4 free agents who would be worth the Seahawks spending big money for next week

Is there a high-priced free agent worth it for Seahawks?: Seaside Joe 1831

Here’s a question that I don’t think any other Seahawks writers have pondered or addressed yet: Who are the players that the team has to pay in 2026?

As of today, the Seahawks have $33 million in contract commitments for 2026, the fifth-lowest amount in the NFL. By comparison, the San Francisco 49ers have $172 million committed in 2026, the fifth-highest amount. The L.A. Rams have $105 million in 2026 contracts, while the Arizona Cardinals have $82 million. That’s still two years down the road so obviously teams will have to cut and trade expensive players before then, dramatically changing the look of the list, but I ask you again: Which players do the Seahawks even have to cut in 2026? Not many!

Seattle only has two veteran players signed for 2026, one being Uchenna Nwosu and the other being Jason Myers. And I could see both of those players cut before reaching the final years of their current contracts. So while we are looking at the Seahawks having $41 million in 2024 cap space following their recent releases of Quandre Diggs, Will Dissly, and Jamal Adams, don’t overlook that Seattle also has $63 million of projected cap space in 2025 and $251 million(!!!) of projected cap space in 2026.

Typically when teams extend their drafted players and sign outside free agents, they take on the bulk of their cap commitment in the future and not the present year. So in Seattle’s case, a team that really needs to load for the future and no go “all-in” like the Dallas Cowboys claim they want to do, it may not be a matter of whether or not the Seahawks need to use the $40 million to get better immediately…

Instead, I find it probable that GM John Schneider must look one and two years down the road and realize that in the times when Seattle should be expected to contend that they DON’T HAVE MANY IMPORTANT PLAYERS SIGNED for 2025 and 2026. Therefore, don’t we need to look at free agents who should be able to help the team in two or three years instead of ones who are necessarily “upgrades” in 2024?

(Sidenote: This article isn’t about this but it is important that I address the question I posed about who will even be on the roster in 2026: The team may end up extending some of their recent draft picks like Charles Cross, Ken Walker, Riq Woolen, Boye Mafe, Abe Lucas, Coby Bryant, Tre Brown to name a few who are scheduled for free agency by then, while they could also extend players like DK Metcalf and Dre’Mont Jones, for example. But I don’t see anything near $250 million with that entire group.)

What the Seahawks would need to do then—in addition to trying to draft themselves the core of a Super Bowl championship team, as Super Bowl champion teams tend to do—is ask if there are any high-priced available free agents who could become one of the core playes who Seattle actually wants and expects to pay big money to in 2026.

Look at the 49ers, for example:

San Francisco acquired LT Trent Williams in 2020 and extended him for a $23m/year contract in 2021. Williams is both expensive and one of the three most-important players on the Niners roster. The 49ers have also acquired veterans Christian McCaffrey, Charvarius Ward, and Javon Hargrave in their attempt to have enough talent to win the Super Bowl. (May it stay as only “an attempt”.)

The Rams also acquired Matthew Stafford knowing that even if the bill wouldn’t come due for three years (Stafford was a relatively inexpensive QB from 2021-2023 but has a huge raise in 2024), they could afford it by then.

The three-time Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs get credit for drafting Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, and Travis Kelce. Overlooked is their expensive acquisitions like Joe Thuney, Jawaan Taylor, and previous to that Frank Clark, Tyrann Mathieu and Orlando Brown.

Would the Seahawks and should the Seahawks target any 2024 free agents based in the reality that the team doesn’t have any core players signed to the roster beyond the next one or two years, when presumably they’ll need veterans to help Devon Witherspoon and Boye Mafe and Abe Lucas if they ascend to the next level?

I can think of a few potential targets who fit the mold. Why don’t I start by scratching off a few who you might think I would target.

Too old:

DE Danielle Hunter, DT Christian Wilkins, DT Chris Jones, LT Tyron Smith, DE Leonard Williams

How can I say these players are “too old” when they aren’t 30? Hunter turns 30 in October, so he’ll have his age-32 season in 2026. The only edge rusher with more than nine sacks last season who was over 31 was Khalik Mack, and he was 32. Leonard Floyd was 31. Jadeveon Clowney is 31, Kyle Van Noy is 33.

