Seahawks To Extend Tyler Lockett
The Seahawks have locked up Tyler Lockett for the long haul. On Wednesday, the two sides agreed to a four-year, $69.2MM extension (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The deal includes $37MM in guaranteed cash and likely tamps down his scheduled $14.95MM cap hit for 2021. 
[RELATED: Seahawks Strike New Deal With Jackson]
Lockett, 28, came to Seattle as a third-round pick in 2015. Ever since, he’s greatly outperformed his draft position with solid work out of the slot. Across the last six years, he has 376 grabs, 4,892 yards, and 37 touchdowns to his credit. He’s also coming off of a career-best 100 receptions (for 1,054 yards and ten touchdowns), though his 10.5 yards per catch average left much to be desired. Before 2020, Lockett was averaging 13.9 ypc, bolstered by his near 17-yard average in 2018.
Despite questionable depth at wide receiver, the Seahawks abstained from this year’s best available options. This new deal underscores their confidence in Lockett — not just for this year, but for many seasons to follow. For now, the Seahawks are set to enter 2021 with Lockett and D.K. Metcalf leading the charge with support from Freddie Swain, Cody Thompson, John Ursua, Darvin Kidsy, Aaron Fuller, and Penny Hart.
In addition to Lockett, the Seahawks have also re-upped guard Gabe Jackson with a three-year, $22.58MM extension. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, they moved on from defensive tackle Jarran Reed. With the 28-year-old out of the picture, their DL group will feature Kerry Hyder, Benson Mayowa, Carlos Dunlap, Poona Ford, and old pal Al Woods.
Seahawks Extend G Gabe Jackson
The Seahawks will make sure their recently acquired guard is locked up long-term. They agreed to a three-year extension with Gabe Jackson on Tuesday.
Jackson agreed to a three-year, $22.58MM extension with his new team, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Upon being traded, Jackson was still attached to the five-year, $56MM extension he signed with the Raiders in 2017. The veteran guard and the Seahawks have adjusted the terms of his deal.
Guaranteed money will come Jackson’s way. No guarantees remained on Jackson’s Raiders-constructed contract, but Rapoport adds that the seven-year starter will receive a $9MM signing bonus and just more than $7MM in additional guarantees. This move figures to reduce Jackson’s 2021 cap hit ($9.6MM), freeing up some cap room for his new team. Jackson will see $16MM over the next two years, per Jeremy Fowler and Brady Henderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The veteran traded a higher average salary for guarantees.
Seattle acquired Jackson for a fifth-round pick, agreeing to send the Day 3 draft choice to Las Vegas for a player on the verge of being cut. Rather than vie with other prospective suitors on the free agent market, the Seahawks secured Jackson’s rights via the trade. The move came several weeks after Russell Wilson went public about his desire to see his team upgrade on the offensive line.
A 2014 third-round pick, Jackson has been a starter throughout his career. He helped the likes of Latavius Murray and Josh Jacobs to 1,000-yard rushing seasons and entered March as the Raiders’ longest-tenured O-lineman. While the 29-year-old blocker has not made a Pro Bowl in his career, he qualifies as a major O-line add for a team that authorized a host of lower-level deals last year.
The Seahawks now have Jackson and emerging guard Damien Lewis signed long-term. Questions remain at tackle, where starters Duane Brown and Brandon Shell are in contract years, but the Seahawks have added Jackson and re-signed starting center Ethan Pocic. It remains to be seen if these transactions moved the needle for Wilson, but the team is in better position up front than it was in 2020.
Seahawks QB Accused In Barfight
Had John Wolford made it through the Rams‘ wild-card win over the Seahawks healthy, Sean McVay was prepared to start him over Jared Goff against the Packers (assuming the Rams would have won in Round 1 with their backup), Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com notes. Wolford suffered a first-quarter neck injury that brought Goff back into action. McVay decided shortly after the Rams’ Week 17 game that Wolford would start over Goff in Seattle, despite not yet gauging Goff’s progress after thumb surgery. Considering the disparity between Goff and Wolford’s contracts and the nature of their arrivals — the former a No. 1 overall pick and the latter a UDFA who played in the Alliance of American Football — the gap between them narrowing to this degree is striking.
- A man has accused Seahawks quarterback Alex McGough of punching him in the face on St. Patrick’s Day, TMZ reports. McGough, 25, allegedly punched Anthony Albino at a bar last week in a dispute related to McGough’s girlfriend. Albino intends to press charges, according to TMZ. The Seahawks drafted McGough in the 2018 seventh round, but he has bounced around the league. Seattle reacquired McGough in December of last year.
