The Seahawks’ strong moves at the free agency were matched by other NFC West teams. (Getty)
Seahawks general manager John Schneider is running the business.
Rost: Three thoughts on the great shuffling of the Seahawks’ D line
First he fixed the offensive line. He resumed pivot Ethan Pocic and switched to point guard Gabe Jackson, then filled out reserve papers bringing back point guard Jordan Simmons and facing off against Cedric Ogbuehi. This box is checked.
This week, he took care of the quick pass. He re-signed defensive ends Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa and signed team-mate DE Kerry Hyder. Making all these moves came at a price, he thought. They couldn’t afford to keep Jarran Reed’s defensive tackle and instead replaced him with 34-year-old Al Woods, who agreed to a one-year, $ 3 million contract. It is not out of the question to bring Reed back if he fails to make a good deal elsewhere, but Schneider scored the box on the defensive line.
It was an interesting decision. Dunlap wanted $ 10 million a year, which was very high in this market. Even so, the Seahawks stepped forward and gave him perhaps some $ 8 million. Say what you want – Dunlap was one of the big reasons why the Seahawks’ defense got so much better in the second half of the season. After a bad start, the rush pass became one of the best teams in terms of sacks after Dunlap debuted in Week 8.
Now the Seahawks are deeper on the defensive end. They can start Hyder, who had 8 1/2 sacks last year, in the position of five techniques. Dunlap can start like Leo, and he will have many backups that will be in rotation.
The only downside is that the defense is older. They lost two of their youngest defenders to cornerback Shaquill Griffin, who went free, and Reed. No doubt, however, the Seahawks are preparing to try to return to the Super Bowl, and their squad is strong.
It better be, however. NFC West continues to get more aggressive. The San Francisco 49ers is having an excellent off-season. They re-signed four of their top free agents and, on Friday, negotiated with Miami to move on to third choice in the draft. They could easily catch the third quarterback in the draft, which most people think might be Trey Lance. Trevor Lawrence is expected to be number 1 for Jacksonville and Zach Wilson may have secured the New York Jets endorsement for choice number 2 with his strong shot training on Friday.
The Los Angeles Rams switched to Matthew Stafford. Arizona Cardinals has been aggressive with signings and negotiations, adding big names like JJ Watt and Rodney Hudson. How competitive is NFC West? Due to negotiations to improve their lists, the Rams and 49ers have no first-round choices in 2022 and 2023, and the Seahawks do not have one this year or the next.
To stay ahead of the pack in this division, Schneider needed to take care of business.
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What are the Seahawks missing by moving on from Jarran Reed?