Seahawks Defensive Blueprint: Six Moves Seattle Can Make to Reach Elite Status
With the Super Bowl come and gone and the NFL combine set to kick off on Monday in Indianapolis, the Seattle Seahawks and all 31 other teams officially find themselves entrenched in the heat of the offseason with busy weeks ahead.
Along with evaluating incoming draft prospects in on-field workouts and meetings, decision makers such as Seahawks general manager John Schneider will be involved with everything from trade discussions to contract negotiations behind the scenes. Adding to the intrigue, every team will benefit from an unprecedented financial boost, as the NFL announced the salary cap would jump to a record-setting $255 million in 2024, which could spark even more activity than usual in the Circle City.
On the heels of a disappointing 9-8 finish last season, Schneider has entrusted a young, talented squad to first-time head coach Mike Macdonald and will be looking to take the roster to the next level in coming weeks. But that task won't be a simple one, as Seattle has several noteworthy starters set to hit the market next month who currently aren't under contract, including defensive tackle Leonard Williams and linebacker Jordyn Brooks, and a tight salary cap situation that likely will require some tough decisions to be made with high-priced veterans.
From a defensive standpoint, what do the Seahawks need to do this offseason to get back to the playoffs and potentially make a Super Bowl run? Accounting for cap savings and added expenditures, here's a six-step blueprint Schneider and Macdonald should follow to vault back up the NFC West standings and start off a new era for the franchise with a bang.
Read the offensive offseason blueprint here.
1. Cut Jamal Adams, Nick Bellore, and Bryan Mone, extend Quandre Diggs prior to the start of free agency on March 13.
Cap Savings: $30.36 million
Unfortunately for the Seahawks, several recent extensions for defensive players haven't panned out as hoped in large part due to injuries. Coming over from the Jets in a blockbuster trade in July 2020, Adams has ended each of the past three seasons on injured reserve and missed a combined 29 regular season games since signing a five-year, $70 million extension. When he has been on the field, he hasn't delivered as expected from one of the league's highest paid safeties, failing to record a sack in any of the past three seasons after a record-setting first year with the franchise.
If Adams wants to stay in Seattle and willingly negotiates a massive pay cut to do so, it's not impossible he could be back. But with a cap charge north of $26 million in 2024 and lingering questions about his health in the aftermath of a torn quad tendon suffered two years ago, the team can't afford to keep him on the payroll with diminishing returns on the field and likely will eat a $9.7 million dead cap charge by cutting him with a post-June 1 designation, keeping Pro Bowler Julian Love in the lineup as his successor.
As for Mone, a torn ACL suffered late in the 2022 season prevented him from seeing the field at all last season. Cutting him would open up more than $5 million in cap space and the Seahawks could pursue a far cheaper option at nose tackle, while the aging Bellore has a bloated $4 million cap hit and can be replaced on special teams with younger alternatives on rookie deals.
After intercepting just one pass last season, Quandre Diggs could be one of Seattle's biggest benefactors with the arrival of coach Mike Macdonald.
© Steven Bisig, USA TODAY
Adams won't be the only high-priced safety Seattle must make a decision on either. Entering the final year of his contract, Diggs isn't coming off one of his finest seasons, as he only intercepted one pass and struggled with missed tackles. With him now on the wrong side of 30, it's possible he could be in the same boat as his teammate with a $21 million cap hit next season.
But Diggs doesn't have the extensive injury history Adams does and Macdonald will want to have a ball hawk to deploy on the back end of his defense. Still one of the best in the business at taking away seam and post routes, extending him for a year while changing some of his base salary for 2024 into a signing bonus would open up significant cap space while keeping an important playmaker in the secondary.
2. Re-sign Leonard Williams, Jordyn Brooks to lucrative multi-year deals prior to start of free agency on March 13.
Cap Added: $25.71 million
While the Seahawks could move on from two of their highest-paid defenders this offseason, Schneider will have to use most of those savings to re-sign free agents, starting with Williams as the top priority. Acquired from the Giants for a second and fifth-round pick in October, the organization paid a steep price and won't want the trade to turn into an expensive 10-game rental.
Under the terms of his last contract, Williams signed a three-year deal worth more than $22 million per year, making him one of the NFL's highest paid interior defensive linemen. With nine years under his belt and his 30th birthday approaching, teams likely won't pay that price for him this time around, but he still could command north of $15 million per year. After producing four sacks and 11 quarterback hits in his partial season with Seattle, he would be worth that investment, justifying a three-year, $52.5 million contract in this scenario.
Along with re-signing Williams, retaining Brooks should also be at the top of Schneider's agenda entering free agency. While some fans would love to see Macdonald lure Patrick Queen to the Pacific Northwest away from the Ravens instead, the All-Pro selection will likely be significantly more expensive to sign on the open market with more interceptions and sacks on his resume than Brooks through four seasons.