Seahawks To Bring Back DT Al Woods
Al Woods opted out of the 2020 season, and the Jaguars released him last week. But the veteran defensive tackle will land on his feet in a familiar place.
The Seahawks are signing Woods, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Despite missing last season and being a part-time starter in his previous Seattle stay, Woods agreed to a one-year, $3MM deal. The Seahawks will guarantee $750K to the veteran D-tackle, who turned 34 on Thursday. This marks a slight bump from the Jaguars contract Woods inked last year (one year, $2.75MM).
This will be a third Seattle stint for Woods, who has played for five teams and been affiliated with six. He was most recently with the Seahawks in 2019, when he worked as a starter in place of the suspended Jarran Reed. Woods returned to the bench after Reed’s ban ended, but Reed is no longer in the picture for the Seahawks. The team notified the five-year starter of his release.
Woods also spent the 2011 season in Seattle but played only two games. He then spent time with the Steelers, Titans (his longest NFL stay, at three years) and Colts before returning in 2019. Pro Football Focus has graded the 10-year veteran as a plus run defender in his 30s. The Seahawks already ranked fifth against the run last season.
This continues a busy week for the Seahawks’ defensive line. In addition to releasing Reed and reacquiring Woods, Seattle re-signed both Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa and acquired veteran defensive end Kerry Hyder. They re-signed defensive tackle Poona Ford to a two-year deal last week.
Seahawks Release Jarran Reed
The Seahawks have released defensive tackle Jarran Reed. As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link) noted this afternoon, this was the expected move after the club was unable to find a suitable trade. 
By cutting Reed, the Seahawks will gain $8.5MM in cap space with a $5MM dead cap hit. The Seahawks signed Kerry Hyder earlier this month and brought back Benson Mayowa along with defensive end Carlos Dunlap. Seattle also re-signed defensive tackle Poona Ford this month.
Ultimately, there wasn’t enough room for Reed, and the league’s other 31 teams recognized that. Although no one was willing to give up draft capital while taking on Reed’s old contract, plenty of clubs will be interested in adding him as a free agent.
This move comes just a year after the Seahawks retained Reed via two-year, $23MM extension. The former second-round pick broke out in 2018, registering 10.5 sacks and 24 quarterback hits, but saw a suspension derail his 2019 season. Reed missed the first six games of the ’19 campaign, which ended with him collecting just two sacks and eight QB hits. Last season, Reed bounced back with 6.5 sacks to help the Seahawks to their third straight playoff berth.
At 28, and having been a starter since his rookie season, Reed should generate interest on the market — even if no trade materialized. Given the juncture of his Seattle departure and the salary cap reduction, Reed may need to accept a one-year deal at a lower rate and aim for a subsequent extension with his new team or a 2022 free agency payday.
Seahawks Re-Sign Carlos Dunlap
The Seahawks are putting the money they are about to save from Jarran Reed‘s imminent departure to good use. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com was among those to report, Seattle is re-signing defensive end Carlos Dunlap to a two-year, $16.6MM contract with $8.5MM in guarantees (Twitter link).
Seattle acquired Dunlap in a trade deadline deal in October in an effort to boost its struggling pass rush. And Dunlap delivered, contributing five sacks and six tackles for loss in his eight games with the ‘Hawks. However, he was due to carry a $14.1 cap charge in 2021, and that was just too much for the team to stomach with the salary cap decreasing by about $16MM.
As such, the Seahawks released the longtime Bengal several weeks ago, but even before the release, we heard that Seattle could look to cut Dunlap and then re-sign him to a less expensive contract. And that’s exactly what happened.
The Dunlap re-up comes on the heels of Benson Mayowa‘s new one-year deal and Kerry Hyder‘s three-year accord. We heard earlier this evening that the club was set to trade or release Reed, and while Seattle certainly would have liked to retain its DT, Pete Carroll & Co. believe Dunlap is more valuable to the Seahawks at this point.
Dunlap, 32, has 87.5 career sacks to his credit, and he will have a good chance to hit the century mark with the Seahawks. There was no reported interest his services after he was released, but as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets, he wanted to return to Seattle all along. So both sides are probably pretty happy this evening.
Seahawks To Part Ways With DT Jarran Reed
The Seahawks are expected to part ways with defensive tackle Jarran Reed, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). It appears that Reed himself broke the news in a since-deleted tweet.
