Seahawks Draft Blog

This is a guest article written by Curtis Allen…

With one of the NFL’s premier pass-rushers currently locked in a stalemate with his organization, I wanted to discuss the financial side of a possible Trey Hendrickson acquisition by the Seahawks.  Most likely any trade would need to have an extension commensurate with his value included.`

Rob wrote some thoughts down last week and this quote helps make the case that John Schneider should be making inquiries about a trade package for Hendrickson:

It’s hard to shake the thought of what a truly outstanding ‘EDGE’ could do for this team though. He could be the kind of acquisition that takes you over the top, as we saw with the moves the Rams and 49ers made in the trade market to reach Super Bowls. The NFC is still somewhat open in terms of who can really push to make the Championship game. This could be a rare opportunity.

I want to chime in a bit as well.  From my perspective, if the Seahawks are figuring a ceiling of 11-13 wins this year and/or the next year with the roster they have right now, adding a piece like Hendrickson would put them firmly in the NFC discussion to go very deep into the playoffs.

Why?

Hendrickson can win you games.

Last season in Week Nine vs Las Vegas Hendrickson recorded this ridiculous stat package:

• Four sacks and nine pressures
• Four tackles for loss
• Seven QB hits, including three QB knockdowns
• A pass defensed and a sack/fumble that Cincinnati recovered

It was a tour de force performance that earned him an historic 95.9 PFF grade.  The Raiders had eleven drives and by my count Hendrickson killed at least four of them himself with an impact play.

Remember that insane two-game stretch Leonard Williams had last year in back-to-back games?  Hendrickson matched that in this game alone.

Ah, but that was against a lowly Raiders team.  How do we know Hendrickson can turn it on against the best in the NFL?

Glad you asked.  Have a look at his stat line for the Bengals’ breakthrough win against the Chiefs in the 2021 AFC Championship game.  About 90% of Hendrickson’s snaps that day were against Pro Bowl Left Tackle Orlando Brown.

How did he do?

• 1.5 sacks and four pressures
• One TFL and two QB hits

Granted, it was not as impressive as his Raider game but consider this — the Bengals were getting shredded by Patrick Mahomes.  At halftime he had 220 yards passing on 18/21 attempts and three touchdowns.  The Bengals were down 21-10 in Kansas City and everyone was booking the Chiefs for their third straight Super Bowl appearance.

The change Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo made at halftime was inspired.  For most of the second half, in passing situations, he only rushed three players – mixing in the occasional fourth as a blitzer – and dropped eight into coverage.  Mahomes and the Chiefs could not adapt and were kept out of the end zone for the second half and overtime.  Hendrickson was one of the three rushing and was a terror.  Every time Mahomes looked over his shoulder, Hendrickson was there.  He got his sack-and-a-half in the fourth quarter, twice killing Kansas City drives.  The Chiefs drove to the Bengals’ seven-yard line late in the game but back-to-back sacks of Mahomes forced them to settle for a Field Goal and go to Overtime.

Imagine your Defensive Coordinator coming to you at halftime and telling you they are going to flood coverage and not only will you have no help rushing the passer but you will also probably be regularly double-teamed.  Plus, you need to find a way to be just as effective, if not more so, if the team was going to beat this dynasty of a franchise on their turf and advance to the Super Bowl. Hendrickson understood the assignment and delivered.  That is clutch.

It is not hard to envision Mike Macdonald asking Hendrickson to do just that in a critical game.  To provide pressure while allowing Macdonald to deploy versatile weapons like Coby Bryant, Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori.

This has been a shameless plug to warm you up to the idea of paying Hendrickson a lot of money.  Because that is what it is going to take to get him to Seattle.

However, the Seahawks can bring Hendrickson into the fold without severely crippling their ability to make other important financial moves.  How?

A Mutually Beneficial Contract Proposal

Let’s establish the facts: Hendrickson is 30 years old and will be 31 in December.  He is set for a $16 million cap hit this year and is out of contract in 2026.  He was the NFL’s sack and pressure leader last season and came in second place in voting for Defensive Player of the Year to Patrick Surtain.

He has rightly earned a new contract with a huge raise in pay.  It is fair to say that this will be his best bite at the apple.

The top-five edge rushers’ contracts in the league average $34.67 million per season with Myles Garrett leading the way at $40 million annually.

