The Seahawks added a key piece to their secondary in the draft, trading up to No. 35 for South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori. The team also added two guards, two tight ends and two wide receivers to round out an 11-pick class.
While Emmanwori will add a 4.35 40-yard dash time to Seattle’s secondary, the team looks to be a bit light at cornerback coming out of the draft. No corners arrived last weekend, and GM John Schneider described the situation (via The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar) as needing more work.
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Seattle lost part-time contributor Tre Brown to San Francisco in free agency. After injuries marred Brown’s first two seasons, he started 10 games from 2023-24. The team still rosters Riq Woolen, but he is now going into a contract year. Ditto Josh Jobe, a UDFA who started six games for the team last season. The Seahawks re-signed Jobe to a one-year, $2MM deal before free agency; that deal checked in considerably lower than the bottom-end RFA tender price ($3.26MM) that otherwise would have been required to retain Jobe. As Devon Witherspoon anchors this group, adding competition for the spot alongside he and Woolen makes sense.
Pro Football Focus ranked Jobe near the bottom (107th) among CB regulars last season. He logged 443 defensive snaps, the third-most among Seattle corners in 2024. The Seahawks have 2024 fifth-round pick Nehemiah Pritchett at the position, but Emmanwori’s arrival could open the door to another solution. Safety Coby Bryant spent extensive time at corner in college; the Cincinnati product converted to safety while a Seahawk but was twice a first-team All-American Athletic Conference CB. Regardless of Bryant’s position, he joins Woolen and Jobe in entering a contract year.
If another Bryant shift is not deemed a sufficient solution, the Seahawks would have a few intriguing outside options. The run on third-contract-seeking corners stopped without Rasul Douglas landing a job. Asante Samuel Jr. also has not signed as a free agent. PFR ranked both among the top 50 free agents in this year’s class. The Dolphins also cut Kendall Fuller after one season, while the Commanders did not re-sign 2024 Fuller replacement Michael Davis. The Raiders also recently released two-year starter Jack Jones, while the Steelers have not re-signed Cameron Sutton. Ex-Seahawk Shaquill Griffin worked out for the team in April.
The dead money remaining on Jalen Ramsey‘s contract would point to the Dolphins giving strong consideration to making that trade after June 1; the Rams are one of the interested teams. Clubs, however, are balking at taking on the All-Pro’s 2025 money. And the Seahawks have not traditionally spent heavily at corner, mostly relying on rookie-deal players following Richard Sherman‘s 2014 extension. They let Griffin and Reed find big money elsewhere in the past, and with Witherspoon set to command upper-crust CB money come 2026, the team has a Woolen decision to make. Though, the Seahawks’ past decisions to let CBs find paydays elsewhere came during Pete Carroll‘s watch — and most of that period involved a top-market Russell Wilson contract headlining the payroll.
For now, the Seahawks have several options to choose from if they are committed to finding a player to work alongside Witherspoon and Woolen this season. Bigger-picture questions loom in the not-too-distant future.