see Seattle make another move that carries much less risk but offers an equally high reward. Well, maybe not as big as if Sam Darnold can repeat his great 2024 season, but not too shabby, either. Best of all, it rewards a current player on the Hawks roster.
Seahawks and Uchenna Nwosu agree to extension and a rare pay cut
It isn't every day that you see a professional athlete agree to take a substantial cut in pay. Yet that's exactly what Seahawks edge Uchenna Nwosu agreed to do so he could stay in Seattle. As reported by several outlets, Nwosu's new deal dropped his 2025 cap hit from $21.3 million to the far more team-friendly $11.8 million. Guys are more than happy to rework their deals to reduce the cap hit. Leonard Williams did that last season, for example.
What Nwosu did is a bit more unusual. He agreed to reduce his pay, and not just by a little. He's taking a cut of just under $7 million this year, in exchange for more guaranteed money. He received an additional $4 million signing bonus, and will now earn a minimum of $6.98 million for the year, regardless of whether or not he plays a single snap.
The past two years have been pretty rough for Nwosu, there's no denying that. After a terrific debut season in 2022 - 9.5 sacks, 12 tackles for a loss - injuries held him to just a dozen games total over the past two years. After 900 highly productive snaps in 2022, he only managed 473 in 2023-2024.
The emergence of Derick Hall last season and the addition of DeMarcus Lawrence this year would certainly reduce his role on the Hawks this season. That's not a bad thing. A rotation of Boye Mafe, Hall, Lawrence, and Nwosu gives the Hawks a formidable pass-rush unit. The Hawks save money and keep another player with high potential in-house. Win-win, baby.