What I am proposing for Hendrickson is this: A two-year, $74 million extension with $52.25 million guaranteed.  Hendrickson takes his spot as the second-best paid pass rusher behind Garrett and the Seahawks get their game-changing defensive player.

Actually no, that is not the contract I would have the Seahawks sign.  But that is how the initial details on my proposal would be reported by the Adam Schefters and Ian Rappports.  It would be celebrated by the NFL community as an underrated player getting his just rewards, the Seahawks making a bold statement to get them where they want to go and by fans of other teams as the Seahawks losing their minds and desperately unloading dump trucks of money on a player in his 30’s.

The real details of the contract would be this: The two years added would be an extension that absorbs the $16 million 2025 cap number into the contract to make it a three-year $90 million contract.  The amount fully guaranteed at signing would be $36.25 million, made up of a $35 million signing bonus and $1.25 million of guaranteed salary.  It also includes a 2026 Roster Bonus of $10 million and $6 million of salary that are both guaranteed for injury, with a February or March 2026 vesting date.

I added two void years to defer $14 million of the signing bonus.

Have a look at how the cap hits laid out in this scenario:

It is structured somewhat similarly to the Sam Darnold contract — two void years to manage the early cap hits, a nuclear option to escape the contract after one year and flexibility to restructure and push cap hits out if they desire.

Hendrickson gets $36.25 million in the first year and a strong shot at another $22 million in the second year of the deal and has his great work rewarded.

Essentially, this contract is a two-year, $58.25 million deal that is financed over three seasons.

The Seahawks cap $37.25 million in Hendrickson’s age 31-32 years and have $21 million of dead money if they want to move on in the third year.  Two full years of Hendrickson would cost them $58.25 million but the dead cap would hit in the third year of the deal.  They could even post-June1 cut him in 2027 to spread the contract over four years.

The 2026 cap hit of $29 million is workable and at this point something the Seahawks could afford.  They currently have $58 million in cap room per OTC and could nearly double that with some obvious cuts, restructurings and extensions.

However, if the Seahawks felt the need to pick up some more cap room, the team could restructure Hendrickson’s 2026 compensation to take his cap hit down to $13.475 million.  It would clear up $15.25 million of cap room in 2026.

The $58.25 million then becomes split as $21.725 million for the first two seasons and a $36.525 million dead cap hit in 2027.

Here is how it would look on paper:

I get that nobody would be excited about the Seahawks socking themselves with $36 million in dead cap money in 2027.  If Hendrickson does not live up to expectations, it would hang around the team’s neck like a millstone in fan’s minds.

However, the cap is increasing so rapidly now, pushing out some money into future years is almost a necessity to stay competitive.  Last year, the cap increased by over 13%.  This year it increased by over 9%.  $36 million in 2025 cap dollars will be the equivalent of about $43 million in 2027 cap dollars – except the money stays at $36 million.  It is better than an interest-free loan – teams will gain cap money by financing their expenditures in this manner.  The trick is to get maximum value in those cheap seasons and keep drafting well.

Furthermore, 2027 will still see the 2024 and 2025 draft classes (Byron Murphy, AJ Barner, Christian Haynes, Tyrice Knight, Grey Zabel, Nick Emmanwori, Elijah Arrojo, Jalen Milroe, etc) plus two more classes on rookie contracts, and any players from the 2023 rookie class the Seahawks extend (Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Derick Hall, Zach Charbonnet) will have relatively low cap hits in the first year of their extensions.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: the best way to manage your salary cap is to draft well.  Adding Hendrickson would be reaping some of the rewards for doing just that in the last three years.

It is a very healthy price the Seahawks will have to put on their salary cap if they want to add Trey Hendrickson.  We have not discussed what they would need to send in trade to acquire him, which also needs to be factored.

Yet as we have been talking about for years and years, winning starts in the trenches.  A fearsome defensive line can keep the team’s head above water as they adjust to a new Offensive Coordinator, Quarterback and integrate the impact rookies into the lineup.  They also can give the ball back to the offense with a short field – something that Russell Wilson and Geno Smith rarely had the last few seasons.  Add in a new approach to the running game and suddenly the Seahawks become a lot harder to play against.

They might not make significant gains in the wins column but they will be much harder to beat and that is what matters in the playoffs.

The opportunity to acquire a field-tilting piece should be carefully examined as a real opportunity.  The Seahawks have the ability to fit Hendrickson into their plans.

The San Francisco 49ers hit the jackpot in 2022. With the final pick in the draft they added a starting quarterback. It’s always more luck than judgement when you find a player in that range (if the Niners thought he would be what he’s become they would’ve taken him earlier) but Kyle Shanahan and co. deserve credit for their part in developing Brock Purdy.

The Trey Lance trade could’ve been a career-ender for Shanahan and GM John Lynch. Instead that gaffe was more or less brushed aside. They found a player to fill the void of the top-five bust they spent so much to acquire.

Purdy cost the Niners $7.9m over the entirety of his rookie contract. It undoubtedly enabled them to add and retain a number of blue-chip players. Their loaded roster took them to a Super Bowl and a NFC Championship in Purdy’s first two seasons in the league.

It was one of the most inspired draft-and-develop moves in recent NFL history.

And now, Purdy could cost them their future.

He’s reportedly agreed a contract worth $53m-a-year with $181m guaranteed. He’s on a deal worth only $2m-a-year less than Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. We’ll need to see the full details and the 49ers might have team-friendly outs attached. However, Purdy has gone from one of the best bargains in football to potentially one of the biggest white elephants.

The problem is that he’s a good not great player. He’s very effective within Shanahan’s scheme, he’s more athletic and elusive than most initially realised and he’s a decent player. He had the 10th best PFF grade in 2024 (82.4) sandwiched between Geno Smith and Kyler Murray in the rankings.

Purdy isn’t a difference maker though. He isn’t someone you’d fancy to win you a big game or a playoff matchup on his own with his arm. You can well imagine Burrow doing that, or Allen. Not Purdy. Not based on what we’ve seen.

He’s a player who you’d imagine is going to need a great supporting cast. Yet the 49ers have made it harder to build a great supporting cast by committing so much to their non-elite quarterback.

This isn’t a new phenomena. The other highest paid quarterbacks include Dak Prescott ($60m), Jordan Love ($55m), Trevor Lawrence ($55m), Tua Tagovailoa ($53.1m) and Jared Goff ($53m). None of these players have enjoyed any playoff success. They’re not necessarily players you’d expect to be in the MVP mix or even winning quarterbacks. Some have been pretty average.

The league is so dependant on the quarterback position though that teams panic. They’re unwilling to enter the world of the unknown. If they have a player with some potential, reputation or has shown at least a moderate amount of talent, they’d rather pay them a massive salary than risk moving on.

The Seahawks in fairness took a different path. They could’ve paid Geno Smith a major new deal but chose the unknown. I think they deserve credit for that. I don’t think their situation with Sam Darnold, on less money than the players named above, is less attractive.

However, if Jalen Milroe turns into Seattle’s starter over the next 2-3 years, I hope they’ll show restraint if he doesn’t emerge into an elite starter. Paying brilliant money for OK play is a sure-fire way to get absolutely nowhere. You’re better off, in my opinion, taking cheaper shots at quarterback and continuing to search for greatness.

The 49ers made their bed. They do have a joker in the pack with Shanahan — he’s capable of coaxing a lot out of limited quarterbacks. I still think it’ll be interesting to see how they handle paying Purdy a fortune though. Trent Williams is coming to the end. Christian McCaffrey isn’t far away. George Kittle is 32 in October. Their once fearsome D-line is now Nick Bosa and a collection of rookies.

They’re putting a lot of pressure on their ability to draft well. They’ve had some high moments during Shanahan and Lynch’s tenure but they’ve also blown a lot of stock. For example, in 2022 their top three picks were Drake Jackson, Tyrion Davis-Price and Danny Gray. None of them remain on the San Francisco roster. In 2021 their top three picks were Trey Lance, Aaron Banks and Trey Sermon. Again, none remain on the roster. In 2020 they had two first round picks and then nothing until round five. Javon Kinlaw is long gone and Brandon Aiyuk might be a huge financial black-hole for them coming off a major injury.

The 49ers have been the cream of the NFC West for several years. Last season it felt like they were on the decline. This contract for Purdy might accelerate that fall. It might be time for someone else to lead the division.

On the possibility of the Seahawks trading for Trey Hendrickson

It was interesting to hear Hendrickson speak with quite a lot of emotion this week, reflecting on the damaged relationship he has with the Bengals. It still felt like Cincinnati would eventually get a deal done here. The way he’s speaking, I think that’s less of a formality than I did a few days ago.