Per Schefter, Seattle is looking for a trade partner but will release the 28-year-old if it cannot swing a deal. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com is hearing the same thing, and RapSheet adds that Reed was seeking a long-term deal, while the Seahawks were hoping he would convert some of his 2020 salary into a signing bonus in order to reduce his $13.5MM cap number (Twitter link). Although those types of restructures are common and generally not difficult to execute, since they guarantee the player previously un-guaranteed money, Rapoport says the situation went to a “bad spot” when Seattle wouldn’t agree to an extension.
Moving on from Reed will create $8.5MM of cap space, though it will saddle the club with a $5MM dead cap hit. Clearly, however, Seattle values the cap savings more than their 2016 second-rounder at this point.
Reed had a breakout campaign in 2018, piling up 50 tackles and 10.5 sacks. But he was suspended for the first six games of the 2019 season after violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, and he managed just 2.5 sacks that year. His sack total increased to 6.5 last season, and he played a full 16-game slate, but Pro Football Focus was not high on his work. PFF graded him as the 89th-best interior defender out of 125 qualifiers, and he did not receive high marks for either his run defense or his pass rushing abilities.
The Seahawks signed Kerry Hyder several days ago and brought back Benson Mayowa, but Reed’s departure will still leave a pass rushing void (despite his low PFF score). 2020 trade acquisition Carlos Dunlap is still on the market after being released by Seattle several weeks ago, so perhaps the ‘Hawks will circle back to him. They could also ask 2019 first-rounder L.J. Collier to handle more snaps at DT with Reed out of the picture.
Seahawks To Re-Sign OL Cedric Ogbuehi
Cedric Ogbuehi is heading back to Seattle. The offensive tackle is re-signing with the Seahawks, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (on Twitter).
When Ogbuehi joined the Seahawks last offseason, he was expected to play a backup role for the team. However, an injury to Brandon Shell led to Ogbuehi garnering his first starts since 2017. The 28-year-old ended up seeing time in eight games (four starts) for Seattle, appearing in 26-percent of his team’s offensive snaps.
The 2015 first-round pick out of Texas A&M spent his first four seasons with the Bengals, starting 25 of his 35 games. After having his fifth-year option declined, Ogbuehi only got into two games with Cincy in 2018, and he ended up moving on to the Jaguars for the 2019 campaign.
Quarterback Russell Wilson has been clamoring for reinforcement along the offensive line, and the Seahawks have somewhat been obliging. Bob Condotta of the The Seattle Times reports (via Twitter) that Ogbuehi is now the 12th offensive lineman under contract for next season.
Richard Sherman Open To Seahawks Return
Richard Sherman stands as one of the best free agents available, and the All-Pro cornerback is taking his time in his second stay on the market. Sherman is not expected to return to the 49ers, but another reunion should not be considered off the table.
The 10-year veteran corner is open to rejoining the Seahawks, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (video link). Sherman’s initial Seahawks tenure ended after he suffered an Achilles tear during the 2017 season. That preceded an offseason release. But the Seahawks have a need at the position presently.
The Seahawks lost Shaquill Griffin, their longest-tenured corner post-Sherman, to the Jaguars last week. Quinton Dunbar is also unsigned. While Seattle added Sherman San Francisco teammate Ahkello Witherspoon and still rosters Tre Flowers and D.J. Reed, the team still figures to add help at corner.
Although the Seahawks cut Sherman in 2018, Pelissero adds they are likely open to re-signing him as well. This breakup differed from the bridge-burning Earl Thomas divorce, and Sherman may have a path back to Seattle. Of course, this will all depend on how Sherman’s market shapes up.
Teams have expressed interest in Sherman, including the Saints. The Raiders may also have interest. Patrick Peterson signed a one-year, $10MM pact with the Vikings last week. A fellow 2011 draftee who has delivered All-Pro-caliber work more recently than Peterson, Sherman may be targeting this kind of money. Fellow All-Pro 2011 classmate Chris Harris signed a two-year, $17.5MM deal last year, further setting some potential price parameters for Sherman.
A three-time first-team All-Pro with the Seahawks, with whom he played seven seasons, Sherman earned second-team All-Pro acclaim in his second 49ers campaign. However, a calf injury limited the veteran defender to five games last season. Sherman, who will turn 33 next week, said he wants to play two more seasons.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/24/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: DE Efe Obada
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: K Matt Ammendola
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: LS Joe Fortunato
Miami Dolphins
- Re-Signed: LB Elandon Roberts
New England Patriots
- Signed: LB LaRoy Reynolds
Seattle Seahawks
- Re-Signed: OL Jordan Simmons