Expect Seattle Seahawks to play the long game during free agency – Seattle Seahawks Blog
SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks cleared more than $ 14 million in wiggle room when they released Carlos Dunlap’s defensive end earlier this week. It wasn’t long before observers began connecting the imaginary dots together, assuming the Seahawks were unleashing money to provide quarterback Russell Wilson with expensive help on the offensive line.
Of course, the savings from Dunlap’s release would be enough to help the Seahawks compete against one of the big-name offensive linemen about to get a free agency like Center Corey Linsley (an all-pro with the Green Bay Packers) meet last season) or left guard Joe Thuney (who just played with the New England Patriots on Franchise Day). These are the two positions in which Seattle is unsettled up front.
To be even more certain, signing one of those players would calm Wilson down and bring the temperature down to tensions that are still hot according to the quarterback publicly radiating his frustrations with the organization last month. Among these frustrations, any hits he scored behind an offensive line that he wants to see will be improved.
“I think this is a big thing that we need to fix,” Wilson said of his passport protection on The Dan Patrick Show. “It has to be fixed and it has to be at the end of the day because my goal is to play another 10 to 15 years.”
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The Seahawks will sign offensive linemen in the free agency and spend some money on it, but are unlikely to deviate from their usual approach and give top-of-the-market glory to any player.
Consider …
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The Seahawks knew when they acquired Dunlap in October that if they couldn’t agree to an extension they would have to cut him off that off-season, so that decision was not made in response to Wilson’s frustrations that surfaced.
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Cutting Dunlap created another hole in the Seahawks’ list. Edge Rusher joined the offensive line and ran back and forth amid the numerous demands they had to meet without a plethora of resources. They’ll go free with a cap of around $ 20 million – assuming they don’t release before the negotiating window begins on Monday – and they only have four draft picks with no first or third place finishers.
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Throwing a lot of money on offensive linemen – or any other position – in March is not General Manager John Schneider’s MO at all.
“They know that we are not people who clear the bank,” said Schneider in the last off-season.
This is especially true for the last few years.
Since 2016 – when the first of Wilson’s two massive expansions went into effect – the Seahawks have ranked 31st in total contract value for external freelance agents, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research. On average for the year, Ezekiel Ansah’s one-year $ 9 million deal in 2019 was the largest Seattle has given any other team’s free agent since Schneider and coach Pete Carroll in 2010.
Joe Thuney would be an upgrade for the Seahawks, but there’s a good chance he’ll go over Seattle’s budget. Fred Kfoury III / Icon Sportswire
Dallas and Pittsburgh are the only other teams whose most expensive UFA expansion has not topped $ 9 million a year since 2016. The Seahawks haven’t introduced UFA for a total base value of more than $ 20 million since Sidney Rice and Zach Miller in 2011.
Schneider’s comment not to break the bank was a preface to his answer when asked about the four offensive linemen Seattle signed last March.
Of the four real tackles, Brandon Shell’s two-year $ 9 million deal was the biggest. He’s the only one left (Center BJ Finney was sent to Cincinnati in the Dunlap trade after going out of shape, security guard Chance Warmack signed off and was recently released, and Cedric Ogbuehi is a free agent again, after advancing sufficiently for Shell four games).
While Shell turned out to be a nice addition, Wilson is sick of the Seahawks’ reluctance to spend big upfront. It’s no coincidence that the four teams on his first list of acceptable trading destinations – Dallas (before the Dak Prescott expansion), Las Vegas, Chicago, and New Orleans – have recently shown their willingness to deploy high-priced offensive lines.
The Seahawks would tell you, however, that their bargain approach to the free hand is the smart way to go, and necessary for a team with a quarterback who makes as much as Wilson. You don’t want to get into a bidding war in March and overpay for an offensive lineman at the expense of a better player who may later be available for less money.
In a year when every team is at risk of a reduced salary cap, the Seahawks expect more good players than usual to be available after June 1st. And as every year, they want to save some of their spending on in-season additions like the ones they made over recent trades for Dunlap and Quandre Diggs.
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All in all, it’s hard to see the Seahawks sign Thuney when it comes to a top-of-the-market deal. A more likely option for the Left Guard might be someone like Kevin Zeitler, who has just been released by the Giants. As Wilson’s college teammate in Wisconsin, Zeitler is a solid and seasoned starter who is likely more likely to be in Seattle’s preferred price range.
If the Seahawks don’t re-sign Ethan Pocic, Austin Blythe could be an affordable alternative to Linsley at the center, helping with the offensive transition from Seattle under new coordinator Shane Waldron, who coached Blythe with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Seahawks expect Waldron’s system changes to alleviate their passport protection issues, which could reduce the extent to which they prioritize upgrades for their line.
All of this suggests the likelihood that in the free hand the Seahawks will stick to business as usual, maintaining their patient approach and not indulging in pressure to break the bank on a left guard or in a center – as much as their frustrated quarterback does wishes.
And if their path doesn’t improve in 2021, Wilson will likely switch from upgrades to wishes.