Seahawks Free Agent Primer: Will Cody Barton Return as Starting LB?

Steadily improving over the course of the 2022 season, Cody Barton made significant strides in all areas of his game while helping the Seattle Seahawks advance to the playoffs. Did he perform well enough to inspire confidence as a future starter?

On the heels of a surprising 9-8 season that culminated in an unexpected playoff berth, the Seattle Seahawks have plenty of roster questions to address heading into another important offseason as they continue their quest back to Super Bowl contention.

When the new league year opens on March 15, Seattle will have 23 players scheduled to hit the market as unrestricted free agents. Three players will be restricted free agents and five will be exclusive rights free agents, while several other key veterans such as linebacker Uchenna Nwosu will be entering the final season of their respective deals ready to negotiate extensions.

Over the next several weeks, I will break down each and every one of the Seahawks' unrestricted free agents by revisiting their 2022 seasons, assessing why they should or should not be re-signed, breaking down an ideal contract, and making an early prediction on whether or not the player will return in 2023.

Following a productive, if uneven, first season as a starter on Seattle's defense stepping in for departed star Bobby Wagner, will Cody Barton remain part of the team's future plans at linebacker?

Season In Review

Entering training camp as a lock to start next to Jordyn Brooks, Barton endured some early season struggles executing run fits and working off of blocks, leading to a handful of games with diminished playing time in favor of nickel and dime packages with additional defensive backs on the field. But his season turned the corner around the midway point and he wound up returning to a much larger role in the second half as Seattle pushed for a wild card spot, finishing with career-highs in tackles (136), passes defensed (6), interceptions (2), and sacks (2.0) while logging 895 defensive snaps. He ranked second on the team in tackles and fifth in passes defensed, growing into a steady all-around linebacker.

Why Seattle Should Re-Sign Him

Look at the amount of ground Cody Barton covered chasing down Cam Akers a couple yards short of the first down marker on this crucial play following Geno Smith's first pick.

Outstanding job reacting off snap, taking perfect pursuit angle. One of the biggest plays of the game. pic.twitter.com/JjsRNu0GsT

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) January 10, 2023

With only a handful of starts to his name in his first three seasons, Barton's lack of experience proved problematic early on, but the converted safety showed off his coverage chops as the season progressed. Per Pro Football Focus, from Week 8 on, he finished fourth among linebackers allowing a 68.6 passer rating, yielding only one touchdown while picking off two passes and generating three additional pass breakups. During that span, he also surrendered a league-low 6.7 yards per reception. As a run defender, when he got his hands on ball carriers, he typically finished the job, missing only eight tackles and posting a quality six percent miss rate while playing in all 17 regular season games. He also was effective as a blitzer, manufacturing a pair of sacks and four pressures on 28 pass rush opportunities.

Why Seattle Should Let Him Walk

I'm not sure what Cody Barton was doing on this TD run by Cordarrelle Patterson. Fullback blocking towards backside seemed to draw his attention - maybe thinking counter? - back inside and then he got locked on a block instead of flowing to the football. Huge gap with no fill. pic.twitter.com/eVmaNmuCMk

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) September 27, 2022

Weighing only 237 pounds, Barton's lack of play strength consistently showed up when opposing linemen were able to reach him at the second level or cut him off at the line of scrimmage. Struggling to disengage and work off blocks, he found himself out of position too often on run plays and failed to maintain gap integrity, particularly early in the season when he opened with three games in the first four receiving under a 54.0 grade from PFF. While his overall tackling numbers ranked among the best in the NFL in terms of efficiency, he did have some awful misses during the season, including taking a bad angle and whiffing on a touchdown pass to 49ers tight end George Kittle in Week 15.

Ideal Contract

One year, $3 million

Prediction

Before Brooks went down with a torn ACL in late December, even considering his notable improvement in the final two months, Barton may not have been a top priority for the Seahawks to re-sign. But with Brooks now facing an uphill battle to be ready to play in Week 1 next September and potentially out for an extended portion of 2023, the team likely won't want to go into a new season with two new starters in the middle of the defense and he shouldn't be expensive to bring back with plenty of bigger names on the market at his position.

Keeping that in mind, while Barton won't be mistaken as an elite NFL linebacker by any means, he played sound football as a run defender and in coverage down the stretch. This should give Seattle confidence in him taking another step forward in a second season as a starter on a one-year prove it deal and at minimum, he's a quality security blanket until Brooks returns and/or an incoming draft pick is ready to play. If he improves substantially, with him being just 26 years old, he still could play his way into the team's plans beyond 2023, particularly with Brooks heading towards free agency in the near future himself.

Previous Seahawks Free Agent Primers

Rashaad Penny | Poona Ford | Austin Blythe

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