Predicting Seahawks Next Moves to Create Salary Cap Space
Geno Smith still has a year left on his contract, but the Seattle Seahawks have to decide whether or not to extend him this offseason. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum
On the eve of the Super Bowl, even following the decision to restructure Leonard Williams’ contract earlier in the week, the Seattle Seahawks still have a ton of work left to do shoring up their salary cap situation before the new league year opens on March 12.
According to OverTheCap.com, after opening up $14.1 million in cap space by converting a portion of Williams’ 2025 base salary into a signing bonus, the Seahawks still find themselves near the bottom of the NFL with negative $16.76 million in effective cap space. With several of their own free agents set to hit the market next month, other moves will have to be made in coming weeks to allow general manager John Schneider and the front office to have the financial breathing room to sign players and improve the roster this offseason.
Closing in on a month until teams can legally tamper with free agents, what levers will the Seahawks pull to create much-needed wiggle room before a new league year? Pulling out the crystal ball and projecting the future, here are nine moves that will happen before March 12 to manufacture more than $50 million in cap relief:
1. Release Tyler Lockett, Dre’Mont Jones, George Fant, and Rayshawn Jenkins prior to March 1
Salary Cap Space Created: $37.5 million
Moving on from an iconic player of Lockett’s caliber won’t be easy for Schneider, but the Seahawks have cut ties with legends before when Father Time strikes. After posting his fewest catches and receiving yards since his third season and scoring only two touchdowns in 2024, there’s no way the front office will retain him for the final year of his contract with a cap hit approaching $31 million. The writing has been on the wall since late in the season when the player himself acknowledged he could be playing his final games in a Seahawks uniform and while it can be hoped that the two sides work out a renegotiated contract for him to finish his career in Seattle, it seems far more probable that the two sides part ways to open up $17 million in cap relief.
Though he has flashed in spurts since joining the Seahawks two years ago and offers great positional versatility that fits well in coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme, Jones has simply not come close to living up to the three-year, $51 million contract signed in March 2023. Aside from producing just four sacks in 2024, he only had seven tackles for loss and one swatted pass, failing to generate the impactful plays expected from a veteran earning $17 million per year. While a restructure kicking money down the road to the two void years that were added to his contract last summer remains a possibility, a clean cut to manufacture $11 million in cap space should be the preferred option at this point, as a restructure would only open up $9 million while adding $3 million in dead cap hits in 2026 and 2027.
Signed to two-year contracts last spring, Fant and Jenkins dealt with injuries and weren’t able to contribute as the organization envisioned as a result. A bulky knee limited Fant to only two games played, preventing him from being the insurance option replacing Abraham Lucas early in the season, and at 33 years old, the team should opt to go younger depth-wise moving forward. Jenkins played fairly well early in the 2024 season, including returning a fumble for a touchdown, only for Coby Bryant to replace him when he suffered a broken hand and ultimately Wally Pipp him by stealing the job permanently. Though neither player has a massive contract by any means, the $9 million created by cutting them can be better utilized than paying for aging backups.
2. Restructure Uchenna Nwosu, Roy Robertson-Harris, and Noah Fant, adding void years to the latter’s contract
Salary Cap Space Created: $14.1 million
Since signing a four-year extension in the aftermath of a breakout 2022 campaign, Nwosu has been ravaged by injuries, missing a total of 22 regular season games over the past two seasons due to a torn pectoral muscle, sprained knee, and torn quad muscle, limiting him to 30 tackles and a trio of sacks in 12 games. But after returning from his latest setback, the veteran edge defender found his groove in December and January, including producing four pressures and a sack in a Week 17 win over the Bears, suggesting he can still be an impact player for Macdonald’s defense moving forward. Rather than cut him prior to February 14, as he’s scheduled to receive a $6 million roster bonus at that deadline, restructuring his deal to open up $6.6 million makes the most sense, especially with Jones not returning and Boye Mafe heading into the final year of his rookie deal.
Acquired from the Jaguars before the trade deadline, Robertson-Harris didn’t generate a sack and only had one quarterback hit in 11 games, but he outperformed his pedestrian stat line as a valuable reserve. Able to play multiple alignments up front at a high level, his presence played a meaningful role in the Seahawks improving against the run in the second half of the season and even if he doesn’t get to the quarterback often himself, he creates opportunities for teammates to do so. Restructuring his contract lowers his cap hit to a much more tenable $2.5 million and allows Seattle to maintain a steady rotational piece behind Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II for next season.
