The Seahawks apparently were willing to pay $17 million a year for guard Will Fries but got beat out on guaranteed money.

The Vikings reportedly guaranteed $34 million in a five-year, $88 million deal. The Hawks reportedly were offering a three-year contract similar to what they gave Dre Jones in 2023.

The Hawks also reportedly wanted Fries to take a physical so they could check his broken tibia (suffered in Week 5 last year). But he apparently did not want to wait until today when he had other good offers.

So the Hawks are on to cheaper options. The top guys available all have flaws, but most of them likely would be upgrades over what Seattle has at guard right now.

The Hawks reportedly are one of the teams talking with Teven Jenkins (6-6, 321), who is being replaced in Chicago because he could not stay on the field. He did play 14 games last season, but he had missed six in each of the previous two years.

As for others: Mekhi Becton (6-7, 363) moved from tackle to guard in his one year with the Eagles, but his pass protection is a weakness because he is not quick enough. Brandon Scherff (6-5, 315) has been steady in Miami the past three years, but he is now 33. Kevin Zeitler has been an ironman at right guard for 13 years, but he is 35. Will Hernandez (6-3, 332), 30, is coming off an ACL injury.

As for a trade, John Schneider kind of shot down that idea recently, telling 710 AM: “There’s always this dearth of talent at the position. So, you know, supply and demand, right? When you talk to other GMs about trades and stuff like that … everybody kind of skips the offensive line because it’s just a given: Everybody’s looking for them.”

However, Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and Laremy Tunsil were traded this month. So deals do happen.

One guy the Hawks could trade for is Vikings center Garrett Bradbury, now that Ryan Kelly is replacing him. Josh Myers (Packers) also is still available in free agency, if the Hawks are considering a center to upgrade over Olu Oluwatimi.

If Schneider were able to get one of those centers to compete against Olu and add one of those veteran guards, he then could add a lineman in the first two rounds and the line would stand a chance to be much better than it was in 2024.

MVS replaces Metcalf in 2025

The Seahawks needed at least one veteran to replace DK Metcalf, and they reunited Klint Kubiak and deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the former Green Bay fifth-rounder who played eight games with Kubiak’s Saints last season.

So the Hawks now have two hyphenated receivers who will go by their three-letter initials: MVS and JSN.

MVS has averaged 17.4 yards per catch in seven NFL seasons. He averaged 22.6 and scored four times in Kubiak’s offense in 2024.

MVS reportedly signed a one-year deal worth up to $5.5 million.

The Hawks still should add another veteran before they possibly add a guy in the draft.

Lots of people are wondering whether the Hawks will try to sign Cooper Kupp now that the Rams have released him.

Kupp has burned the Hawks a lot in his eight-year career, but he has missed 18 games over the past three years. His last deal averaged $26.7 million. So what is his value? OTC says around $7 million. We would say $5 million with some incentives that can bump it to $10 million. But some team will offer more than that, so the Hawks are an unlikely destination.

Our personal list for receivers included Darius Slayton, Josh Palmer, Elijah Moore and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Slayton and Palmer each got about $12 million a year. Westbrook-Ikhine signed with Miami for $6.5 million over two years. Moore could be had for that kind of deal as well.