Free Agent Primer: Does Laken Tomlinson Fit Into Seahawks’ 2025 O-Line Plans?

Seattle Seahawks guard Laken Tomlinson listens to instruction from coaches prior to a drill during a training camp practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum

After narrowly missing out on the postseason despite finishing with 10 wins in their first season under coach Mike Macdonald, the Seattle Seahawks have plenty of roster questions to address in coming weeks and months as they aim to improve their roster with the goal of returning to the playoffs in 2025.

With the new league year set to begin on March 14, Seattle will have 10 players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents along with two restricted free agents and four exclusive rights free agents, while veteran starters such as quarterback Geno Smith and receiver DK Metcalf could be due for contract extensions. Complicating the process to re-sign and extend players, general manager John Schneider has his work cut out for him creating financial flexibility before free agency tips off next month, as the franchise currently sits more than $6 million over the salary cap.

Over the next several weeks, using statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, I will break down each and every one of the Seahawks' unrestricted free agents by revisiting their 2024 seasons, assessing why they should or should not be re-signed, breaking down an ideal contract, and making an early prediction on whether or not the player will return in 2025.

Continuing the series, Laken Tomlinson remained one of the NFL’s most durable players by starting all 17 games at left guard for the Seahawks in his first season with the team. Is there a place for him on the offensive line in 2025?

Season in Review

Signing with the Seahawks in April, Tomlinson jumped right into the starting lineup next to left tackle Charles Cross, providing valuable veteran mentorship for the former first-round pick as well as incoming rookie guards Christian Haynes and Sataoa Laumea. A beacon of durability, he played a team-high 1,097 snaps while starting every single game, allowing 38 pressures, six sacks, and eight quarterback hits over the course of the season. He closed out the season on a high note by allowing no sacks and no quarterback hits in four of Seattle’s final six contests.

Why Seattle Will Re-sign Him

Though Tomlinson clearly isn’t the Pro Bowl caliber starter he once was, the 33-year old emerged as a leader for an otherwise young offensive line, making a positive impact on Cross, Laumea, and others after taking them under his wing. On the field, he overcame a difficult first half by playing better football in the final two months as the team won five out of eight to close out the schedule, helping the Seahawks rush for 112 yards per game and a 5.1 yards per carry average in the final five games and allowing zero sacks in five of his last six starts.

From a continuity standpoint, Tomlinson’s presence may be valued by incoming offensive line coach John Benton, who coached him with the Jets back in 2022. That season, he allowed a career-low one sack and posted a personal-best 97.6 pass block efficiency rate, suggesting the long-time NFL assistant could be able to squeeze one more solid season out of him.

Why Seattle Will Let Him Walk

Whether fair or not, Tomlinson didn’t provide the boost for Seattle’s offensive line that the front office and coaching staff hoped he would. He routinely whiffed on blocks in the run game, particularly in the first half as the team struggled to develop a ground attack, and per Sports Info Solutions charting, he produced 22 blown blocks in pass protection, the second most in a season during his career.

Compared to his peers, looking at the entire season holistically, Tomlinson performed poorly for Seattle, yielding the fourth-most pressures, seventh-most sacks, and fifth-most quarterback hits among guards in 2024. In addition, he ranked a dismal 45th out of 59 qualified guards in pass block efficiency rate (96.7) and ranked 34th out of 54 guards in PFF’s run blocking grade to go with five penalties.

Ideal Contract

One year, $1.4 million

Prediction

Considering Tomlinson’s age and the aforementioned lackluster numbers both as a pass and run blocker, the Seahawks shouldn’t be rushing to re-sign him and focus on pursuing younger upgrade alternatives in free agency, as his play likely will only continue to decline as he ages and he may be near the end of his run as a starter-caliber player. With a strong free agent crop as well as an incoming guard draft class that has drawn rave reviews from analysts, Schneider should have plenty of options to improve the interior of the line at his disposal.

With that said, at this stage of his career, Tomlinson won’t be expensive to sign and like a year ago, he may need to wait until later in free agency to land another job. Even if Seattle does sign another veteran in free agency, which may or may not happen based on Schneider’s recent comments about not throwing money at problems, given his previous ties to Benton and the respect he has in the locker room, it’s possible the team could look back in his direction to compete for snaps on a veteran minimum deal with limited guaranteed money in late March or early April.

Previous Free Agent Primers: Jarran Reed