Seahawks Free Agency: 4 Targets to Upgrade Center Position
Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly prepares to snap in a regular season game against the Washington Commanders.
Steering towards the annual NFL combine in Indianapolis, the Seattle Seahawks and all 32 teams will soon be ramping up negotiations behind the scenes in preparation for free agency, which will officially open on March 12 with the start of the legal tampering period.
Dating back to the infamous Jimmy Graham trade where the Seahawks sent former All-Pro center Max Unger to the Saints prior to the 2015 season, the franchise has struggled to find a long-term replacement at the pivot position for a decade. Over the past four seasons, the team has employed four different Week 1 starting centers, including Connor Williams last September before the free agent signing abruptly decided to retire two months later.
While former fifth-round pick Olu Oluwatimi played fairly well after replacing Williams in the middle of the season last fall, new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak indicated on an interview with KJR 950 Seattle that his system required an “elite” center, creating buzz that Seattle will be on the hunt for an upgrade this offseason.
Which pending free agent centers could potentially fit the bill to boost Seattle’s offensive line? Here are four free agent targets who could be on the radar for the Seahawks as they pursue upgrades for the interior of their maligned offensive line with contract projections courtesy of Spotrac:
Drew Dalman, Atlanta Falcons
Spotrac Market Value Projection: 3 years, $20,263,836
The son of former 49ers center Chris Dalman, Dalman was born to snap the football and followed his father’s footsteps by enrolling at Stanford, where he emerged as an All-Pac 12 performer and team captain. After starting 22 out of 25 games in his final three collegiate seasons, including a COVID-shortened 2020 season where he started all six games for the Cardinal, the Falcons selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, landing him with the same franchise his father previously served as an offensive line coach for from 2005 to 2006.
Following what amounted to a redshirt rookie season, Dalman took over as Atlanta’s new starting center in 2022, yielding zero sacks on 517 pass blocking reps and grading out as PFF’s 11th-best zone blocker at his position (75.2). Starting 14 games in 2023, he took the top spot with an elite 90.9 zone blocking grade, helping Bijan Robinson and the Falcons finish ninth in the NFL in rushing yards. An ankle injury limited him to nine games last season, but he still ranked sixth in zone blocking grade (82.3) among qualified centers and posted a stellar 97.8 pass blocking efficiency rate when healthy.
Only 26 years old, Dalman wouldn’t be a fit for every system as a smaller 6-3, 300-pound blocker. But he’s an elite athlete for the position, as evidenced by his 9.92 Relative Athletic Score and fantastic 3-cone drill and short shuttle times, making him the perfect fit to anchor a zone-centric scheme such as Kubiak’s. Add in his high football IQ and strong communication skills and he would be a fun addition to the middle of Seattle’s offensive line for the long haul.
Ryan Kelly, Indianapolis Colts
Spotrac Market Value Projection: 1 year, $10,107,764
Drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Alabama, Kelly immediately jumped into the starting lineup for the Colts and became a staple for a talented offensive line in Indianapolis. Though he battled through injuries early in his career, including being limited to just seven games in 2017, he made four Pro Bowl squads and earned a Second-Team All-Pro nod from 2019 to 2023, putting himself on the map as one of the sport’s best pivot men at the center position.
Historically, the 6-4, 307-pound Kelly has been one of the better all-around run blocking centers in the NFL with a great blend of power and athleticism, including finishing with a top-10 grade from PFF in both gap and zone blocking schemes in 2023 and 2019. He also has been quite consistent as a stalwart in pass protection over the course of his career, posting pass blocking efficiency rates north of 98 percent in six of his nine NFL seasons. In 2023, he allowed just one sack and seven pressures with an outstanding 99.2 percent pass block efficiency rate on more than 500 pass blocking snaps, turning in his best season yet.
Set to turn 32 in May, Kelly has extensive tread on his tires and durability remains a question mark after a knee injury cost him seven games last season. Still, he’s only one season removed from his last Pro Bowl selection and he played well when healthy in 2024, surrendering 11 pressures and a sack in 10 starts. On a short-term deal, he would be an instant upgrade for the Seahawks, offering the versatility to thrive in zone and gap schemes while upgrading Geno Smith’s protection and giving a much-needed veteran voice to the middle of a young offensive line.
Josh Myers, Green Bay Packers
Spotrac Market Value Projection: 3 years, $23,245,191
Another member of the esteemed 2021 draft that featured several future starting centers as one of the strongest position groups in the class, Myers wasted little time finding his way into the starting lineup for Green Bay after being selected out of Ohio State in the second round, earning the starting center job as the replacement for departed All-Pro Corey Linsley out of training camp. Unfortunately, he missed all but six games as a rookie due to a knee injury, but he has started all but one regular season game in the three seasons since, emerging as a cornerstone for the Packers’ offensive line.
Since breaking into the league, Myers has not been viewed favorably as a run blocker by PFF, failing to score above 55.2 in four NFL seasons and most recently ranking dead last among qualified centers with a dismal 52.2 grade in 2024. However, the Packers finished fifth in rushing yards and fifth in rushing touchdowns last season and on film, he shows up as a viable blocker both in zone and gap concepts with above average strength and lateral mobility. He’s been wildly inconsistent in pass protection, giving up at least 28 pressures each of the previous two seasons after only allowing 13 in 17 starts in 2022.
Like Dalman, Myers will enter next season in his prime at just 27 years of age, offering plenty of untapped potential for new line coach John Benton to cultivate. He’s far from an elite blocker in the pass or run game, but he’s been rock solid in his first four NFL seasons and has enough schematic versatility to perform well in Kubiak’s system as a long-term starting option for Seattle.
Coleman Shelton, Chicago Bears
Spotrac Market Value Projection: 2 years, $11,654,858
Despite being an All-Pac 12 performer at Washington, Shelton didn’t hear his name called in the 2018 NFL Draft, ultimately signing with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent. Bouncing around in the NFC West, he spent a brief while on the Cardinals practice squad before signing with the Rams in September 2019, dressing for 11 games that season. He wound up replacing Brian Allen as the Rams’ new starting center in 2022, though injuries limited him to 720 snaps, and he followed up by starting all 17 games to help Los Angeles get back to the playoffs in 2023 before signing with Chicago as a free agent.
On the smaller side for an NFL center at 6-4, 299 pounds, Shelton put up decent testing numbers coming out of Montlake and those athletic traits show up on film, particularly as a zone blocker in the run game department where his smooth feet and mobility flash the most. In his first full season as a starter in Los Angeles in 2023, he graded out as PFF’s fifth-best zone blocking center (83.9), though his performance took a big step back in Chicago last season with him ranking 19th out of 26 qualified centers. Pass protection has been hit and miss for him in his career, with posting a 97.9 percent pass block efficiency rate three times being the biggest plus on his resume.
Shelton had to take a long, arduous road to earn a starting spot in the NFL and with his 30th birthday approaching in July, it’s hard to envision teams will be lining up to give him more than a two-year deal in free agency. But he has been a serviceable starter over the past three seasons and scheme-wise, his strengths would fit in quite well in Kubiak’s offense where he would be relied upon heavily as a zone blocker to mitigate his lack of play strength at the point of attack. Bringing him back to the Pacific Northwest would at minimum provide quality competition for Oluwatimi, if not a clear upgrade manning the middle.
