Seahawks GM: “We’d Discuss” Marshawn Lynch Return
The Seahawks “would discuss” a new deal with running back Marshawn Lynch, GM John Schneider told Jason La Canfora of 105.7 The Fan (Twitter link). Schneider also said that the Seahawks “wouldn’t say no to anything” though his comments indicated that any talks to this point have been preliminary. 
[RELATED: Seahawks, Lynch In Talks]
Recently, Lynch said that his agent has been in touch with Seattle about a new deal that would bring Beast Mode back to Seattle in 2020. Late last year, Lynch stepped in when the Seahawks’ RB group was completely decimated by injuries. Between his lone regular season game and two postseason contests, Lynch averaged just 2.3 yards per carry, though he did score four touchdowns. Afterwards, Pete Carroll was asked about the possibility of a Lynch return and said, “never say never.”
This time around, the Seahawks aren’t as desperate for backfield help. They’re expecting Chris Carson to be ready to go for the start of the season while Rashaad Penny should be able to suit up at some point following ACL surgery. They’ve also got Travis Homer, who averaged 6.3 yards per tote in a limited sample size as a rookie last year. And, just last month, they added fourth-round pick DeeJay Dallas to the group, plus a pair of undrafted rookies.
For his career, Lynch has racked up 10,413 yards, 85 touchdowns, and five Pro Bowl selections.
Seahawks Unlikely To Re-Sign Jadeveon Clowney
Jadeveon Clowney wouldn’t mind returning to the Seahawks, but a reunion doesn’t seem too likely. The defensive end would have to take far less money than what the Seahawks were previously offering him in order to facilitate a return, a league source tells ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson.
[RELATED: Eagles, Ravens Interested In Clowney?]
Publicly, GM John Schneider hasn’t ruled out the former No. 1 overall pick, though he has hinted that its not in the cards. In early March, Clowney was reportedly asking for $21MM per year. In late March, he dropped his ask to $17-$18MM per year. Now, we’re in May, and most of the NFL’s dollars have dried up. The Seahawks, meanwhile, do not have an offer currently on the table for him.
The Seahawks have already made improvements to the front seven by adding Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa. Mayowa’s one-year deal is reportedly worth $3MM while the figures on Irvin’s contract are not yet known. What we do know is that the Seahawks have less than $20MM in cap space at present and they still have other needs to address. They also found edge help in the draft by selecting outside linebacker Darrell Taylor (second round) and defensive end Alton Robinson (fifth round).
The Browns and Titans have been heavily linked to Clowney and the Eagles and Ravens may have some level of interest in him. At this stage of free agency, he stands as the best available edge rusher on the market, even though he finished 2019 with just three regular season sacks.
Eagles, Ravens Interested In Jadeveon Clowney?
A number of teams have been connected in some way or another to free agent edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney over the course of the past several months. The Eagles and Ravens are two such teams, but while there was plenty of speculation linking Clowney to those clubs, there were no concrete reports on that front. However, Mark Berman of Fox 26 KRIV may have changed that last night.
Per Berman’s sources, Philadelphia and Baltimore are among the teams expressing interest in Clowney’s services (Twitter link). Of course, the degree of their interest is unclear, and it’s possible that those clubs are simply keeping tabs on Clowney in case he falls into a certain price range or in case something should happen to one of their other pass rushers. Nonetheless, the “addition” of two Super Bowl hopefuls to the market is notable and will certainly be welcomed by Clowney himself.
The Ravens’ edge rushing contingent is headed by the franchise-tagged Matt Judon, but we do not know where the two sides stand in their negotiations of a long-term pact, and Judon has been rumored as a trade candidate. Although Baltimore’s cap space as it presently stands would seem to preclude a Clowney signing without restructuring the contracts of other players, the team could theoretically trade Judon for quality draft capital and allocate his cap charge to Clowney. The Ravens did re-sign Pernell McPhee just yesterday, and while McPhee can certainly be useful as a rotational pass rusher, his presence will hardly stop GM Eric DeCosta from pursuing Clowney if he believes there’s a fit.
Meanwhile, a pass rusher is arguably the Eagles’ biggest remaining need. Philadelphia has enough salary cap room to fit Clowney into the roster this year, but the club has a lot of work to do with respect to its 2021 cap, especially if the cap should decline as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. So any rollover money the Eagles can carry from 2020 into 2021 will be hugely beneficial. On the other hand, if GM Howie Roseman thinks Clowney can help get his team back to the promised land this year, then his 2021 cap situation will not stop him from pulling the trigger.
