By the end of the first day of the new league year, the Seahawks had used over $35 million in salary cap space to address four of their six positional needs – and they still didn’t look like they had improved their roster.

After free agents flew off the shelves in the first two days, we thought John Schneider might be preparing to make a trade to improve his roster. Instead, he stuck to his typical MO and overpaid role players who gradually ate up almost all of Seattle’s cap space.

There certainly were good moves. The Hawks accomplished their top priority: keeping Leonard Williams. They also kept their starting tight end, Noah Fant; found a safety, Rayshawn Jenkins, to start opposite Julian Love; and added insurance at right tackle by bringing back George Fant.

But the Hawks let Damien Lewis go and did not replace him, leaving a gaping hole at left guard. Instead, they tried to create some depth on the line. They replaced Evan Brown with career backup Nick Harris and brought back Fant, who played his first four seasons in Seattle, as insurance in case Abe Lucas has trouble returning from surgery on the knee that kept him sidelined for most of 2023.

The Hawks devoted too much cap space to backups: $3.2 million to TE Pharaoh Brown, $3.1 million to CB Michael Jackson, $3 million to LB Jon Rhattigan (who would be a de facto starter at the moment). Darrell Taylor got an extension (likely to keep his cap hit around $3 million instead of the $4.89 million tender). Artie Burns and Myles Adams also are back, but at least they are cheap.

Williams and Noah Fant are very good players whose returns merit congratulations. But the Hawks got only one other starter — Jenkins signed for two years and $12 million, per ESPN — so everyone has to hope Mike Macdonald’s presence elevates all of these players beyond what they did in 2023.

The Hawks are still short some starters. They need a left guard and two inside linebackers, plus competition for Anthony Bradford at right guard. And they don’t have much money left to spend – or many free agents who deserve it.

They started the week with close to $55 million in cap space (assuming Tyler Lockett’s pay cut added $10 million). They probably have around $17 million left. And they might add a couple million in May or June by cutting the salaries of Jackson and Rhattigan – a tactic they often employ with RFA tenders.

They need to reserve about $11 million for future expenses, so say they have maybe $6 million to $8 million to try to add a guard and a linebacker or two.

The top guards left include Kevin Zeitler, Dalton Risner and former Seahawk Mark Glowinski.

Among the linebackers Seattle could pursue are Jerome Baker, De’Vondre Campbell and Zach Cunningham.

Whatever they do at those positions at this point, the Hawks have put pressure on themselves to address those spots in the draft.