The offseason has began for the Seattle Seahawks, and the debates amongst followers relating to how the Hawks ought to proceed ahead via free company and the 2023 NFL Draft are nicely underway. That mentioned, there shall be no scarcity of key choices the group must make within the coming months whereas they handle their wage cap for this season and past, and the largest query for the group is one which basic supervisor John Schneider addressed as soon as once more Wednesday.
The dialog was way more concerned than that, however for the needs of this publish, that’s probably the most related half. Particularly, attending to the laundry checklist of unrestricted free brokers for the Seahawks this offseason, it appears like this:
Geno Smith
Poona Ford
Rashaad Penny
Austin Blythe
Johnathan Abram
L.J. Collier
Phil Haynes
Nick Bellore
Artie Burns
Drew Lock
Marquise Goodwin
Kyle Fuller
Bruce Irvin
Justin Coleman
Tyler Ott
Josh Jones
Laquon Treadwell
Carson Tinker
Cullen Gillaspia
Xavier Crawford
Teez Tabor
Cody Barton
Travis Homer
Darryl Johnson Jr
That’s two dozen names, and naturally is one identify shorter than it was when the offseason began. Particularly, the rationale the Seahawks have 24 unrestricted free brokers reasonably than 25 unrestricted free brokers is because of the contract extension signed by Jason Myers final week, and that contract sheds gentle on a few totally different areas. The primary are the main points of the contract Myers acquired, and extra to the purpose the money circulation of the contract.
Right here is the yr by yr money circulation for the contract Myers signed:
12 months 1: $8.165M
12 months 2: $3.635M
12 months 3: $4.2M
12 months 4: $4.6M
These money circulation numbers put the money acquired by Myers for the primary two years at $11.8M. That can possible look like a random quantity to most followers, however it’s truly a variety of nice significance. To that time, the franchise tag for kickers in 2023 is projected to be $5.398M. Then, taking 120% of $5.398M yields $6.478M. The second quantity is related as a result of 120% of the 2023 tag is what a second franchise tag would value in 2024. Combining $5.398M and $6.478M places the price of two franchise tags at $11.876M, or mainly what Myers will earn over the subsequent two years. Merely put, that’s how contracts are structured within the NFL.
Coming again to the franchise tag, the complete checklist of the projected quantities for the tag from OverTheCap.com for the totally different positions are as follows:
Quarterback: $32.445M
Operating Again: $10.1M
Broad Receiver: $19.762M
Tight Finish: $11.356M
Offensive Line: $18.261M
Defensive Deal with: $18.954M
Defensive Finish: $19.744M
Linebacker: $20.945M
Cornerback: $18.155M
Security: $14.472M
Particular Groups: $5.398M
Reviewing the checklist of unrestricted free brokers for the Seahawks, and mixing these names with the franchise tag quantities by place, there appears little query that the overwhelming majority of the gamers who’re set to hit the market wouldn’t justify carrying a cap hit the scale of the franchise tag for his or her place. The lone exception to that’s, after all, Geno Smith, whose breakout 2022 season has set him up for a payday this offseason, whether or not with Seattle or with one other franchise.
Nonetheless, the truth that there is just one identify on the checklist that would warrant having the tag utilized is notably vital as a result of barely every week in the past there have been two. That in thoughts, with only one free agent prone to be worthy of a franchise tag and precisely one franchise tag at their disposal, determining the place to make use of the tag is now now not a query. It additionally goes a really good distance in the direction of explaining why the group was so fast to signal Myers to a contract extension as quickly because the season ended, one thing that’s nicely exterior the bounds of their customary strategy of operations.
Thus, the query seems to have morphed from whether or not within the strategy of negotiating with Smith they are going to apply the franchise tag to easily a matter of when will they apply the tag.