Berman also notes that the Titans and Browns are very much in the mix for Clowney, though their interest has been well-documented. In addition, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 draft has not ruled out a return to the Seahawks.
“I hope we can work something out if anything happens,” Clowney said. “I did like it up there. … I love all the guys I played with. … I love Seattle. … I love everyone on the coaching staff” (Twitter link via Berman).
Consistent with what we heard last week, Clowney said he is willing to wait to sign until interested clubs can bring him in for a physical. “I know what’s going on in the world,” Clowney said. “It’s a slow process until teams can see me and see what I got and can give me physicals. I’m just waiting on the right opportunity” (Twitter link via Berman).
Those comments were the first Clowney has made publicly since the end of the 2019 season, and he has been working out at a gym in Houston four days a week since undergoing core muscle surgery (Twitter link via Berman). He says he is fully recovered from his injury, but to get the payday he wants, he will likely need to wait until teams can make that determination for themselves.
Seahawks To Slot Bruce Irvin At LB?
- Despite Bruce Irvin having lined up as a defensive end in his four seasons away from Seattle — with the Raiders, Falcons and Panthers — the Seahawks are listing him as an outside linebacker. Going into the draft, the team viewed Irvin as an option to play off the ball in base sets before lining up as an end on passing downs, per Brady Henderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). But the Seahawks used a first-round pick on Texas Tech linebacker Jordyn Brooks and possess a greater need at defensive end. Irvin did, however, play this hybrid role for the bulk of his first Seahawks stint.
Seahawks, Marshawn Lynch’s Agent ‘In Talks’ About New Deal
It sounds like Marshawn Lynch could stick around for another season. The veteran running back told ESPN that his agent has been in contact with the Seahawks.
“Well, it’s almost on that expect the unexpected,” Lynch said (via Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com). “But just as far as right now, what I do know is, (I’m gonna) keep it solid. My agent has been in talks with Seattle, so like I said, we’ll see what happens. If it works out and I get back up there, it is what it is.”
Following two seasons with the Raiders, Lynch returned to Seattle towards the end of last season. Thanks to the Seahawks’ depleted running back corps, the 34-year-old had an opportunity to play, and he collected four touchdowns on 30 carries in three games (including two postseason contests).
Following that performance (which also included an unsightly 2.23 yards-per-carry), Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll hinted that Lynch could return in 2020.
“We’ll see. Never say never,” Carroll said in February. “I’m not going to rush him back to offseason, that’s for sure. That’s never been one of his strengths.”
The Seahawks are currently rostering six running backs, but only three of them have any NFL experience. Chris Carson is expected to be ready for the regular season, but Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes that former first-rounder Rashaad Penny may have to start training camp on the PUP.
Besides Carson, Penny, and 2019 sixth-rounder Travis Homer, the Seahawks are rostering three rookies, including fourth-rounder DeeJay Dallas.
Seahawks Sign 12 More UDFAs
The Seahawks can’t get enough undrafted rookies. On Monday, the Seahawks waived running back Adam Choice, linebacker Pita Taumoepenu, and defensive tackles Naz Jones and Shakir Soto to make room for a dozen undrafted free agents:
- Josh Avery, DT (Southeast Missouri)
- Patrick Carr, RB (Houston)
- Seth Dawkins, WR (Louisville)
- Gavin Heslop, CB (Stonybrook)
- Anthony Jones, RB (Florida International)
- Cedrick Lattimore, DT (Iowa)
- Tyler Mabry, TE (Marylad)
- Chris Miller, S (Baylor)
- Josh Norwood, S (West Virginia)
- Kemah Siverand, CB (Oklahoma State)
- Marcus Webb, DE (Troy)
- Dominick Wood-Anderson, TE (Tennessee)
Those players will join a UDFA class that already includes:
- Anthony Gordon, QB (Washington State)
- Aaron Fuller, WR (Washington)
- Tommy Champion, OT (Mississippi State)
- Debione Renfro, CB (Texas A&M)
- Eli Mencer, DE (Albany)
Gordon, the successor to Gardner Minshew at Washington State, threw for an absurd 5,579 yards and 48 touchdowns in just 13 games. On the heels of a truly ridiculous year, he’ll push to serve as Russell Wilson‘s top backup.
Titans, Seahawks Still Interested In Jadeveon Clowney
The Titans and Seahawks are still interested in edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, Dianna Russini of ESPN.com tweets. Clowney’s asking price and sense of urgency haven’t changed either. Despite multiple offers from both clubs, Clowney isn’t close with either team and he isn’t in a rush to put pen to paper. 
[RELATED: Jadeveon Clowney Interested In Jets?]
For now, Clowney’s plan is to wait until the pandemic eases up so that he can take a physical with interested teams, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets. A passed (and thorough) physical with team doctors would give Clowney the best payday, he believes, though he could also lose out on available spots and dollars by waiting.
Recently, Seahawks GM John Schneider said he’d still consider the former No. 1 overall pick, though that was before the draft. Then, earlier this week, Jarran Reed caused a bit of a stir when he announced his new jersey number for the 2020 season – No. 90 – Clowney’s number with Seattle last year. For his part, Schneider says that he has not approved any sort of number change, so we can’t really read into Reed’s uni.
“I think you’re buying into it, because I don’t remember approving that yet, so I don’t know,” the GM said (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). “I don’t know where that came from, but yesterday morning it was definitely, something was going on.”
The Titans had roughly $21MM in cap space before the draft, but their frosh will chip away at that figure. Clowney could help bolster their edge rush, though they have already beefed up in that area by signing Vic Beasley.
Clowney, 27, has 32 career sacks to his credit, though he logged just three sacks in 13 games last year.
Seahawks Give Britt Failed Physical Designation
- The Seahawks did some shuffling on their offensive line the past couple days, releasing veteran interior linemen D.J. Fluker and Justin Britt. Turns out, Britt was released with a failed physical designation, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. It’s not shocking considering Britt’s 2019 season ended back in October with a torn ACL. As Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets, this could reduce the cap space Seattle gains a bit since they’ll have to pay him a settlement if he doesn’t sign with another team in 2020. Condotta also notes that it’s one reason the release took a while. Still, we’ve heard Britt hasn’t suffered any setbacks with his knee, so the proven starter should land on his feet with a new team at some point.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/28/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DT John Jenkins
Denver Broncos
- Waived: OT Ka’John Armstrong
Kansas City Chiefs
- Waived: DE Anthony Lanier, RB Marcus Marshall
New York Giants
- Claimed off waivers (Dolphins): S Montre Hartage
- Waived: DB Derrick Baity, TE C.J. Conrad, LS Colin Holba, LS Drew Scott, P Sean Smith, C Tanner Volson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Claimed off waivers (Lions): G Casey Tucker
Seattle Seahawks
- Claimed off waivers (Jaguars): DB Jayson Stanley
Jenkins, 30, spent the 2017 season with the Bears before spending time with the Giants and Dolphins. In Miami last year, he started five times and appeared in all 16 games. He finished out the year with 34 total tackles and his first sack since 2015. The deal also reunites him with old colleague Ryan Pace, the Bears GM who worked in the Saints’ front office when Jenkins was drafted back in 2013.
Seahawks To Release Justin Britt
The Seahawks continue to overhaul their offensive line. Just a couple hours after we heard that the team was releasing guard D.J. Fluker, they’ll also be cutting center Justin Britt, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times confirmed (Twitter link).
Aaron Fentress of The Athletic was the first to report the news on Twitter. Britt spent the past six seasons in Seattle, and was a full-time starter for all of them. Originally a tackle and then a guard his first two years in the league, he made the switch to center in 2016. Britt was heading into the final year of his contract and the team will save $8.5MM in cap space by cutting him, although they will incur a $2.9MM dead cap hit, Condotta notes in the Times.
The release of Fluker saved about $3.7MM, so the Seahawks cleared a significant amount of space today. They’ve been making moves on the offensive line all offseason, and the unit is going to look considerably different in 2020. Joey Hunt, who started the second half of last season, former second-round pick Ethan Pocic, and B.J. Finney are all candidates to start at center. Finney was signed to a two-year, $8MM pact this offseason.
Britt started the first eight games of last season before tearing an ACL in an October game against the Falcons. Britt will turn 29 in May, and we haven’t heard much about his recovery, although Sirius XM NFL insider Adam Caplan did tweet that he hasn’t had any setbacks. Coming off the devastating injury he’ll likely have to settle for a prove-it deal despite playing at a high level in the past.
It’s possible the Seahawks are attempting to clear space for a bigger move like re-signing the still-available Jadeveon Clowney, but that’s far from definite.