There are a few problems if you’re thinking the Seahawks or any other franchise might make a move. The Bengals are notoriously difficult trading partners because they’re run in a unique way by Mike Brown. They’re even more inclined to dig their heels in because the draft has come and gone.

Right now all they can do is weaken their team significantly by trading Hendrickson, at a time when they’re in ‘win-now’ mode. A better run franchise would’ve got this done pre-draft or completed a trade and moved on. Not Cincinnati. They’ve created a mess, pissed off one of their best players and it’s hard to know where they go from here other than paying him, probably at a higher rate than if they’d simply addressed this sooner.

They’ve got form with this, of course. Their two star receivers had their contract situations dragged out far longer than necessary but ultimately reached agreement.

The only way a trade scenario becomes likely, I think, is if tensions between the two parties get even stronger and you get to camp and then the start of the season and no resolution is forthcoming. At that point the Bengals will be staring down the possibility of losing Hendrickson for nothing in free agency, a prospect even they are unlikely to entertain.

At that point a team like the Seahawks would appear viable bidders. They are one of the few franchises who can take on his salary in 2025. They’ve also got history of acquiring players at about his age on an expiring contract, as they did with Leonard Williams most recently and Duane Brown in the past.

Personally I would entertain it. Hendrickson might not have the flashy name value, for whatever reason, of some of his peers — but he is legitimately one of the elite pass-rushers in the game. His production is off the charts. Even just three years of top-tier production could push the Seahawks to contention in the NFC, provided the offense can take a step forward under Klint Kubiak.

For a team that has struggled to draft and develop a pass-rusher of his quality, it could be a solution. Hendrickson is also a strong character fit and someone you’d welcome into your locker room.

The sticking point will be compensation. How much are the Bengals prepared to take for a player who turns 31 in December, who would require an immediate contract extension? Is a team like the Seahawks prepared to pay a second round pick, if they’d even accept that (it is the Bengals) for the opportunity to give Hendrickson +$30m a year in his age 31-34 seasons?

He has been a durable player, featuring in 17 games for the last two seasons while stacking 35 sacks in that period. I get the sense he might be able to play on and make this a calculated gamble and one that’d probably be worth taking in order to add the final piece to a blossoming defense.

Yet the Seahawks might also believe schematically they are equipped to create pressure tactically and that their current collection of players can get the job done. There was no lack of pressure in the final few games of last season, for example. Is there a belief within the VMAC that Boye Mafe and/or Derick Hall can emerge to become this kind of player? I’m sceptical but they might want to exhaust that thought after spending second round picks on the duo.

It’s hard to shake the thought of what a truly outstanding ‘EDGE’ could do for this team though. He could be the kind of acquisition that takes you over the top, as we saw with the moves the Rams and 49ers made in the trade market to reach Super Bowls. The NFC is still somewhat open in terms of who can really push to make the Championship game. This could be a rare opportunity.

That said, it’s hard to imagine anything happens soon. It would probably be later in the year, even despite the fact Cincinnati drafted Shemar Stewart in round one. The most likely outcome is the Bengals do find a way to tie Hendrickson down and if they don’t, negotiating with them could be a pain in the arse. If there is an opportunity to do something, however, it should be considered. The Seahawks don’t lack for young talent or depth but they don’t have enough game-changing blue-chippers.

Why I prefer Rasul Douglas over Shaq Griffin

I’ve got to be honest, I was never a big Griffin fan when he was in Seattle. I thought he was OK as a starter and I didn’t want the Seahawks to give him big money in free agency to stay. He’s since played for five teams in four years and recorded only three interceptions in that period. He’s just bouncing around the league at this point as his career winds down.

Douglas is a year older and might’ve had a down-year by his standards in 2024. However, he’s only a year removed from a tremendous 2023 campaign with the Bills where he had four interceptions in nine games (plus another for Green Bay before heading to Buffalo) and had a PFF grade of 82.2. In the time since Griffin left Seattle, Douglas has 14 interceptions compared to Griffin’s three.

There might be reasons why such a well known, productive player is still a free agent in mid-May. The Seahawks might be doing due-diligence for that very reason. I just think Douglas is a better player and the kind of veteran who can realistically play at a level that is beyond average. At this stage in his career, ‘average’ might be Griffin’s generous ceiling.