Mack had 17 sacks but is widely expected to be on the trade market, if not outright released. Floyd, Clowney, and Van Noy are mid-tier free agents. It’s not just Hunter who I’d have concerns about in 2-3 years, as T.J. Watt, Trey Hendrickson, and Haason Reddick also turn 30 this year.

There’s probably two categories, right: There’s the young guy you’re comfortable giving a lot of money to and there’s the old guy who is being undervalued, like Clowney and Van Noy were in 2023 free agency when they signed to play for Mike Macdonald. You don’t sign them after that season, you sign them before that season.

Believe it or not, Wilkins is already 28 as he was old for a rookie in 2019 and he only just had his breakout season in 2023. Stay away. No matter how bad Miami’s cap situation is, teams find money for franchise players like that so it is a bit of a red flag that he’s on the market despite being considered one of the top d-tackles in the league. I have to say that I feel the same way about Leonard Williams. As I wrote in my Seahawks defensive free agents primer, he’s not the type of player I would target if he wasn’t already on Seattle’s roster. Williams turns 30 in June and he wasn’t as good as Wilkins.

I’m only writing about first-wave free agents, so not Bobby Wagner or Erick Kendricks, for example. I wrote about how Eric Kendricks had a close connection to a Seahawks coach, but players like him or Wagner couldn’t be more than “Hey if you have no other offers and you wanna fill a role for us for one year, that’s fine.”

Not with the franchise tag:

OLB Josh Allen, CB L’Jarius Sneed, OLB Brian Burns, WR Tee Higgins, CB Jaylon Johnson (signed new deal on Thursday), S Antoine Winfield, DT Justin Madubuike, WR Michael Pittman

There’s always a chance that extenuating circumstances on a franchise tag could lead to a marquee player changing teams (see: Seahawks trading Clark to the Chiefs) but there’s nothing to see here. Most of these players are still unavailable, like Madubuike for example, but even the ones who probably are like Sneed, Burns, and Higgins, they aren’t worth a trade AND a contract.

I might suggest signing Allen or Burns if they were unrestricted free agents. I think as tagged players, they’re a little overrated. Where was this Josh Allen prior to his contract year?

Skepticism everywhere:

G Kevin Dotson, WR Calvin Ridley, LB Patrick Queen, DE Chase Young, QB Baker Mayfield, OT Mekhi Becton, LB Jordyn Brooks, LB Devin White, C Llloyd Cushenberry, S Geno Stone

When I’m contemplating players who are “so good that they’ll be worth paying for 2-4 more years” I do not think of anybody on this list. If you contacted me from a year in the future and said, “Joe, that player was actually awesome!” I wouldn’t be surprised with a name on this list (except for Becton). But with contract figures like expected here, I’m not asking for players who could be surprisingly great….

I’m looking for free agents who would shock me if they weren’t great.

What?:

QB Kirk Cousins, RB Josh Jacobs, RB Derrick Henry, RB Saquon Barkley, RB Austin Ekeler, QB Ryan Tannehill

Wouldn’t make much sense to me. Rich Eisen mentioned that Derrick Henry made so much sense to him for a fit with Seattle…I’d be so curious to know what league Eisen’s been watching recently that he’s confused with the NFL.

So that’s a lot of “don’t’s”, right? Are there any do’s? Don’t mind if I “DO”.

Building a roster in the NFL is not about adding to a list, it’s about starting with the entire list of ALL players and then going through a process that eliminates them one-by-one until you’re left with a short list. It’s deduction and that’s whether you’re talking about free agency, the draft, and players available on the market. John Schneider and Mike Macdonald are reducing the players already on the roster based on who will fit with the future, they are doing that with draft prospects, and they’re doing it with expected free agents.

Most of their free agent targets will be relatively inexpensive. I’ve made free agent lists here, here, and some trade ideas here, plus Wednesday’s proposal here. Well, I have four names to add to the list—four I haven’t covered before—that I would deduce are worth paying a little bit extra for because they’re not old, they are available, and they could be good when the Seahawks are good again.

These are the 4 free agents I might target if I’m John Schneider. Join the Regular Joes premium club to read the rest of this article in addition to all the bonus content, archives, and to join the comments community. Unlike Chris Jones, I promise you that Seaside Joe is an insane bargain guaranteed to last for many more years.

Free agent target #1 and my top name on the list of first wave free agents if I’m John Schneider: