Seahawks Rumors

NFC Restructures: 49ers, Smith, Eskridge

The 49ers recently restructured the contracts of two offensive mainstays that cleared up a heap of cap space. According to ESPN’s Field Yates and Adam Schefter, both tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk agreed to restructured contracts to help lessen their impact on the salary cap.

Charean Williams of NBC Sports provided us with some details on Kittle’s newly redone deal. The veteran tight end was set to have a base salary of $13.4MM with a cap hit of $21.96MM in 2024. Instead, the team converted $12.19MM of his base salary for 2024 into a signing bonus while adding one voidable year to the existing two already at the tail end of his contract. The move cleared up $9.75MM of space in the team’s salary cap.

While Schefter’s initial report claimed that the restructure for Juszczyk would free up approximately $1.75MM of cap space, a later report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network laid out some details that would clear almost $4MM of cap space. The restructured deal will reportedly reduce his base salary in both 2024 and 2025, forming what is essentially now a two-year, $9.1MM contract. In exchange for the reduced pay, San Francisco gave Juszczyk $4MM of new guarantees.

Here are some details on other recent restructures from around the conference:

  • We reported a restructured deal for Vikings safety Harrison Smith about a week and a half ago, and thanks to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, we have some details on the new contract. The restructure addressed the final two years of Smith’s contract, essentially giving him a two-year, $10.25MM deal with three void years at the end of the contract. Smith received $7MM of guaranteed money in the form of a signing bonus and will receive a per game active bonus of $30K for a potential season-total of $510K. The new contract reduces Smith’s cap number in 2024 by $11.9MM and reduces his 2025 cap impact by $15.5MM.
  • The Seahawks cleared up some cap space by restructuring the contract of wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. It’s just a slight tweak for a player who was only slotted to make $1.47MM in the final year of his rookie deal. The restructure will open up about $500K of cap space for Seattle.

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald Names Geno Smith Starting QB

Throughout the 2024 offseason, signs have pointed to Geno Smith remaining atop the Seahawks’ quarterback depth chart for at least one more year. New head coach Mike Macdonald offered a firm endorsement of the veteran on Saturday.

Seattle lost backup Drew Lock to the Giants in a move which – unlike what Seahawks general manager GM John Schneider indicated – sets him up for another QB2 role. To fill the vacancy, the team traded for 2022 Commanders draftee Sam Howell. The latter served as Washington’s starter last season, but the team’s new front office and coaching staff is prepared to draft a replacement next month. Howell’s upside led some to believe he could challenge for the No. 1 role, but Macdonald said that will not be the case for now.

When asked if he anticipates a competition during an interview with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Macdonald said, “l don’t. I’ve talked to Geno about it. Very confident in Geno. Geno’s going to be our starter. Sam knows he’s going to be our backup, but Sam is a great young player, and he’s got a really bright future that we believe in.”

Seattle had a window of opportunity to trade Smith given the timing of bonuses in his contract. The team allowed his base salary to become fully guaranteed, however, and converted a roster bonus into a signing bonus in moves which suggested the 33-year-old would carry on as the starter. Smith has held that role for the past two seasons, and he earned Comeback Player of the Year honors after delivering a Pro Bowl performance in 2022.

Smith experienced a statistical downturn last year, (although his league-leading five game-winning drives produced another Pro Bowl invite), and after falling short of the postseason the Seahawks have undergone a massive change with Pete Carroll no longer on the sidelines. Macdonald will be tasked with overseeing a step forward on defense, but the Seahawks’ passing attack in particular will be worth watching on the other side of the ball. Smith will work with the first-team offense during the offseason as Macdonald begins his head coaching career.

Two years remain on Smith’s contract – the $75MM pact he secured after his successful run in 2022. Howell’s rookie contract also runs through 2025, so the Seahawks will have time to sort out their QB arrangement moving forward. While the latter projects as having higher upside given his age and play during parts of last season, it will be the former at the helm when the offseason program and, later, training camp begins.

Free Agency Notes: Giants, Vikings, Jets, Hawks, Huff, Commanders, Ekeler, Raiders, Dolphins, Jacobs, Rams

The Bryce Huff market did not reach the level of Jonathan Greenard‘s, and Danielle Hunter also scored a better guarantee compared to the Jets‘ contract-year breakout pass rusher. But the Eagles needed to give Huff a three-year, $51.1MM deal with $34MM guaranteed. That came about because, per Huff, the Commanders, Giants, Seahawks and Vikings joined the Jets in pursuing him. The Jets had expressed interest in keeping the former UDFA, who led the team in sacks last season, but their 2023 Will McDonald draft choice appeared to point Huff elsewhere.

Minnesota came in early with its Greenard signing (four years, $76MM, $38MM fully guaranteed), while Washington turned to one of Dan Quinn‘s ex-Cowboys charges — Dorance Armstrongsoon after. The Giants made a bigger splash hours later by trading for Brian Burns, in a deal that involved a second-rounder going to the Panthers and fifth-rounders being swapped, while the Seahawks devoted their funding to fortifying their interior D-line (via the Leonard Williams deal). Huff, 26, led the NFL in pressure rate last season but was not used as a full-time D-end. It should be expected the Eagles, who have Haason Reddick in trade rumors, will up Huff’s usage.

Here is the latest free agency fallout:

  • As Lloyd Cushenberry and Andre James scored nice contracts, the center market has not seen Connor Williams come off the board. It should be a while on that front. Rehabbing an ACL tear, Williams is not expected to sign anywhere anytime soon, agent Drew Rosenahus said during a WSVP interview (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson). Williams going down in Week 14 certainly has impacted his market. Pro Football Focus graded the two-year Dolphins blocker as a top-five center in each of his two Miami seasons. Ahead of his age-27 season, the ex-Cowboys draftee will probably need to show teams he is healthy or on track to full strength before a deal commences.
  • The Raiders lost their starting running back in free agency, seeing Josh Jacobs join the Packers. Zamir White is tentatively in place as Las Vegas’ starter, but the now-Tom Telesco-run club did show interest in Austin Ekeler, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets. Telesco was with the Chargers when they signed Ekeler as a UDFA and when they extended him, but the GM did not greenlight a second extension last year. That led to trade rumors and a small incentive package. Ekeler signed a two-year, $8.43MM Commanders deal, indicating (via the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala) the NFC East team showed the most interest. Despite leading the NFL in TDs in 2021 and 2022, Ekeler received only $4.2MM fully guaranteed — ninth among FA backs this year.
  • As for Jacobs, his guarantee fell well short of Saquon Barkley‘s and shy of the Bears’ commitment to D’Andre Swift. The Packers signed Jacobs to a four-year, $48MM deal, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes only the $12.5MM signing bonus is guaranteed (plus a $1.2MM 2024 salary). Beyond 2024, this is a pay-as-you-go deal. Jacobs is due a $5.93MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2025 league year, creating a pivotal date for Green Bay’s backfield. The Packers are known for shying away from guarantees beyond Year 1, in most instances, but it is interesting to see the gap between guarantees Barkley could secure ($26MM) and Jacobs’ locked-in money.
  • The gap between Xavier McKinney‘s Packers deal and the Ramstwo-year Kamren Curl pact ended up wider than the aforementioned RBs. Curl agreed to a $9MM accord, per the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala. Curl, 25, has two seasons to show he can command a more lucrative contract. But McKinney (four years, $68MM) showed how valuable an age-25 offseason can be for earning power, making the Curl contract look quite Rams-friendly.
  • Jonnu Smith‘s two-year Dolphins deal came in at $8.4MM, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Miami will guarantee the former Tennessee, New England and Atlanta tight end $3.96MM. No guarantees are present beyond 2024, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets. Miami’s three-year Jordyn Brooks accord lands slightly lower than initially reported, with Wilson adding the ex-Seattle linebacker signed for $26.25MM. Brooks’ contract features $16MM guaranteed; just $9.5MM of that sum is guaranteed at signing.

Seahawks To Sign S K’Von Wallace

Following a half-year stop in Tennessee, K’Von Wallace is back in the NFC. The free agent safety is signing with the Seahawks, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. It will be a one-year deal for Wallace.

The former Eagles fourth-round pick spent three years as a backup in Philadelphia before getting waived at the end of the 2023 preseason. He caught on with the Cardinals and proceeded to start five of his seven appearances with the organization, collecting 43 tackles and one interception.

He was waived by Arizona in October and landed with the Titans, where he started seven of his 10 appearances down the stretch. Wallace added another 46 tackles to his resume during his short stint in Tennessee. For his full-season performance, Pro Football Focus graded him 39th among 95 qualifying safeties, with the site being especially high on his coverage ability.

After moving on from Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, the Seahawks have been searching for some safety depth. The team previously brought in former Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins, adding the veteran to holdovers like Julian Love and Coby Bryant.

Seahawks To Sign DT Johnathan Hankins

After playing multiple seasons in Dallas, Johnathan Hankins will relocate again. The well-traveled defensive tackle will commit to the Seahawks, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo notes.

On a Seattle visit Tuesday, Hankins will agree to head west after spending 1 1/2 seasons in Dallas. Acquired at the 2022 trade deadline, Hankins re-signed with the Cowboys in 2023. He played a key role in Dallas’ run-stopping efforts, and the Seahawks will expect the same on a defensive line already housing Dre’Mont Jones and the recently re-signed Leonard Williams. Hankins will follow former Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde to Seattle, which hired the England-born coach as its defensive coordinator.

Hankins, who will turn 32 next week, has joined Jadeveon Clowney in signing one-year contracts over the past several years. He agreed to four with the Raiders and one with the Cowboys. Given his age and contractual history, it would surprise if this Seahawks pact covered multiple seasons.

The Cowboys’ defense featured Hankins as a key presence at nose tackle; the team used him as a 14-game starter in 2023. It certainly missed Hankins’ presence in late-season losses to the Bills and Dolphins, with the Buffalo defeat bringing a James Cook rampage on the ground. The Seahawks struggled defending the run last season, ranking 31st in yards allowed and 27th in yards per carry yielded. A full season of Williams stands to help on this front, and Hankins will come over to aid the cause as well.

Mike Macdonald‘s first Seattle defense will feature a veteran-heavy front. While the team will lose considerable experience at linebacker due to Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks‘ departures, it will have Williams, Jones, Hankins and Jarran Reed on its D-line. Reed signed a two-year contract last season. The team lost Mario Edwards in free agency; he joined the Texans earlier today. Hankins profiles as more of a base-set player than one used in sub-packages, but the Seahawks are now deep at D-tackle.

Seahawks Interested In Randy Gregory

Randy Gregory finds himself in free agency after failing to live up to the big-money deal he signed with the Broncos in 2022. The veteran edge rusher has at least one known suitor for a potential new deal.

The Seahawks have shown “preliminary interest” in Gregory, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reports. The 31-year-old appeared set to extend his Cowboys tenure in 2022 with a five-year, $69.5MM contract being worked out. In the end, though, issues over guarantees led to the deal falling through. He signed with the Broncos under the same terms, leading to substantial expectations for him in Denver.

Gregory played only 10 games with his new team between the 2022 and ’23 campaigns, however. A knee injury left him sidelined for an extended stretch, and when on the field the former second-rounder did not perform as hoped. Gregory totaled three sacks with the Broncos, and early last season he was set to be released. A trade partner was found in the form of the 49ers, though, and he finished the campaign in San Francisco. After serving in a rotational role in the Bay Area, Gregory is now set to move on as a free agent.

Given the nature of his health and performances over the past two years, a ‘prove-it’ deal would be reasonable in Gregory’s case. The Nebraska product would be working with a familiar face if he were to accept a Seattle deal. Aden Durde – now the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator – served as the Cowboys’ defensive line coach when Gregory played in Dallas. A reunion could help the latter regain his previous form, which included six-sack campaigns in 2018 and ’21.

Seattle already has a lucrative investment along the edge in the form of Uchenna Nwosu. The team has also used a second-round pick in consecutive years on outside linebackers (Boye Mafe in 2022, Derick Hall in 2023), meaning a signing amongst the remaining free agents does not need to be high priority. That is especially true given the fact Darrell Taylor was retained on a new pact taking the place of a potential RFA tender. Still, a Gregory deal could allow him to compete for a depth role as he attempts to rebuild his value in another new environment.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/18/24

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

Seahawks Sign LB Jerome Baker

The Seattle linebacking corps will look completely different on the inside in 2024. With the departures of Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, and Devin Bush in free agency and the release of Nick Bellore, the only returning inside linebackers in 2024 are Jon Rhattigan and Drake Thomas, who combined for 26 defensive snaps last season. After bringing in Tyrel Dodson to fill some of these holes this week, the Seahawks secured another experienced starter in former Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The team has since announced the move.

Funny enough, Brooks and Baker will swap jobs in 2024. The Dolphins released Baker after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a restructured contract that would lower Baker’s salary cap impact. Miami quickly moved to replace the veteran, signing Brooks to a three-year, $30MM deal. Now, Baker heads to the opposite corner of the country to fill the role that Brooks left vacant in Seattle on a one-year, $7MM contract.

Baker’s release wasn’t necessarily a result of any lack of on-field production. While missing four games did keep Baker from reaching the 100-tackle mark for only the second time in the last five years and he didn’t have quite the same impact on the team’s pass rush as he has in the past, he showed an impressive improvement in coverage, nabbing two interceptions and three passes defensed. Teaming Baker up with Dodson, who excelled as the top-graded linebacker in the league in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Seattle will be home of one of the league’s top pass-defending duos at linebacker.

Baker is coming off wrist surgery that placed him on injured reserve for four weeks near the end of the regular season. He was able to return from IR in time for the Dolphins’ regular season finale, but Baker reinjured his wrist in that game and sat out of the playoffs. The offseason should give him plenty of time to recover, allowing him to potentially start alongside Dodson in 2024 at full strength.

Seahawks To Sign S Rayshawn Jenkins, T George Fant

MARCH 15: The Seahawks are giving Jenkins a two-year, $12MM deal, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets, noting $6.6MM will come the safety’s way in Year 1. Fant will collect up to $14MM on his deal, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who adds the veteran tackle will receive a $3.7MM signing bonus.

Multiple teams pursued Fant, according to Wilson, but John Schneider confirmed (via the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta) the Seahawks are not planning a two-Fant starting lineup. While Noah Fant is back at tight end, George Fant will work as a swingman behind starters Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas. Considering the investments the Seahawks made in their young tackles, this is not surprising.

MARCH 13: After moving on from both Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, the Seahawks had a need on the backend. Those veteran safeties will not be in place for 2024, but Rayshawn Jenkins will. The latter has agreed to a deal with Seattle, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

In another free agent deal, the Seahawks will bring back George Fant. The veteran tackle is set to return to where his career began, Pelissero notes in a follow-up. Fant will provide depth at the tackle spot on a team featuring two young starters.

Jenkins was part of Jacksonville’s cost-cutting measures in the lead-in to free agency. He had a three-year run in Duval County, remaining a full-time starter over that span. The 30-year-old racked up five interceptions during the past two seasons, adding 21 pass deflections in that time. To little surprise, Jenkins was quickly on the radar of interested teams after his Jags release went through.

The Seahawks and 49ers had Jenkins visits lined up, and he has elected to head to Seattle. A first-team role should await the Miami alum given the decision to cut Adams and Diggs in cost-shedding moves. Seattle invested in Julian Love last offseason, but he is only under contract through 2024. The ex-Giant could play his way into a new Seattle pact with his play this season, and doing so will come about with a veteran of 109 games alongside him in the form of Jenkins.

Fant spent the first three years of his career in the Emerald City, logging 24 starts across 46 games with the Seahawks. He worked as a full-time starter with the Jets from 2020-22, seeing time at both left and right tackle. He took a one-year Texans deal last offseason, starting 13 contests and playing almost exclusively at the RT spot. That could come in handy with Seattle.

2022 third-rounder Abraham Lucas was limited to six games last season due to injury, and Fant will provide a veteran starting option if necessary. Lucas struggled when on the field in 2023, drawing a PFF grade of 53.1 (a steep decline from that of his rookie season). Fant, 31, earned a much better evaluation last year in a bounce-back from his final Jets season. He could see playing time with Seattle for the second time in his career if needed at either tackle spot.

Commanders To Trade QB Sam Howell To Seahawks

With Marcus Mariota in place for the Commanders, Sam Howell will indeed be playing elsewhere in 2024. The latter quarterback has been traded to the Seahawks, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

Washington will send Howell along with a fourth- and sixth-round pick to Seattle. In return, the Seahawks will send a third- and fifth-round pick. All selections are in the upcoming draft. Mariota’s free agent signing suggested the Commanders would pair him with a rookie selected second overall in April. Doing so would have left Howell on the outside looking in, leading to questions about his future in the nation’s capital.

The Seahawks have (in incremental fashion) committed to veteran Geno Smith as their starter for 2024. The former Comeback Player of the Year earned a new deal last offseason as Seattle’s undisputed starter despite the presence of Drew Lock, a piece of the Russell Wilson trade. Smith will hold down first-team duties again this year, but he will have a new backup in place.

Lock took a one-year deal with the Giants, leaving Seattle in need of a QB2. Howell served that role for all but one week of his rookie year in 2022, but his play to close out the regular season informed the decision to release Carson Wentz. Then-head coach Ron Rivera showed confidence in Howell as the Commanders’ starter this past year, but that decision did not yield the desired results. The 23-year-old led the NFL in sacks taken and interceptions, seeing himself lifted mid-game on more than one occasion late in the campaign.

Still, Howell could profile as an option with some upside. The former fifth-rounder led the NFL in passing yards at one point during the 2023 campaign, one in which Washington fielded a less-than-stellar offensive line and posted a 4-13 record amidst struggles on defense. Rivera was fired, as expected, after the end of the season and Dan Quinn has been brought in to replace him. He and new general manager Adam Peters comprise a different regime than the one which drafted Howell, and they will now commit to whichever passer is added with the second overall pick in April.

Drake Maye – who replaced Howell as the starter at North Carolina – is one of the options Washington will likely have at No. 2 (with Caleb Williams presumed to be hear his name called first). LSU’s Jayden Daniels could also be the Commanders’ selection, but in any case the rookie passer will be positioned as a starter for the present and future given Mariota’s status as a backup during much of his post-Titans career. As a result of this deal, the Commanders will now own six of the top 100 picks in the upcoming draft.

Seattle, meanwhile, will have a Lock replacement on the books for at least two more years given the term remaining on Howell’s rookie pact. Smith is also under contract through 2025, but none of his base salary for that season is guaranteed. The Seahawks may have acquired the 33-year-old’s eventual replacement.