These free agents wouldn't cost the Seahawks any comp picks
These free agents wouldn't cost the Seahawks any comp picks
QBs, LBs, guards, and safeties who the Seahawks could sign without it costing them 2025 compensatory picks, 3/12/2024
We know that he’s the head coach but did the Seattle Seahawks also hire Mike Macdonald for personnel and roster building advice? Because while the Baltimore Ravens have historically been the most intentional about getting compensatory picks, receiving an NFL-best 56 of them since the program started, the Seahawks have shown little care recently in making decisions that impact comp selections.
Two days into free agency, the Seahawks are already setup for the maximum allowed of four 2025 compensatory picks, and have avoided (intentionally or unintentionally) any signings that would negate any of those picks. Seattle is set to get at least a fourth round pick for the loss of Damien Lewis at $13.25 million per season (comp picks explained here) and they didn’t go after linebacker Patrick Queen, which would have offset that pick for them.
It’s a good thing I wrote a 2025 compensatory pick projection last week because I had a hunch that the Seahawks would buck their trend of only getting one in the last seven years and now it seems like they could get three or four. It hasn’t been 48 hours of free agency yet but the truth is that the further a franchise gets from the start of this period holding onto those picks, the less likely it is that they’ll sign anyone who could cost them a pick when they don’t have to do it. That’s why teams will wait until after the deadline and the start of the “second free agency period” that happens in the summer when vets can sign without costing a compensatory pick.
We might actually see Seattle be one of those teams this year.
However, the question most Seahawks fans are asking themselves right now is “Why don’t the Seahawks have enough players?” Besides the fact that it is March 12th and the NFL season doesn’t start for six months, meaning Seattle doesn’t need to field a team today, the last thing I want the Seahawks to do is panic-sign a player because they don’t have linebackers, guards, or a backup quarterback.
TUESDAY: 5 things, including trades, the Seahawks could be saving their cap space for in 2024
In the age of the Internet and Twitter, we have become news addicts, worrying about why our favorite teams haven’t made headlines while other teams get so many headlines! I do not need the instant gratification of signing a Patrick Queen or a Justin Simmons, news that will wear off by dinner (when Russell Wilson signed with the Steelers on Sunday night, I knew I’d be sick of the ‘takes’ on Wilson in Pittsburgh by Monday morning…and I was), as much as I hope the Seahawks create the best future possible for the franchise.
It’s not that compensatory picks have to be the end-all, be-all, but I could see John Schneider as a GM who gets annoyed when Seattle doesn’t have at least 10 draft picks, including this year as the Seahawks only have seven.
Part of the reason Seattle needs more young talent right now is that the 2021 draft class only had three players, two of whom are backups (Eskridge, Forsythe) and another (Tre Brown) who has had issues with health and consistency.
Meanwhile, the Rams made 14 picks last year, with some thanks to compensatory selections, and even when they miss on someone like QB Stetson Bennett, they can make up for it with players like Puka Nacua, a fifth round compensatory selection who set the rookie record for catches and yards.
The Rams and 49ers have an NFL-high five compensatory picks each this year (additional ones for the NFL’s minority hiring policy) and the Seahawks have zero. I think the Seahawks may want to change that in 2025 and these are remaining free agent options who could fill those needs without costing Seattle a 2025 compensatory pick, either because they were released from their former team, are very cheap, or were already on the Seahawks.
I’ll start with the linebackers and then go into QBs, G/Cs, and safeties for members of the Regular Joes club. Become a Seaside Joe subscriber for only $5 per month to read the full article.
LB
Bobby Wagner
There is no indication that the Seahawks are considering another season with Wagner, and in fact reports suggest the opposite, but he does qualify here as a linebacker who wouldn’t cost Seattle any compensatory picks as he’s not an outside free agent. Do the Seahawks change their stance on re-signing Wagner based on new information that other linebackers signed with different teams?
Wagner playing at a high level at age 34 would truly be historic but I don’t doubt that he’s capable of filling the role for another year. It could just be that the team doesn’t want remnants of the Pete Carroll defense and will let Macdonald start anew at inside linebacker.
Jerome Baker
If we’re going purely off of stats, then Baker is a more productive linebacker than Jordyn Brooks. In six years with the Dolphins, the 27-year-old Baker averaged 98 tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble, one interception, and five tackles for a loss per season. Miami released Baker to clear $10 million in cap space, then used the money to sign Brooks. You may be wondering why a team would want to replace Brooks with Baker if another team replaced Baker with Brooks, but the Dolphins have a new defensive coordinator and are undergoing a defensive overhaul. Plus, they needed the cap space and wanted to keep Baker on a new deal, but he didn’t agree and Brooks takes up less cap space in 2024.
As a player who was released, Baker would not factor into his next team’s compensatory picks formula.
Eric Kendricks
I wrote about Kendricks in my coaching connections-free agents article because he has a history with Seahawks DB coach Jeff Howard at not one, but two different stops. If Seattle needs a veteran stopgap, Kendricks would be cheap and not cost a draft pick because he was released by the Chargers last month. Kendricks has averaged 130 tackles, 7 TFL, and 3 sacks per season in the last three years.
Cheap: Zach Cunningham, Shaq Leonard, Kwon Alexander, Eric Wilson, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Krys Barnes
There is a varying level of talent and abilities here, but none of these players should carry a high price tag. In fact, a team might be able to sign Shaq Leonard, a former three-time All-Pro who is only 28, for less than $2-$3 million. Just last year, Leonard was waived by the Colts and picked up by the Eagles, having a marginal if any impact on Philadelphia.
So “who cares”? Well, the basis for excitement on hiring Macdonald is the fact that last year the Ravens found out that players like Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy, and Michael Pierce could actually be way more valuable than expected or valued.
Cunningham, who also played for the Eagles last year, had a history of being a good linebacker for the Texans and he’s 29. There are injury issues with both—and apparently some discipline issues with Cunningham—but we’re no longer talking about them as bank-breaking linebackers. If the cost is a veteran minimum deal and that doesn’t factor into Seattle’s comp formula, what’s the risk?
Eric Wilson is another name with a Seahawks coaching connection, and the rest of these players fall into a category of being somewhat experienced and very cheap. I could also throw Blake Martinez, Jarrad Davis, Anthony Barr, Tanner Muse, Jabril Cox into this category.