The Seattle Seahawks laid the foundation of its post-Russell Wilson roster with a great 2022 offseason, but they still need plenty of work to become a legitimate contending team.
We looked at the offense in last week’s roster outlook article, a strength of the team with three of the first four draft picks last year going towards that side of the ball, and now it’s time to address the Seahawks’ biggest weakness, a defense that was a very problematic unit for most of the season.
It wouldn’t take a football savant to see the Seahawks were deficient in run defense as they adjusted to a new defensive scheme and simply lacked playmakers in the front seven. They were routinely getting blown off the ball and did not have enough players that caused havoc for opposing offenses. . Pete Carroll made it very clear in post-season press conferences that they do not have enough difference makers up front, and Carroll and DC Clint Hurtt have plenty of work to do to get the right players and make the necessary scheme adjustments to get the defense to work.
With four draft picks in the top 60, and potentially some cap room, depending on what happens with Geno Smith and some other levers they could pull, we will go position-by-position on defense and look at where and how they need to infuse talent. As a executive of an AFC team told me last week, they are a good defensive draft away from taking a big jump as a roster.
DEFENSIVE LINE (3-4 DE, DT)
- Under Contract: Shelby Harris, Al Woods, Quinton Jefferson, Bryan Mone
- Free Agents: Poona Ford, L.J. Collier, Myles Adams (ERFA)
This was easily the weakest position group on the Seahawks this season. They were built with too many players that did not fit the scheme (Ford, Jefferson for example), and were mostly filled with rotational veterans, rather than core building blocks.
The comments from Carroll plus how their contracts are structured indicates there should be pretty significant turnover in this group, especially when you consider all of the four players listed above under contract have easy outs in their contract that would create considerable cap space.
- Shelby Harris ($12.2 million cap hit): releasing him would open $8.94 million
- Quinton Jefferson ($6.48 cap hit): releasing him would open $4.485 million
- Al Woods ($5.4 million cap hit): releasing him would open $3.67 milion
- Bryan Mone ($3.6 million cap hit) releasing him would open $2.6 million, could have injury settlement
Harris and Woods seem like the most likely of the bunch to stick, but Harris could be brought back at a lower number if he is released, and those two need to be rotational players rather than the best two players the Seahawks have up front. Jefferson, Mone, and Ford all seem unlikely to return.
This will become a priority position via the draft, but it’s hard not to see what the Bengals have done in free agency in recent years, adding starters Trey Hendrickson and DJ Reader that have become key players in consecutive playoff runs, and think the draft alone will be enough. There is a big learning curve with defensive linemen, especially in this scheme, and the team needs quality players that can play right away.
The ideal addition would be Daron Payne, the 25-year-old defensive tackle from the Washington Commanders, but he’ll be the most expensive free agent on the market, and is more likely to be franchise tagged. Other scheme fits that are set to hit free agency would be Dre’Mont Jones (Broncos), Javon Hargrave (Eagles), Greg Gaines (Rams), Zach Allen (Cardinals). None of those will be cheap either. Gaines probably provides the best value, but is closer to one dimensional.
Expect Schneider and Carroll to try and add core young pieces through the draft as well. One name for Seahawk fans to get familiar with will be Tyree Wilson, who is already being linked to the team in several mock drafts with a top 10 pick if Jalen Carter (Georgia) is not available. He is 6-foot-6 with insanely long arms (wingspan is similar to Giannis). He is a freakish talent that will rise a lot if he has a good combine workout. Another name that would fit the Seahawks is Baylor DT Siaka Ika. He is a 350-pound defensive tackle that is known as one of the best run defenders in college football. He would be a logical target with one of the second round picks.
EDGE RUSHER
- Under Contract: Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Darrell Taylor
- Free Agents: Bruce Irvin,
I’ve been very critical of how the Seahawks have built this position group since they traded away Frank Clark, but the team is finally starting to put together a more sustainable approach from a roster building standpoint. It is not prudent to have to go into every offseason wondering who your best pass rusher is, as they did from 2019-22.
They have accumulated some good young players, as Uchenna Nwosu proved to be a good free agent addition, as him and Darrell Taylor both had career-high 9.5 sacks last season. Taylor struggled in run defense and was benched before he emerged late in the season as a third down rusher. Boye Mafe showed more flashes as a run defender in his rookie season, but had some better rushes off the edge late in the year.
Nwosu is in the final year of his deal, and the team could extend him to lower his $13 million cap hit, while Taylor will be a RFA after the 2023 season and Maye was in the first year of his rookie contract.
All three players are under 27 years old, which is great starting point to build a position group, but it is clear that the needs more of a difference maker to headline the unit, as Carroll indicated in his post-season press conference, to jump to the next level.
