As Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross missed his third game in a row with injury, he and the team were able to agree to a new extension. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Seattle and Cross have come to terms on a four-year, $104.4MM extension. The deal pays out $40.5MM in the first year and included $75MM in guaranteed money. 
The deal comes with little surprise. When Cross expressed his interest in an extension in the weeks leading up to his fourth season in the NFL, the Seahawks shut down any notion of that occurring during that time. The team had been operating under the notion that they don’t extend contracts that have more than a year left on them, and after Cross’ fifth-year option was exercised last April, the then-24-year-old still had two years left on his slate. As soon as one of those years was finished and Cross had only one year left, Seattle couldn’t even wait 24 hours to extend their blindside blocker.
The new contract makes Cross the fifth-highest paid offensive tackle (per annual average value) in the NFL behind Rashawn Slater, Tristan Wirfs, (right tackle) Penei Sewell, and Trent Williams. Perhaps more impressive, Cross’ contract is the largest for a non-quarterback in franchise history, according to ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
Cross is more than deserving of the new deal. Since getting drafted by the Seahawks at No. 9 overall in 2022, Cross has started in all but six games (consisting of two three-week absences). He established himself as one of the best tackles in the league last year as Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him out as the ninth-best player at his position last year. He followed that up with a ranking at 27th out of 87 this year.
Though three of those six career absences have consecutively come in the past three weeks due to a hamstring injury, Cross is expected to be back in the lineup for the playoffs. Luckily for Cross and the Seahawks, the team’s victory over the division-rival 49ers secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye, so the 25-year-old will have a little extra time to work his way back to the field. They’ve clearly decided to be productive with the two weeks they have until their next game as they checked one thing off the offseason checklist nice and early.
#1 seed means to pay. Win it, ‘Hawks.
Great signing and deserved. Not sure how much Lucas has but lock him up too. With the 32nd pick this year get a RG and look for another C. Not as important as the RG our only horrible lineman. Gravel has been awesome has 4 years left so another 3 and we sign him for 4-5 more years. Now we need to find that 2nd or 3rd round steal at QB that will play for us for years. D is awesome need to fill a couple holes in O. That can be done after we win the SB.
“With the 32nd pick…”
Getting a little overambitious? Let’s see how the postseason plays out first
Obviously this all has to wait until our inevitable Super Bowl championship, but we won’t be needing a new QB after Darnold cruises to the Super Bowl MVP
No idea who’s going to win it all yet, but Cross has definitely proved his worth