Seahawks remaining needs
Snap Judgments: Which players take over roles for Seahawks who are no longer on Seattle's roster?
Between quarterback, receiver, and several positions on the offensive line, we know the Seattle Seahawks have to change at least half of their starting offense in 2025, and do so with a new offensive coordinator.
Here are 2024 snaps counts for players who will be replaced on offense and defense in 2025.
QB Geno Smith: 1,075 snaps
Snaps → Sam Darnold
In the history of the franchise, there is perhaps no quarterback who was more highly regarded as a prospect than Darnold. That prestige coming out of USC didn’t amount to much in his first six seasons, but the Seahawks signed Darnold on Monday in the hopes that the blame for his downfall belongs to the Jets…and it wouldn’t be the first time that Seattle benefited from the Jets mismanaging a quarterback.
G Laken Tomlinson: 1,097 snaps
LG Snaps → ???
Tomlinson signed with the Texans on Tuesday, so fans don’t need to worry about a reunion in 2025. One thing we knew about Christian Haynes in the draft last year was how often it was emphasized that he was strictly a “right guard” prospect, nothing else.
That can change, but if the Seahawks view Haynes as a right guard then who replaces Tomlinson on the left?
Talk to any Seahawks fan today and they’ll let you know that John Schneider hasn’t signed a guard or center in free agency yet. How shocking: the Seahawks aren’t blowing down doors to sign a guard in free agency.
Several of the top names available as of this writing are: Teven Jenkins, Kevin Zeitler, Mekhi Becton, and Brandon Scherff.
In a way, it’s a good thing that Seattle hasn’t signed any of these players yet because it implies they aren’t getting a ton of offers. I had Becton in my offseason plan, so perhaps he’s still an option if his price is going down.
In house options to replace Tomlinson are: Haynes, Sataoa Laumea, Anthony Bradford, Michael Jerrell, and Jalen Sundell.
I won’t highlight the right guard snaps, just repeat everything I said here about left guad.
WR DK Metcalf: 832 snaps
X WR Snaps → ???
WR Tyler Lockett: 765 snaps
Z WR Snaps → ???
In the wake of “the trade”, the Seahawks have 1,600 snaps to replace at wide receiver next season. Seattle’s not going to push the panic button on these positions, however.
First and foremost, the team needs to run the ball better before worrying about who gets targets after Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The only other receivers signed for 2025 are Jake Bobo, Dareke Young, and John Rhys Plumlee, who wasn’t moved to the position until last year. Fans should expect a receiver to be drafted in the first three rounds (especially now that the Seahawks have 5 of the top-95 picks) and some of the veteran names on the market are Cooper Kupp (soon to be released, but probably not a good fit in Seattle), Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs (who I’ve been predicting), Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Elijah Moore.
Others will become available. I would look at receiver as a position that gets replaced in the next two years, and not something that has to be immediately prioritized.
C Connor Williams: 618 snaps
C Olu Oluwatimi: 438 snaps
C Snaps → ???
The Seahawks have Oluwatimi and Sundell signed for 2025, so either of them could compete for the job. The Vikings signed center Ryan Kelly this week, so expect Garrett Bradbury (my pick for Seattle’s next center) to hit the market soon or be traded.
RT Stone Forsythe: 414 snaps
RT George Fant: 30 snaps
Utility OT Snaps → Josh Jones
Seattle signed Josh Jones on Monday, a former third round pick going into his sixth NFL season. He’s kind of “just a guy” and would be expected to inherit Fant/Forsythe’s role as a utility backup, probably not as a starting guard
.OLB Dre’Mont Jones: 617 snaps
OLB Snaps → ???
Here’s somewhere that Uchenna Nwosu’s return kind of fits in, as the Seahawks released Jones but have yet to do the same with Nwosu. Can he really make $20 million this year given his lack of games played in the past two years?
If so, Nwosu (only 190 snaps last year) gets a bump into the starting role again and the Seahawks are almost set at edge…at least for one season.
Between Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, and Nwosu, that’s almost enough at outside linebacker—but only if all three are healthy. Which is rarely the case. Mafe is a 2026 free agent and Nwosu’s career is teetering on the edge, so the position is probably going to be a priority in the draft.
LB Tyrel Dodson/Jerome Baker: 895 snaps
LB Snaps → Ernest Jones/Tyrice Knight
This job was mostly taken care of when Seattle traded for Jones midseason, and now that he’s been re-signed the Seahawks can focus on other needs.
CB Tre Brown: 290 snaps
Backup CB Snaps → ???
Brown is the most notable remaining Seattle free agent, but the Seahawks didn’t need him much last season and then he fell out of favor entirely. The team is keeping Josh Jobe, in addition to still having Devon Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen and Nehemiah Pritchett, but cornerback could still be a need.
Seaside Joe 2197
This was (according to people who know personnel better than me) a mediocre free agent class at best. While Fries might have been the best guard a team didn’t want to resign, it’s not like he was an All Pro or something. I would dare say that none of us had heard of him before free agency. Not that we know many starting guards’ names, but my point is that we don’t need to lament passing up potentially overpaying for a position of need out of desperation.
Similarly, we do need pass-catchers, and while some of those are well known vets; I am fine with passing if the prices aren’t right. We have a lot of draft picks. I would prefer to trade some for better players. Or simply use them.
The NFL is a hard cap league. There is no worry that they might not spend the money. They just need to allocate it toward the best talents and scheme fits. We’re just a few days into free agency. It’s not like we gave Aaron Rodgers a 4 year deal. No moves yet are anything particularly lamentable; we just hate seeing our aging stars leave and not replace them right away. R.E.L.A.X, Seahawks fans! It’s going to be a very different team in the future, but that could be a good thing! We’ve been stuck at slightly better than average for too long. This feels to me like a series of moves that open up our chance at greatness. Time will tell, but this fan is excited and optimistic.
I say we sign Zeitler to a 1 year deal to push left guard need down the road. We’ll have this year’s draft, next year’s free agency and next year’s draft to find his successor. I hadn’t thought about picking up the Vikings center, but we still have beaucoup cap space to do so.
My hope is best player available at 18 is an edge rusher. If we keep Nwosu and push his cap into next year, he will be terribly expensive in 2026. I’d rather see a rookie edge with 5 years of club control at the position. That will leave money for Mafe to be extended if he can improve his performance this year. Hopefully one of those rookies from last year can step up their game and start at right guard, but 1 of our four 2nd & 3rd round picks should be interior O-line. The other three should be WE, CB and IDL or TE. Maybe go back to WR in round 4 unless we sign a FA WR. Diggs or Elijah Moore. Moore was a 1st round pick, but played with the Jets and horrible QBs, then went to the Browns with even worse QBs. He might be unlocked by Kubiak, has not been signed yet, and will likely be available for peanuts. Unsalted at that!