ELITE Seahawks offseason start

Trading DK Metcalf will help Seahawks have the most spending power in the NFL

The worst-case scenario start to the Seahawks 2025 offseason would have included extending DK Metcalf, so the fact that Seattle was willing to part with bloated contracts and put Metcalf on the trade block tells me that the team has already accepted its reality. Which is that the Seahawks have been a good team, but they haven’t been a good-enough team to keep the band together and run it back.

In fact, trading Metcalf is so encouraging that the idea of keeping Geno Smith and even guaranteeing the quarterback some money is far more palatable in the wake of offloading DK’s $18 million salary and extension requests.

It would still be smart for the Seahawks to let Geno test his market before signing anything, and the “without Geno offseason plan” includes an additional $30 million to spend, but if Seattle has a vision that includes him and a young quarterback in waiting that’s an easier pill to swallow after cutting and trading dead weight.

And trading Metcalf in addition to saving over $40 million in 2025 cap space with this weeks cuts is not even the most exciting part:

The Seattle Seahawks are on the verge of having the most amount of money to spend in 2026!

2026 salary cap — Seahawks MUST spend some money!

It has come up a few times recently, including in Wednesday’s “What could the Seahawks get for DK Metcalf in trade?” article, that the Las Vegas Raiders have the most buying power in the league right now. Here’s how that breaks down:

• Raiders have $217m active cap spending in 2025 (2nd-most cap space)

• Raiders have $114m active cap spending in 2026 (most cap space)

The NFL hasn’t set a 2026 salary cap yet and won’t until next year, but overthecap is projecting them at $181 million (although this doesn’t include Maxx Crosby’s new extension yet) in cap space next year.

There are so many changes in the coming months that will change these figures and how much cap space teams have in 2026, but stick with me…

Let’s pretend the Seahawks trade Metcalf on Thursday. This will save Seattle an additional $10.9 million cap space in 2025, and another $7 million in 2026…though Metcalf is a 2026 free agent, the trade moves his void year up to 2025.

(If any of this sounds wrong to you, feel free to tell me in the comments.)

Here would be the Seahawks new spending figures:

• Seahawks have $244m active cap spending in 2025 (21st in cap space)

• Seahawks have $108m active cap spending in 2026 (most cap space?)

I can’t emphasize enough how much will CHANGE between now and March, 2026, but that’s not what really matters in this context. Here’s what matters:

Going into free agency over the next week and a half, the Seahawks should have absolute CARTE BLANCHE with spending. Though I never expect John Schneider to go buck wild, at least this time Seahawks fans can know it’s not for lack of opportunity…

“But isn’t 2026 cap space for 2026? What does that matter now?”

Actually, not really. If anything, 2025 is for 2026. Because teams usually pay discounted rates in the beginning of new veteran contracts, any big free agent signings should be relatively cheap in 2025 and see their cap hits balloon in 2026 and 2027.

So hypothetically if the Seahawks sign Drew Dalman, the highest-rated center on the market, to a four-year, $50 million contract, his cost would be roughly $6.5 million in 2025 and $14.5 million in 2026. Here is the breakdown for Lloyd Cushenberry, a center who signed that deal in 2024:

If Seattle signs Dalman or a similarly-priced guard in free agency, people may wonder “Do they have enough money for that and everything else they want to do?” and the answer is a resounding YES because the Seahawks are flush with cap space in 2026 when the contract numbers go up.

It’s not that the Seahawks “can” afford to spend money, it’s that the Seahawks HAVE TO spend their money! Once DK is traded, the only veterans under contract in 2026 are:

• Leonard Williams

• Uchenna Nwosu

• Jason Myers

• Julian Love

Of those four, only Love is signed for 2027 and we know that Nwosu is already on the chopping block. The Seahawks need to start committing to some vets.

There’s money for the future

A large part of the reason for having and creating cap space is that Seattle knows the coming influx of extension eligible players on the horizon, but the Seahawks have enough money for free agents and their draft players:

• Charles Cross (5th-year option is a sure thing, I expect an extension)

• Kenneth Walker

• Boye Mafe

• Tariq Woolen

• Abe Lucas

• Coby Bryant

These players from the 2022 draft class will eat a large chunk of future cap space, but again: If they’re extended in 2026, they won’t cost much against the cap until 2027 at the earliest.

But if you really think about it, the only players who are likely to carry “big” cap numbers are Cross, Lucas (if he is healthy), and Mafe. Running backs and safeties don’t make as much as other positions, while Woolen’s consistency has a long ways to go before he can be considered for top-tier pay.

At this time, the Seahawks have almost nothing committed to the 2027 salary cap.

Is that normal? The 49ers have $201 million committed for 2027 and $125 million for 2028, when the Seahawks currently have $0!

I repeat: PLENTY will change between now and 2027. But a lot of what San Francisco owes in 2027 is DEAD MONEY ON VOID YEARS. Fred Warner, George Kittle, Trent Williams, Leonard Floyd, Javon Hargrave, Kyle Juszczyk…the 49ers have gone all-in on their current roster so in theory they should have much less flexibility that Seattle in the coming years.

In contrast, the Rams also have little committed in 2027 and nothing in 2028, and they’ll be paying players like Puka Nacua, Jared Verse, and Kobie Turner as they get closer to those dates.

It’ll be important then for the Seahawks to strike before and better than the Rams as it pertains to contractual commitments for upgrades.

How do the Seahawks continue an elite offseason?

The two biggest financial questions left on the team are Geno Smith and Uchenna Nwosu.

Whether he is cut, traded, or takes a pay cut, the best outcome for Seattle as it pertains to Nwosu is that he doesn’t make $20 million in 2025. That’s just unreasonable.

• Nwosu has missed 22 of a possible 34 games since 2023

• In his most recent 20 games, Nwosu has 5.5 sacks

• 4 of those sacks came in 2 games

Based on that last fact, we know that Nwosu has 1.5 sacks in the other 18 games. That’s 16 of 20 games with NO sacks. Fans can argue for days that “sacks aren’t everything” and that’s true, but pass rushers GET PAID for sacks. That’s what they get paid for, more than anything else, it’s right there in the name of the position!

Nwosu is good, but he’s definitely not a $20 million pass rusher. Or even a $10 million pass rusher. The Seahawks have to cut that number down or cut Nwosu.

Geno Smith

On Geno’s fit into “the perfect offseason”, I think we see three potential outcomes:

1 - Geno is released or traded (saves $31m)

2 - Geno is retained with no contractual changes

3 - Geno is extended to bring down his cap hit, but doesn’t get guaranteed beyond 2025

As contradictory as it sounds to “extend” a player without committing to him, the Raiders did this with Derek Carr in 2022 and he was gone by 2023. The last thing the Seahawks should do with Geno is slap him with a Kirk Cousins contract, which would mean tying him to Seattle at $45 million per year in 2026 and 2027.

As I’ve mentioned recently, Cousins is a viable replacement option if the Seahawks go with option one for several reasons:

• If the Falcons release Cousins, he’ll cost $1 million!

• OC Klint Kubiak, QBs coach Andrew Janocko are close with Kirk

• There would be no time spent teaching a new language to the QB

Given his past with Kubiak, Cousins would be running the offense and teaching it to Seahawks on his first day in the office. If the Falcons release him and Seattle signs him to replace Geno, the team saves $30 million in cap space. If Cousins feels like a doomed future at QB, which it may be (I’m not a Kirk endorser, it’s just connecting logical dots), this wouldn’t prevent the Seahawks from drafting a QB in 2025 or 2026, or both years.

By the time we actually get to the draft, a QB prospect like Tyler Shough or Jaxson Dart may appear to be totally reasonable targets in the first round. And if the Seahawks have saved $30 million in cap space, then invested that money into a better supporting cast (WR, G, C, TE), a QB like Cousins and/or Shough could have a great chance of success.

If Seattle merely keeps Geno on his current deal, that could be fine too, but they won’t be spending that $30 million anywhere else on the roster. If the Seahawks extend Geno to lower his cap number, they could be cutting down their immense 2026 cap space…significantly.

Can an elite offseason include Geno Smith? That’s up for debate. Some says he’s necessary to an elite offseason, others argue that he’s antithetical to it.

What is proven time and time again is that the teams that spend the least amount on a really good or great starting quarterback are often the teams that play deep in the postseason.

Outgoing free agents

There are only two that would seem to have priority:

• LB Ernest Jones

• DT Jarran Reed

It was revealed on Wednesday that Jones underwent surgery this offseason, news that his agent is spinning as a positive while others say this will give the Seahawks pause to sign right away. In all cases, Seattle should test the linebacker market before making a deal with Jones straight up.

Reed should not cost a lot, and most likely the Seahawks won’t be in a rush to sign him. Overpaying any free agent would be a mistake by definition, it’s just a matter of what you define as an “overpay”. For me, Jones over $10 million per season would be an overpay.

Incoming free agents

We should find out what the Seahawks are doing with Geno, DK, and Nwosu before we breakdown Seattle’s best options in free agency. Outside additions are almost always paid too much and free agency is a consistent red herring for improvement.

That being said, the Eagles signed Saquon Barkley, Zack Baun, CJ Gardner Johnson, and Mekhi Becton last year, four of their best all-around players en route to winning the Super Bowl. So teams should be cautious in free agency, but not too cautious.

By getting off to the offseason start we’ve seen so far, the Seahawks seem ready to compete for players. Not just to make the moves we’ve expected, but perhaps some surprises that we didn’t.

Seaside Joe 2193