Last year I took part in a ‘NFC West fantasy draft’ on Hawk Blogger, where four of us took turns to pick a roster made up of players from the division. The second edition of this takes place on Saturday at 8am PT. You can watch below:

Could the Seahawks be active in the trade market?

OverTheCap says they’ve got $29m in effective cap space to play with — an unusually high amount for the Seahawks at this time of year. It makes you wonder if they could be active in the trade market down the line.

They’ve done this in the past. Jadeveon Clowney was added on the 31st August in 2019 just before the season started. The Jamal Adams trade was finalised on the 20th July a year later. Is it beyond the realms of possibility they make a similar move between now and the start of the new season?

The pass-rush could still use some X-factor. Trey Hendrickson’s situation warrants monitoring. The Bengals are notoriously difficult to do business with and are unlikely to be reasonable in any trade talks. However, Hendrickson’s contract runs out in less than a year and if there was a deal to be done on an extension, you’d think they would’ve done it by now. Furthermore, the drafting of Shemar Stewart at least hints at some forward planning by Cincinnati.

They may decide that simply keeping Hendrickson this year and running his contract down is the best option, rather than getting a draft pick now. The Bengals finished last season on fire and if they can pick up where they left off, would be a serious contender in the AFC.

Hendrickson turns 31 in December which is part of the issue. Any team acquiring him will be expected to give him a big extension, yet he’s coming to an age where his production could tail off. That said, he’s also been one of the few elite edge rushers in the league over the last few years. He has 35 sacks in the last two seasons alone. Since 2020, he’s recorded 70.5 sacks.

The Seahawks spent a second round pick on Leonard Williams when he was 29 and in a contract year. They then gave him a substantial extension. If they thought Hendrickson could guarantee his level of production for another three seasons, they might be willing to do a deal here. Particularly if he ends up being the finishing touch for the defense. They have the cap space to do it.

Even if it’s not him, the Seahawks have the financial flexibility to be buyers later in the year. They could easily be sniffing around struggling teams before the deadline who are willing to part with players to guarantee draft stock for 2026.

Other potential targets could include Zach Allen with the Broncos. There’s been no movement on a new contract in Denver and he’s a player the Seahawks reportedly showed interest in when he was a free agent. Apparently they at least touched base with Bryce Huff before he joined the Eagles a year ago. He’s seemingly available and could be quite cheap. The Browns also appear motivated to move cornerback Greg Newsome, who was described by one anonymous scout pre-draft as “a great kid” with “pro height/weight/speed, pro instincts (and a) pro mentality.”

Explosive traits matter

Since 2016 we’ve been using our TEF formula (explained here) to measure explosive traits for offensive linemen entering the league. It was illuminating to hear John Schneider speak openly about something similar the team uses. He referenced a ’30/30/30′ preference — where players achieve a vertical jump of +30 inches, deliver 30 reps on the bench press and score +30 on the wonderlic (or some other form of similar test).

Unfortunately we have no means of learning wonderlic data so we can’t do anything with this information specifically. However, it does show that they are paying attention to some of the testing features we’ve looked at for years.

In this draft class they added the fourth and fifth most explosive testers among the offensive linemen. The only players who performed better were Armand Membou (unavailable to Seattle as the #7 pick), Luke Kandra (undrafted) and Luke Newman (sixth rounder for the Bears). It certainly appears that explosive traits are very much part of Seattle’s approach and that should reassure fans because most of the top offensive linemen in the league are explosive testers (TEF scores in brackets):

Braden Smith — 3.52
Trey Smith — 3.49
Tristan Wirfs — 3.47
Armand Membou — 3.45
Lane Johnson — 3.44
Rashawn Slater — 3.40
Peter Skoronski — 3.37
Bernhard Raimann — 3.37
Quinn Meinerz — 3.34
Cam Jurgens — 3.34
Zach Tom — 3.33
Drew Dalman — 3.31
Kolton Miller — 3.31
Frank Ragnow — 3.29
Creed Humphrey — 3.25
Cesar Ruiz — 3.25
Bryce Cabeldue — 3.25
Grey Zabel — 3.23
Donovan Jackson — 3.19
Chris Lindstrom — 3.18
Alijah Vera-Tucker — 3.16
Trent Williams — 3.11
Tate Ratledge — 3.10
Will Fries — 3.10
Quenton Nelson — 3.07
Will Campbell — 3.07
Tyler Linderbaum — 3.05
Erik McCoy — 3.05
Penei Sewell — 3.04
Joe Thuney — 3.04
Joe Alt — 3.02
Elgton Jenkins — 3.01
Cody Mauch — 3.01
Garrett Bolles — 3.00

This isn’t a coincidence. For all the talk of just getting someone based on good tape or whatever, the difference makers up front in the trenches are typically players with explosive traits.

