Seahawks Free Agency: Does Evan Brown Have Future on Seattle's Offensive Line?

One of the healthiest starters on an otherwise banged-up offensive line, Evan Brown brought stability to the center position for the Seattle Seahawks. But did he do enough to warrant re-signing him to compete for a starting spot in 2024?

On the heels of a disappointing 9-8 season that ended without a playoff berth and the departure of long-time coach Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks have plenty of roster questions to address heading into a crucial offseason with a new regime in place.

When the new league year opens on March 13, Seattle will have 14 players scheduled to hit the market as unrestricted free agents. Four players will be restricted free agents and five will be exclusive rights free agents, while several other key veterans such as Pro Bowl safety Julian Love 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 2023 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 2024.

A seasoned starter at multiple positions, will Seattle look to keep Evan Brown around to compete for a spot at center or guard next season?

Season in Review

Signing with the Seahawks as a free agent, Brown beat out rookie Olu Oluwatimi during training camp and the preseason for the starting center job. Aside from missing one start with a hip injury in October, he started 16 games at the pivot position, allowing 27 pressures and three sacks in pass protection while posting a respectable 97.4 percent pass pro efficiency rate, providing invaluable leadership and communication in the middle for an offensive line that started more than 10 different lineups over the course of the season.

Why Seattle Should Re-Sign Him

While Brown wasn't elite by any means and his performance dipped in the second half in part due to playing through several nagging injuries, he was more than serviceable at a position where the Seahawks have played musical chairs for half a decade. A true mid-level starter in the league, he ranked 17th in pass blocking grade (59.1), 14th in sacks allowed, and 18th in pass protection efficiency, which certainly were higher marks than his predecessor Austin Blythe in 2022.

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Only 27 years old, Brown has started double-digit games at center and guard, boasting tremendous versatility and experience. Last season, he transitioned from center to guard midway through a Week 4 win over the Giants on Monday Night Football and handled the positional switch with ease. Given all of the injuries Seattle endured in the trenches, his ability to line up multiple spots and keep a litany of players at the guard position on the same page prevented an unideal situation from becoming a disaster.

Why Seattle Should Let Him Walk

With 2022 being the lone exception, Brown has been a below-average run blocker for most of his NFL career and that trend continued into his first season with the Seahawks, as he struggled to create consistent push at the line of scrimmage and performed inconsistently on zone concepts. For the season, he finished 25th out of 32 qualified centers in run blocking grade and plunged to 28th over the final nine weeks of the season. In addition, he ranked among league leaders with seven penalties, including getting flagged for three holds and three false starts.

Ideal Contract

One year, $2.25 million

Prediction

Compared to previous seasons where players such as Blythe and Kyle Fuller started games for the Seahawks at the pivot spot, Brown provided an uptick in overall play and a steadying presence in the middle. With him being in the prime of his career and capable of starting at multiple positions in a pinch, assuming he can be brought back at the same price as the one year deal signed last March, re-signing him to compete for a starting job again would make sense on multiple fronts.

At the same time, Seattle may be ready to thrust Oluwatimi into the starting lineup full time and this year's incoming draft class has great talent and depth at the guard and center positions. If Brown is okay with the idea of being a swing lineman ready to pinch hit when called upon, he could be a quality fit in Ryan Grubb's system competing for snaps at center and/or guard. But his performance a year ago wasn't good enough to re-sign him as an outright starter either and if he does return, it likely will be later in free agency once the team and player have had time examining the market.

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