We’re super excited to share this guest post with you from Braxton Kendall. Braxton is one of our Patreon members who is always sharing great info and thoughts on the Seahawks in our Slack. Below is part one of his offseason outlook for the players currently on Seattle’s roster.
Well there you have it, after what has seemed like one of the most improbable seasons for Seattle in a very long time, including a winning record and a playoff appearance, Seattle fell to their rival 49ers in a 41-23 2nd half rout. While most seasons the 12s would be down and out, clamoring for massive organizational change, the pulse of Seahawks fans seems to be mostly positive and for good reason. It’s not often you trade away your greatest QB in franchise history, and cut a future Hall Of Fame Linebacker after going 7-10 and missing the playoffs and actually do better. But alas, despite all odds, Seattle may have pulled off one of the quickest and most efficient rebuilds in NFL history.
Now the attention of the team and fans alike turn towards the offseason. While it won’t provide the chest pumping excitement of watching a clutch Metcalf touchdown, a critical 3rd down sack, or a last second game winner from Money Myers, the NFL offseason provides its own brand of drama and intrigue. This is where the road to the Lombardi truly begins, and oh how sweet it will be to raise it once again in the Emerald City.
Free Agency doesn’t officially open until the start of the league year on March 15th, but there are several decisions to be made regarding Seattle’s own free agents. Expectations are much higher for 2023 than they were a year ago and Seattle has many holes to fill, and positions to reinforce. Seattle has already gotten a head start with signing longtime Seahawks kicker Jason Myers to a new 4 year deal making him the 2nd highest paid Kicker in the league. A good start to be sure, but let’s begin our dive into Seattle’s pending free agents and take a look at a few players who I believe should be priorities to bring back.
While Seattle currently sports the 6th most cap space in the NFL per overthecap.com ($34,280,644), Seattle also has 34 players set to become free agents on March 15th. This potentially leaves many positions dangerously light.
Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA): QB Geno Smith, QB Drew Lock, RB Rashaad Penny, RB Travis Homer, WR Marquise Goodwin, WR Laquon Treadwell, FB/LB Nick Bellore, FB/LB Cullen Gillaspia, G Phil Haynes, C Austin Blythe, C Kyle Fuller, DT Poona Ford, DE LJ Collier, OLB Bruce Irvin, OLB Darryl Johnson Jr, ILB Cody Barton, ILB Ben Burr-Kirven, CB Artie Burns, CB Justin Coleman, CB Xavier Crawford, DB Teez Tabor, SS Josh Jones, SS Johnathan Abram, LS Tyler Ott, LS Carson Tinker
Restricted Free Agents (RFA): WR Penny Hart, ILB Tanner Muse, SS Ryan Neal
Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA): RB Tony Jones Jr, RB Godwin Igwebuike, WR Cody Thompson, DT Myles Adams, ILB Jon Rhattigan, CB Mike Jackson Sr
As you can see we’ll have no Quarterbacks on our roster as of today with Geno Smith and Drew Lock hitting Free Agency. Similarly both of our Centers are free agents in addition to Guard Phil Haynes making the interior of this offensive line a bit worse for wear. Even off-ball linebacker is a position of need with Jordyn Brooks recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery and no linebackers signed to bulk up that position. With that being said, here are 5 players Seattle should be pushing to bring back this offseason.
QB Geno Smith
The decision of whether to sign Geno to a long term deal as your franchise option, or bring in a young rookie QB to be the future will likely be a point of contention among Seahawks fans for the next several months. Either way I fully expect Seattle to bring Geno back into the fold for at least the next two years somewhere in the range of $25-$30 Million APY.
SS Ryan Neal
Ryan Neal filled in for a disappointing Josh Jones after Week 4 and never looked back, being one of the most consistent and dangerous weapons in Seattle’s secondary. He’s set to be a Restricted Free agent meaning Seattle could choose to tender him this offseason or sign him to a long term deal. The Projected RFA Tender amount for Neal would cost $2.629 Million fully guaranteed which would be a bargain considering Neal’s play in 2022 and that he’ll only be 27 at the start of next season.
WR Marquise Goodwin
Marquise Goodwin fit well in Shane Waldron’s offense as the WR3, putting up 27 catches for 387 yards and 4 TDs in 11 games, and had a good rapport with QB Geno Smith. He would be a solid third option going into next season especially when you look at the production of the receivers behind him this season.
- Dee Eskridge: 7 catches, 58 yards
- Laquon Treadwell: 6 catches, 42 yards
- Dareke Young: 2 catches, 24 yards
- Cade Johnson: 2 catches, 21 yards
- Penny Hart: 3 catches, 20 yards
With him being almost 33 next season, he can likely be re-signed for veteran minimum.
LB Tanner Muse
I was a big fan of the move to sign Tanner Muse when he was let go by the Las Vegas Raiders. Originally drafted as a Safety out of Clemson he was used primarily as an off ball linebacker in Seattle’s systems. His snap count increased a bit with the loss of Jordyn Brooks to a knee injury and he flashed potential. With Seattle being stretched very thin in their linebacker room and Jordyn Brooks likely to miss time next season, this is a no brainer to reinforce a position of need.
While there will be many more free agent decisions to be made in the offseason this covers a few that should help bring continuity to several important positions on an evolving Seahawks roster.
In part 2, we will cover which players could be shown the door to save Seattle some cap space.