The Seahawks have a new coach and a new direction. Let’s see how John Schneider and Mike MacDonald remake the team in March and April. Here’s the latest …
Geno is QB1 in 2024
The Seahawks acquired Sam Howell at the start of the league year, but both Schneider and Macdonald made it clear Geno Smith is the starter for 2024.
“I’m sure there’s competition,” Schneider said on his radio show, “but as of right now it’s not like we’re signing him to go and compete with Geno to be the starter.”
At the league meetings in Orlando, Macdonald told NFL Network, “I’ve talked to Geno about it. Very confident in Geno. Geno’s going to be our starter.”
Macdonald said Smith’s journey of career redemption “resonates with a lot of our stories, having gone through a lot of trials and tribulations and finding his stride here in the last few years. And then going against him, obviously his track record the last couple years and the stats he’s been able to put up, his poise, his leadership, obviously his capability throwing the football, and our relationship is just getting started to grow.”
If Smith, 33, performs well and leads the Seahawks to playoff wins in 2024, it seems possible that they would rework his contract to keep him around in 2025.
If not, they seem interested in possibly moving on to Howell.
“Sam knows he’s going to be our backup,” Macdonald said, “but Sam is a great young player, and he’s got a really bright future that we believe in.”
How Howell became a Hawk
When Drew Lock found a chance to possibly start for the Giants, the Seahawks started looking into trading for Howell, Schneider said on his radio show.
After “sweating it out” as Washington talked to three other teams as well, they got the deal done that afternoon.
The teams swapped two picks each, with Seattle notably giving up one of its third-round picks. The net value was a low third or high fourth, depending on whose trade chart you use.
This is the ninth player trade Schneider has made in which he gave up a Day 1 or 2 pick.
The move was pretty polarizing among Seahawks fans on Twitter, but it’s a good value trade.
Some fans had brought up the idea of Justin Fields, but the Hawks clearly favored Howell. Schneider said he liked him in the 2022 draft, although clearly not enough to draft him in the first four rounds. Washington took him with the first pick in the fifth round.
Howell might not be the future for Seattle, but he is an experienced, cheap backup who comes to a team with a history of making QBs better. He costs just $985K this year, $1.1 million in 2025.
He threw 21 interceptions in 17 starts for Washington last season, but he also attempted a league-high 612 passes on a 4-13 team with no running game.
Schneider thought Howell did well under duress in 2023. On his radio show on Seattle Sports 710, he kept calling Howell a football player. “He’s a quarterback, but he’s really a football player — that’s what I love about him.”
Schneider also pointed out that the 23-year-old is the same age as or younger than many of the top QBs in this draft — which seems to make it clear the Hawks see him as their drafted QB this year and do not feel pressured to draft a QB.
The Hawks can see what they have in Howell over the next two years. Smith is unlikely to remain on the team at his current cap hit in 2025, so Schneider and Macdonald might be hoping Howell shows enough to become the starter by then. That would obviate the need to draft a QB high in 2025 as well.
As for Fields, he was traded to Pittsburgh a couple days after Howell was moved. Ironically for the Seattle fans who wanted Fields, he now will back up Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh.
Adams, Diggs are gone for good
A chunk of the fan base for some reason wants the Seahawks to bring back Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs on minimum deals.
That is incredibly unlikely. While Schneider gave the obligatory “the door is always open” line when they were cut, the fact is the Hawks almost never bring back players they have released.
In this case, they have replaced the two underperforming safeties with Rayshawn Jenkins and K’Von Wallace, who join 2023 addition Julian Love.
On his radio show, Schneider glossed over a question about the old pair returning, saying at one point about Adams, “Anyway, that didn’t work out.” That was a pretty obvious closing of the door on Adams.
At the league meetings, Macdonald said of Adams: “We love Jamal, and if it’s the right opportunity, I think we would jump at it. Hasn’t been this long-form conversation about it, but he’s a guy we respect a ton and, if it’s the right opportunity for us and right opportunity for him, I’m sure we’d be interested in doing that.”
That is the polite way of saying, “No, we are not considering it. But, if we’re desperate in the summer and Adams wants to come back for the vet minimum and looks healthy, maybe.”
Adams and Diggs were among close to a dozen safeties to be let go ahead of March 13, so it was definitely a buyer’s market at this position of need for Seattle.
The Hawks started their hunt by bringing in Jenkins, who had five interceptions and over 200 tackles over the past two seasons in Jacksonville. He signed a two-year deal worth $12 million.
Jenkins is reunited with Miami teammate Artie Burns, whom the Seahawks brought back as well.
Schneider said he once talked to the Eagles about trading for Wallace, a fourth-round pick by Philly in 2020. “Always kept track of him.”
Schneider said the Seahawks plan to play more two-high safeties under Macdonald.
Schneider said of Jenkins and Wallace, “The fact that we were about to add both of those guys creates a ton of depth, ton of competition and options … as we try to get stronger in the middle of our defense.”
Linebacker remodel complete, for now
The Seahawks will start over at linebacker, with Jordyn Brooks joining Miami on a three-year, $26 million deal and Bobby Wagner joining Dan Quinn and Ken Norton Jr. in Washington.
To replace them, Seattle signed Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker — the former an up-and-comer from the Bills and the latter a six-year vet from the Dolphins.
They are both on one-year deals, and Schneider said the Hawks would be looking at the position in the draft.
In effect, the Hawks swapped Brooks for Baker and figure to get a fifth-round comp pick for it as well. Miami had cut Baker because he suffered knee and wrist injuries last season and they saved $10 million in cap space by letting him go.
Dodson and Baker are both known as good coverage linebackers — an area where Wagner and Brooks often struggled. The big question is whether the new duo can thump in the run game.
At the league meetings in Orlando, Miami coach Mike McDaniel called Baker “an incredibly smart human being.”
“I can understand why all of his teammates … absolutely love him. You talk about a guy who is extremely, extremely smart and can handle a lot of things.”
Brooks was projected to get around $11 million per year. The Hawks surely could have matched what the Dolphins reportedly will pay him, but Schneider said they never had the chance because they had not gotten Williams’ deal done yet and didn’t know what their cap looked like entering free agency.
“It was the timing of it. … Leonard’s deal took a while,” Schneider said on his radio show. “We knew Leonard’s deal was going to affect all of free agency.”
He said Miami “swooped in there. … They had a deal on the table and we just couldn’t move as quickly as they could.”
The Seahawks replaced Brooks the next day with Dodson. Dodson, 6-0 and 237, started 10 games last season, tallying 74 tackles, eight for a loss, and 2.5 sacks.
We never expected Wagner to be back with the Seahawks, and a report March 10 indicated he was unlikely to return. He signed with Washington on the first day of the league year.
Wagner, 33, had a career-high 183 tackles and made the All-Pro team for the 11th time in 12 seasons. But many of those tackles were made far downfield and he is a liability in coverage. It was time to say a fond farewell for the final time — until he is inducted into the Ring of Honor.
Left guard needed
The Seahawks found a nominal starter at left guard, adding ironman vet Laken Tomlinson, who has played for the 49ers and Jets. He got a one-year deal worth up to $2.79 million.
“We’re excited about Laken,” assistant GM Nolan Teasley said. “That was a really good acquisition for us because all that guy does is play football. You talk about the best ability being availability. We’re talking about 130-plus starts for him, (114) in a row. He doesn’t miss time and he’s been a key cog of some good offensive lines that we’re familiar with down in San Francisco, and we’re happy he’s a Seahawk moving forward.”
The Seahawks had a hole at left guard after Damien Lewis went to Carolina for $13.25 million per year on a four-year deal.
Guards were paid anywhere from $10 million to $20 million on the first day of public negotiations, and Schneider made it clear they were not willing to pay that to Lewis — even though their line is one of the least-paid in the NFL (third least in 2023).
“You have to allocate funds to different positions,” Schneider said, confirming Lewis was out of their budget. “People build their teams in different ways every single year. Down in Carolina they’re building it from the inside out, which is their prerogative.”
The Hawks also added Nick Harris, a backup center who played under new line coach Scott Huff at UW.
Hawks nail No. 1 priority
The Hawks kept Leonard Williams — a paramount need after Schneider gave up a 2024 second-rounder and 2025 fifth-rounder for the star defensive lineman.
Schneider said the defensive tackler market was a little higher than they thought based on what they had heard at the Combine. “We were a little nervous there for a minute. … We hung in there.”
“He was obviously our priority. We gave up a second-round pick for him last year. That was very important. Thrilled to get him back in the building.”
Schneider said he can play anywhere for Macdonald.
The deal was right around where we expected it to be if the Hawks kept him: He will get $64.5 million over three years — an average of $21.5 million per year. It includes nearly $44 million in guaranteed.
This is a great first move for Macdonald’s defense.
Williams said he likes Seattle and is eager to play for Macdonald.
