The Seattle Seahawks were one of the best teams not to make the playoffs. Despite a 10-7 record, the team was left out of the playoffs. The strength of the NFC North, paired with the Los Angeles Rams winning the division, left them on the outside looking in. However, there are plenty of positives. First-year head coach Mike MacDonald looked like a home run hire, and many of their young stars have started to emerge. Here are three important questions for the Seahawks this offseason.
1. Do The Seattle Seahawks Need To Figure Out Life Beyond Geno Smith?
The Seattle Seahawks have been good under Geno Smith. However, this might be the offseason to start thinking of a succession plan. Smith is AGE. His play has been fine but hasn’t led to a lot of postseason success. While he has been with the Seahawks since 2020, he has only been the starter for the past three years. Here are his stats over the past three seasons.
- 2022: 69.8% completion, 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, won Comeback Player of the Year, lost in the wild-card round
- 2023: 64.7% completion, 3,624 yards, 20 touchdowns, nine interceptions, missed playoffs
- 2024: 70.4% completion, 4,320 yards, 21 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, missed playoffs
These are by no means bad numbers. 2024 was his best year with the Seahawks in terms of completion percentage and yards. The interception numbers are concerning, but overall, Smith can run the offense well. He is entering the final year of his three-year extension. If he stays on his current deal, his cap hit is $44.5 million. According to Over The Cap, if the team cuts or trades him, they will save over $30 million in cap space. Seattle could also look to restructure or extend, but Smith is already 34 years old. They have to make a decision soon on how long they want the aging veteran to be under center for the team.
2. Can They Fix The Interior Offensive Line?
The Seattle Seahawks need better play out of their interior line. Their tackles have been solid when healthy, but the interior line needs work. This would benefit the team on multiple levels. Seattle wants to establish the run. Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet have shown they can be deadly one-two punches out of the backfield. However, it doesn’t matter much if the blocking up front is subpar. The team gave up 54 sacks this season, which was part of the reason for Smith’s struggles at times.
Fans look up and down this roster and see talent. Jaxon Smith-Njigba took a huge leap and is living up to his first-round wide receiver status. The aforementioned running backs are good, and the defense has budding young stars. None of it matters if the offensive line is bad. As of this moment, there isn’t much cap space to sign any big free agents (more on that later). The draft is always a place to find cheap young talent, but that is a risk. Rookies are notoriously volatile. They focused on the defensive line last draft and I see them focusing on the offensive line in this one.
3. What Happens With The Veterans?
The three biggest cap hits for the Seattle Seahawks are Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett. Smith is over $40 million, while Metcalf ($31.8 million) and Lockett ($30.8 million) are in the low 30s. All three of these players are entering the final year of their deal. Usually, when the cap hit is this high, teams will either extend the player or cut the player. This gives instant cap savings. Seattle has to decide how serious they are about keeping this core together.
If I had to guess, Lockett is the easiest one to cut. His production has fallen off a cliff partly due to the emergence of Smith-Njigba. He only caught 49 passes for 600 yards and two touchdowns this year. All of those are his lowest numbers since 2017. Based on his quotes after the season, he seems to already be preparing to move on from the team. Metcalf is an interesting one. He is only 28 years old, and when he is healthy, he is still one of the most dangerous deep threats in the game. If I had to guess, Lockett will get cut but the team figures out how to keep Smith and Metcalf around.
Final Thoughts
The Seattle Seahawks are at a bit of a crossroads this offseason. They could go in any number of directions. If they wanted to, they could cut or trade all three of their expensive veterans and start a complete rebuild. More than likely, they will try and make one more run with the current core before hitting the reset button. This team was maybe the best team not to make the playoffs this year and will be hungry to get back into the postseason in 2025.
