5 things Seahawks could be saving their money for
What will Seahawks do with their remaining cap space? Seaside Joe 1837
To save Seaside Joe subscribers from email bombardment, I have not updated you with every piece of Seahawks-related news that comes out this week. On Monday morning, I wrote that the Seahawks lost Colby Parkinson to the Rams to get the ball rolling, then had to write two more articles after Seattle first re-signed Noah Fant for two years before also securing Leonard Williams for three more years.
Like a beach, Seaside Joe knows that some things are best left semi-uncovered and in the case of Monday’s Seahawks-related news that includes: Jordyn Brooks signing with the Dolphins, Will Dissly signing with the Chargers, Damien Lewis signing with the Panthers, and including Parkinson’s contract with L.A. that sets Seattle up nicely for a 2025 compensatory pick pay day.
I made a 2025 compensatory pick projection last week and because the Seahawks have yet to sign an outside free agent, they’re setting up to get three or four next year if nothing else changes. At overthecap.com, they’re already projected for a fourth, fifth, and sixth. (Released players like Dissly do not count.)
It’s worth noting that because of the compensatory pick formula, signing a player like Patrick Queen basically costs the Seahawks a fourth round pick. Do I think that’s a big deal? I do not. Teams could make small deals to acquire an extra fourth round pick. It’s still probably calculated and considered.
We don’t have the final numbers calculated for Tyler Lockett’s new contract, but the Seahawks were projected for approximately $55 million in 2024 cap space entering Monday’s first day of free agency.
As I write this, the terms of Williams’ contract are not known, but he signed a three-year, $64.5 million contract with $43.85 million guaranteed. In the worst case scenario, it seems Williams gets almost $22 million per season over two years and I’m expecting a 2024 cap hit of roughly $15 million. I’m looking at the Mike Williams contract for the Chargers (3 years, $60m, $40m gtd) and he had a first-year cap hit of $14 million. Dre’Mont Jones got $51m over three years and his cap hit was $10.1 million last year with no void years.
There is no expectation that Schneider is giving out deals with void years.
Fant signed a two-year, $21 million contract with a $9 million signing bonus. Jeremy Fowler said he gets $12 million in 2024, so if he gets $4.5 million in prorated bonus payments over the next two seasons, I imagine that means he has a cap hit of $7.5 million if he gets $9 million now, plus $3 million in 2024 salary. That’s $3 million salary + $4.5 million in half of his bonus.
If the Seahawks have a $7.5 million cap hit on Fant and a $14.5 million cap hit on Williams, that’s $22 million taken from their previous estimate of $55 million in cap space, leaving:
Seahawks, $33 million in remaining cap space (approximately)
If I’ve made errors or there is updated contract info, tell me in the comments. This is TOTAL cap space, not effective cap space which accounts stuff like paying your rookies, practice squad, and other necessities. OtC projected a difference of $9 million between total and effective, so that would leave Seattle with $24 million in EFFECTIVE cap space after signing Williams and Fant.
What can a team do with $24 million in real cap space?
A lot!
READ THIS BONUS ARTICLE: Signing these free agents won’t cost the Seahawks any 2025 compensatory picks!
The Seahawks retained Williams and Fant for a little less than that. It is still possible that Seattle could create more cap space if they really needed to, including if they wanted to restructure the contracts of DK Metcalf ($6 million in potential savings), Dre’Mont Jones ($5 million), or Geno Smith ($5.8 million). A restructure doesn’t give the player any more or any less money, it just changes when they are paid and moves cap commitments back.
None of those moves seem necessary now and it doesn’t seem like the Seahawks have any real home runs to swing for at the moment. But there are options left for the $24ish million in real cap space that Seattle has left in its budget following Monday’s transactions.
How do they spend it? What could John Schneider be saving his money for, if anything or anyone?
Want to read this and over 150 bonus articles per year? Become a member of the Regular Joes club, it’s only $5 per month or $55 for an entire year. Seaside Joe writes over 500 total articles and over 1 million words about the Seattle Seahawks every single year.