“I loved the fans here; the 12s really go crazy,” Williams said after signing his deal. “I love this area. I love being back with some familiar faces, and I’m also just excited about the trajectory of the team. I feel like we’re on the right path and we’ve got all the right things going, and I’m glad to be a part of that for the next few years.”
As for the new coach, he said, “I’m excited about Mike. He obviously had the No. 1 defense in the (NFL) last year, and he’s a young coach, which I like a lot. I feel like he’s going to be able to relate to the players, and I’m excited to see what he brings to the defense.”
Move tight ends
The Seahawks’ 2023 tight ends were on the move early, with Colby Parkinson and Will Dissly finding other teams and the Seahawks somewhat surprisingly keeping Noah Fant.
Fant, their top tight end since coming over in the Russell Wilson trade in 2022, reportedly will get $21 million on a two-year deal. That’s a tad more than the $9 million annual he was projected to get, but we all know Schneider loves to pay his tight ends.
They need to get more out of Fant at that price though. He has averaged 41 catches in his two seasons in Seattle — he averaged 57 in three years in Denver. He had just 43 targets last season and needs to get more like 70.
“I believe in what Coach Macdonald is doing,” Fant said, via the team’s website. “I got to talk to him, and talk to (Ryan) Grubb also, and I just really believe in this roster and in the new coaching staff, so I wanted to be a part of it.
“Obviously in free agency there’s a bunch of different options, and I wanted to be somewhere that I could see myself enjoying to be. And I already know what it’s like being here, and I built a bunch of great relationships with people here. But also somewhere that is a good situational fit for me, and I felt like under the new regime, under the new offensive coordinator, I felt like this could be a place that I’ll be able to flourish and really take advantage of my talents. So I’m excited to put the work in and do that on the field.”
Fant said Grubb plans to move him around and maximize his talents.
“The coolest thing with him in what we talked about is just allowing guys to be in the best position possible that fits their game, and just wanting guys to succeed and believing in his guys,” Fant said. “I think that’s the coolest thing, having the versatility in the offense to be able to move around and stuff, so I’m excited for that.”
Parkinson went to the Rams on a three-year deal averaging $7.5 million. That is right around the money he was projected to get.
Meanwhile, the Chargers signed Dissly — cut last week by Seattle — to a three-year, $14 million deal. That’s still a great deal for a guy who didn’t even come close to living up to the crazy $8 million a year Schneider paid him a couple years ago.
The Seahawks added another vet when they signed Pharaoh Brown, a 29-year-old journeyman who played with the Patriots last season (his fourth team). They overpaid him at $3.2 million because he is one of the top blocking tight ends in the NFL. He has just 64 catches across seven seasons.
Capital gains
The Seahawks cleared about $43 million in cap space over a six-day span leading into free agency and had about $54 million to spend. It’s almost all gone.
As expected, they cut Adams, Dissly, Bryan Mone and Nick Bellore. We leaned toward cutting Diggs, too, so it was no surprise he was part of that group.
We did not think they would cut Tyler Lockett. We thought they might reduce his 2024 pay from $17 million to something like $12 million, and that is exactly what they did. They reportedly saved $8.34 million on the cut — and this is probably Lockett’s last year in Seattle.
We thought the Hawks might simply cut bait on Dee Eskridge, which would have saved almost $1.5 million. Instead, they just dropped his salary to the vet minimum, saving around $400,000. Of course, if he doesn’t make the team, they will get the rest back, too.
Schneider said he would have just cut him but the new coaching staff is intrigued enough to keep him around.
“We just want to give him another shot,” the GM said. “We were able to restructure the contract and get him back here. Hopefully he takes the ball and runs with it.”
Projected UFA values
DL Leonard Williams: $21M — Re-signed for 3y, $64.5M
LB Jordyn Brooks: $11M — Signed with Miami for 3y, $26.25M
OG Damien Lewis: $10M — Signed with Carolina for 4y, $53M
TE Noah Fant: $9M — Re-signed for 2y, $21M
TE Colby Parkinson: $6.6M — Signed with Rams for 3y, $22.5M
LB Bobby Wagner: $5M — Signed with Washington for 1y, $8.5m
QB Drew Lock: $4M — Signed with Giants for 1y, $5M
RB DeeJay Dallas: $2M — Signed with Arizona for 3y, $8.25m
Comp tracker
The Seahawks are in line for two compensatory picks — one in the fourth and one in the fifth round — in 2025. This tracker is courtesy of Nick Korte at Over The Cap:
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