Seattle Seahawks: Analyzing the salary cap and future
Though it no longer applies to himself after signing a 4-year, $43 million extension while you were sleeping on Sunday, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke some truth here:
Right you are, Bobby.
But if you can’t keep everyone, why does it feel like the Seahawks are? Seattle has been very steadily taking care of their own at almost every key position, including handing out $60 million guaranteed to quarterback Russell Wilson on yet another 4-year extension.
Let’s examine some of Seattle’s recent bold moves in free agency and via trades.
GM John Schneider acquired tight end Jimmy Graham this offseason for a 1st round pick, a player who will cost a cap figure of $9 million annually. The team responded to Marshawn Lynch’s retirement ‘threats’ with a contract extension through 2018. Richard Sherman, Cliff Avril, and Earl Thomas have been extended through 2019, as has stud linebacker K.J. Wright.
Michael Bennett, though apparently unhappy with his pay now, was given a new contract and is playing out a 4-year, $28.5 million contract. Kam Chancellor is also unhappy with his pay, which won’t change until 2018 unless his holdout ends in a raise.
The biggest name the Seahawks have to worry about for next offseason is left tackle Russell Okung, certainly a critical part of this team moving forward. Here’s a look at the top contracts in Seattle as of this moment in time.
Looking at that table (from SportRac.com), it appears as though the Seahawks have set themselves up really well to keep the core of the ‘Legion of Boom’ as well as key players offensively through a couple years of prime Super Bowl contention. Russell Wilson is obviously the major key piece here, though some don’t want to admit it.
Wilson doesn’t get as much credit from people as I think he deserves because of how good the Seattle defense is, but coming out of college, this was a phenomenal prospect (in my opinion) and he elevated Seattle when he was placed in the starting lineup.
As with any roster in the NFL, the Seahawks are going to have some unhappy players in terms of their contracts. Perhaps one player they’ll have to let go of next offseason is Bruce Irvin, who is playing this year on a hefty $9.3 million deal fully guaranteed as a former 1st round pick, which is actually a team option. Irvin’s expiring contract will free up space next offseason (along with the expanded salary cap) for Seattle to re-sign left tackle Russell Okung.
Obviously, the Seahawks can’t keep everyone, but Schneider and Pete Carroll have done a phenomenal job of securing key pieces for the future with a couple of excellent draft classes between 2011 and 2012. Seattle is going to need to continue to find gems later on in the draft, as well as using picks as trade pieces to snag key components to the roster (i.e. Jimmy Graham, Percy Harvin, etc.)… It was clear toward the end of last year that the Seahawks didn’t quite have the depth they did in their Super Bowl campaign, but that’s to be expected.
They were also almost completely healthy when they took on the Broncos in the Super Bowl, also a rarity in the NFL.
The way this roster is built and the way the salaries have been put in place, Seattle needs only to secure Okung at left tackle and continue to fortify their depth in the draft to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders and NFC juggernauts for at least the next five years.