In the case of Fant, it’s easy to argue for Seattle to just cut bait and move on after he scored just one touchdown last season in Ryan Grubb’s offense, and releasing him would net almost $9 million in cap relief. But new coordinator Klint Kubiak has a strong track record incorporating tight ends into his passing game, including Juwan Johnson eclipsing 500 receiving yards for the Saints last season, and renegotiating a deal with the veteran by incorporating two void years and paying him most of his remaining money up front as a signing bonus still creates $4 million in cap room. Keeping him wouldn’t curtail Schneider from drafting a tight end in April and a one-two punch with him and AJ Barner has a chance to be quite successful in the new offense, especially with Lockett no longer on the roster and more targets available in the passing game.
3. Extend Geno Smith through 2027 Season on multi-year contract
Salary Cap Space Created: Up to $23 million
Coming off a season where he threw 15 interceptions, the Seahawks have to make a decision on whether or not they view Smith, who will turn 35 next season, as their starting quarterback for the next couple of seasons or want to go a different direction. If they had an outlet to land a better option under center for 2025 and beyond, releasing Smith would open up a whopping $31 million in cap space that could be used to fortify other positions around their new quarterback.
But Macdonald has reiterated multiple times during the offseason that Smith will be Seattle’s signal caller and this shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the fact he ranked among the NFL’s leaders in passing yards and completion rate and there clearly is a lack of appealing alternatives. The incoming 2025 draft class lacks star power or depth at the quarterback position and while Schneider could take a shot on a developmental rookie such as Jaxson Dart or Kyle McCord, that player wouldn’t be ready to jump into the lineup anytime soon. As for free agency, overpaying for Sam Darnold wouldn’t be an upgrade and there are few other options that would make sense over backup Sam Howell, let alone Smith.
Ultimately, the Seahawks have the best chance to compete in the NFC West and make a playoff push in 2025 with Smith as their starting quarterback. Since he has a cap hit of $44.5 million, they can’t afford to have him play out the final year of his contract, and without a viable long-term heir on the roster currently, extending him presents the only reasonable move that both lowers his current cap hit by at least $5 million and provides stability at the position beyond next season with a more than capable Pro Bowl quarterback who has strong backing from the locker room. A two or three-year extension with significant guaranteed money up front worth around $35-38 million per year would be the perfect agreement for both sides.
The best part? The Seahawks could create a ton more cap space with the ability to convert Smith’s $16.2 million in non-pro rated bonuses earned through contract escalators into a pro rated bonus that can be spread out over the life of his new extension.
4. Extend or Trade DK Metcalf prior to April’s NFL Draft
Salary Cap Space Created: $10.8 million via trade OR $6 million via extension
Aside from figuring out Smith’s future, the Seahawks also have a fascinating decision to make regarding Metcalf, who will also be entering the final year of his current deal and potentially seeking top-five receiver money on his next contract. Playing through a knee injury for most of the second half last season, he came up short of the 1,000-yard mark and scored five touchdowns, his lowest total in six NFL seasons. Such numbers don’t warrant a $30 million per year contract on par with stars such as Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, or CeeDee Lamb.
At the same time, however, few receivers have been more consistent than Metcalf since Seattle drafted him out of Ole Miss in 2019. In the season finale in January, he joined Randy Moss as the second player in NFL history to post 50 receptions, 900 receiving yards, and five touchdowns in each of his first six seasons. His presence creates significant issues for defenses, who often bracket him in coverage with a second defender, opening up opportunities for teammates. Few players have been more prolific on deep balls either, and considering Kubiak has enjoyed taking downfield shots in the past as a play caller, his skill set seems like the ideal fit for a No. 1 target in a new offense.
With Lockett already being released, the Seahawks would be taking a major risk by shopping Metcalf, and with him only being 27 years old, a lucrative extension makes more sense than having him play out his contract carrying a $31 million cap hit. Trying to strike a new deal should be the top priority for the front office, but if Schneider has cold feet about offering more than $28 million per year for a receiver who has had great, yet not elite, production or the two sides aren’t able to find common ground on an extension, then attempting to acquire a first-round pick for him shouldn’t be taken off the table as a option either as a backup plan.