There isn’t a blue chip edge rusher available in free agency, unfortunately, as the best players available will be either older declining players (Robert Quinn, Yanick Ngakoue, Jadeveon Clowney) or more secondary pass rushers such as Charles Omenihu (SF), Samson Ekubam (SF), Marcus Davenport (NO). So this area will likely be addressed via the draft, where edge rusher is a strength of the 2023 draft class.
Alabama’s Will Anderson would be the ideal pick in the first round, but he seems to be more of a long shot to fall to pick No. 5. Otherwise, there are a plethora of other options that can be found in the draft, such as Andre Carter (Army), Nolan Smith (Georgia), Felix Anudike-Uzomah (Kansas State), Isiaiah Foskey (Notre Dame), or a bigger rusher like Lukas Van Ness (Iowa) that could all be available at pick 20 or later.
INSIDE LINEBACKER
- Under Contract: Jordyn Brooks, Ben Burr-Kirven, Vi Jones
- Free Agents: Cody Barton, Tanner Muse (RFA), Jon Rhattigan (RFA),
As questionable as the interior defensive line is, this is arguably the bleakest roster spot heading into the offseason. The lone starter under contract, Jordyn Brooks, tore his ACL late in the season and will likely not be ready for the start of the 2023 season. Barton, the other starter from 2022, did not do enough to warrant a starting job for next season (sorry Xs and Os twitter, KJ Wright agrees). With Brooks’ timeline unclear, I have some concern the team might prioritize Barton as a free agent to have some continuity in the group.
The Seahawks should instead look at free agency to upgrade, as ILB is one of the deeper position groups in free agency, which could create some value signings.
From a positional value standpoint, you don’t want to break the bank at an inside linebacker so that should rule out bigger names such as former first round pick Tremaine Edmunds (Bills), who will get big money if he hits the open market, but there are plenty of names I would look at including Germaine Pratt (Bengals), Bobby Okereke (Colts), Alex Singleton (Broncos), Leighton Vander Esch (Cowboys), Drue Tranquill (Chargers), or David Long (Titans), all of which are 30 or under and shouldn’t cost too much in terms of APY or cap hit.
A lot of teams have also found quality off ball linebackers later in the draft, so this should be a focus for the Seahawks as they get into Round 3 and beyond. San Francisco found both their starting linebackers outside of the first 60 picks, as Fred Warner was drafted in round 3, and Dre Greenlaw went in Round 5, and it is a position historically where you can plug-and-play a lot easier than on the defensive line. This draft class doesn’t have a lot of frontline prospects at off-ball linebacker.
CORNERBACK
- Under Contract: Tariq Woolen, Coby Bryant, Tre Brown. Isaiah Dunn,
- Free Agents: Michael Jackson (ERFA), Artie Burns, Justin Coleman, Xavier Crawford
Similar to the offensive tackle position, this is the healthiest position group the Seahawks have on defense from a team building standpoint. Three of the top four players on the depth chart are all on rookie contracts, and as a ERFA, Jackson will not be expensive to retain. Cornerback has become one of the premiere positions on the market, so allocating such a low amount to a core position, gives the team a huge competitive advantage to address their deficiencies in the trenches for the next 2-to-3 years once they deal with the problem you will see below.
There likely isn’t a outside free agent that would be prioritized here, but cornerback is one of the best position groups in the draft, so do not be surprised if they continue to add here in the draft to even further build a position of strength.
SAFETY
- Under Contract: Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, Joey Blount
- Free Agents: Ryan Neal (RFA), Jon Abram, Teez Tabor, Josh Jones
As good as cornerback is from a team building standpoint, safety is the exact opposite for the Seahawks. No team is close to committing as many cap dollars at the safety position than Seattle, as Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs both have cap hits of $18.1 million for 2023. That’s an astonishing 36.2 million going to two starting safeties, a number that would make most cap managers sick to their stomach. This number would ideally be shifted into the defensive line, especially if Geno gets an extension.
The total safety allocation will grow even bigger if the Seahawks use a second-round RFA tender on Neal, who was their most consistent safety this year. Giving Diggs that kind of cap hit in the second year of his contract was a telling sign the team initially planned to have a rookie quarterback. They could badly use a rookie salary at this position.
The Seahawks do have options, however, if they deem this as untenable moving forward. The team could release Diggs, which would clear $9.9 million of cap room or they could designate him as a June 1 cut, spreading the cap hit over two years, which would clear $14 million for 2023. However, this will create another roster hole, and based on how Carroll talked about Diggs after the season, referring to him as one of the team’s difference makers on defense, that does not seem in the cards.
Adams would not make sense to be outright released from a cap standpoint, as the team would take on a $21 million dead hit and not save any money, but a post-June 1 cut would clear out $11 million. Given Adams’ injury recovery timeline and durability issues over the last three seasons, GM John Schneider has a pretty good case to ask his camp to redo the deal, but not sure they will go that route.
There are even cleaner outs next season, so this is likely the last season Adams and Diggs will be on the roster together, without a dramatic spike in Adams’ play. The team will need to reshape this group beyond 2023.