Paying Brooks more than $10 million per year would present some risk considering recent injuries and the fact he's been an above average starter rather than an elite one at his position thus far. He's only 26 years old, however, and pairing the athletic tackle machine with Macdonald and a new coaching staff could fully unlock his potential as an All-Pro caliber player in his own right. Being another full year removed from a torn ACL, a four-year, $45 million deal should work for both sides keeping him as a foundational building block for Seattle's present and future.
3. Sign Bobby Wagner to one-year, $6.125 million deal with added incentives.
Cap Added: $6.125 million
As far as difficult decisions go, figuring out what to do with Wagner may take the cake. One of the most iconic players in Seahawks franchise history, he returned from a one-year stint with the Rams and continued to stack up impressive numbers, including tallying a league-high 183 combined tackles. Pitching in 11 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks as a pass rusher, he earned Second-Team All-Pro honors for the third straight year, proving he still remains one of the best off-ball linebackers in the game.
Production wise, Wagner has remained a prolific run defender and blitzer, as the future Hall of Famer still plays fast downhill and his impeccable instincts have helped offset declining athleticism as he has aged. With that said, he will turn 34 years old in July and diminishing burst and quickness have created some limitations in his ability as a coverage linebacker, which may make him a poor fit for Macdonald's scheme at this stage of his career.
Set to enter his 13th NFL season, Wagner may be able to fetch a bit more money from other teams in free agency. But if he wants to finish his career in Seattle and the bottom line isn't the biggest factor in his decision, the door should still be open for him to return for another season alongside Brooks and likely mentor an incoming rookie, as his leadership will be invaluable helping the team transition to a new coaching staff.
4. Reunite Jadeveon Clowney with Mike Macdonald on one-year, $4.71 million deal with added incentives.
Cap Added: $4.71 million
Bringing a rising star in Queen or defensive tackle Justin Madubuike as a package deal with Macdonald from Baltimore would understandably be the dream scenario for most Seahawks fans. But given the team's cap constraints and variety of needs on the roster, Schneider isn't going to want to enter a bidding war for either player if they even hit the market.
Starting 15 games for the Ravens last season, Jadeveon Clowney reignited his career with 9.5 sacks and 19 quarterback hits, excelling in Mike Macdonald's defense.
© Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Instead, if Macdonald wants to add a player he previously coached to the mix without breaking the bank, signing Clowney for a second stint in the Emerald City would make too much sense. Now 31 years old, the former No. 1 overall pick has been bouncing around the league on one-year deals since Seattle chose not to re-sign him after the 2020 season, including pit stops in Tennessee and Cleveland along the way.
But while Clowney may not be the big ticket attraction he once was, he thrived in Macdonald's scheme and rejuvenated his career in Baltimore, turning in one of the finest seasons of his career with 9.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits. An outstanding edge setter who uses his length effectively to disengage from blocks, his ability to stop the run would be a major asset for Seattle's front line and as long as he can stay healthy, he showed he still can be a game wrecker when deployed properly, making him well-worth a one-year, incentive-laden flier.
5. Agree to terms with restricted free agents Mike Jackson, Jon Rhattigan on non-tender one-year contracts.
Cap Added: $2.975 million
In the past, Schneider hasn't been a stranger using tenders on restricted free agents, but the price tag may deter him from using the mechanism at all this year. Based on numbers recently revealed by the NFL, players such as former second-round pick Darrell Taylor, Rhattigan, and Jackson would cost nearly $3 million to retain on an original round tender.
After choosing to sign Clowney, Taylor could be the odd man out of the rotation after struggling mightily over the past three seasons as a run defender, allowing him to test the market for teams seeking pass rushing reinforcements. With limited cap space available at this point, tendering Jackson or Rhattigan would be too expensive for reserve/special teams contributors, but the Seahawks could easily bring both back on more team-friendly one-year contracts rather than a tender.
With Bellore being a cap casualty, keeping Rhattigan around under that premise would be a sound choice, as he could step in as the new captain on kick and punt coverage teams. As for Jackson, he may draw some interest from other teams with nearly 20 starts to his name in the past two seasons, but a strong incoming cornerback draft class likely will keep his price down to stay put with the Seahawks as a valuable insurance policy behind Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon.
6. Place ERFA tender on Myles Adams.
Cap Added: $985,000
Seattle only has one defensive Exclusive Rights Free Agent in Adams, who has played in 23 games over the previous three seasons in a reserve role. The 25-year old registered his first NFL sack last season and has played well when given the opportunity, but he found himself without a spot in the team's defensive line rotation after Williams arrived in October. Capable of playing multiple alignments up front with plus-athleticism at 290 pounds, he's a solid depth piece to retain with a small cap hit to compete for a roster spot in August.