A quick note — I wouldn’t assume Anthony Bradford won’t be part of the right guard competition in a serious way. His TEF score was a 3.17 and he comfortably fits the 30/30/30 approach in two of the segments (30 inch vertical, 34 bench press reps). Also, he surprisingly ran a brilliant 5.08 forty at 332lbs with a 1.73 10-yard split. Physically he fits the bill and perhaps with better coaching he can take a step in 2025?

Why the national coverage of the draft was worse than it’s ever been this year

It was a slog to get through the NFL Network’s coverage of the draft a year ago (I don’t have access to ESPN). Rich Eisen went to Michigan and is a big Wolverines fan. There’s nothing wrong with a playful nod to that during three long days of coverage. However, it took over the event — just as it did the combine. Coupled with Ian Rapoport tipping the stunning Michael Penix Jr pick seconds before it was announced, it was a rough experience.

This year things got worse and it extends beyond the NFL Network.

The Shedeur Sanders fall was the biggest story of the draft and rightly garnered a lot of attention. However, Eisen’s coverage of the story was incredibly frustrating. His constant questioning as to why it was happening — when multiple reporters had gone into great detail as to explain why — became torturous to watch. He started to resemble a sulking teenager. This, I can see from social media clips, was only surpassed by Mel Kiper’s similar reaction on ESPN.

Clearly in Eisen’s case it was at least partly influenced by his relationship with Deion Sanders. It became too personal though. Instead of a serious discussion about why he fell, it became a giant three-day whinge. Not enough time was spent discussing the actual players being selected, as they were robbed of their moment in the sun as the Sanders obsession continued. It got to a point where a player came off the board and you just knew in your head, ‘Eisen’s going to bring up Sanders again isn’t he?’ and low and behold, he would.

I’ve always argued that by day three of the draft you’re only clinging on to the true die-hards and it’s weird that neither network caters for those people. They barely discuss the players being taken, they often skip over 5-10 picks before a quick recap and it’s frustrating that following the online draft tracker is more useful than actually watching the TV broadcast.

Eisen’s sulking, surly disbelief made it worse this year. Particularly as he continued to ignore the now public reasons why Sanders had turned teams off. For a man who once felt like broadcasting perfection personified, he’s started to resemble an opinionated fan with a microphone — whether that’s discussing the Jets, Michigan or in this instance, the son of a friend.

There’s something else I want to mention. On the networks, podcasts and articles I’ve read about the draft, I wish we could end the auto-pilot response of praising the same GM’s and teams every year.

Take the Eagles. Their selection of Jihaad Campbell has been described as a masterstroke by Howie Roseman. I really like Campbell and thought he was one of the 10 best players in the draft based on talent. However, the reason he lasted to the end of round one is because he’s had labrum surgery on one shoulder and reportedly might need the other shoulder doing. There are also reportedly other concerns with a knee issue.

There’s nothing wrong with saying it’s worth a gamble given the state of the Eagles’ roster. They are the kind of team who can afford to take a shot to nothing. But let’s at least acknowledge that’s what this is rather than make out like the Eagles are playing 4D chess.

Roseman is an exceptional GM but it doesn’t mean we have to assume everything he does is great. Let’s not forget, he’s the same decision maker who took Jalen Reagor one pick ahead of Justin Jefferson.

It’s even worse in the case of the Ravens. There’s a reason Mike Green fell to the 59th pick after most considered him a top-20 lock. The allegations that led to his departure from Virginia, which he discussed openly at the combine, clearly took him off many boards. A not unfair assumption to make here, given how long he lasted, is teams were at the very least unconvinced by his explanation of that period in his life.

Baltimore ended his fall and I’ve seen the pick described as a ‘miraculous steal’ online in one article. I’m sure some questions have been asked about it but I’ve not seen much fuss on a broader scale. This is a team who later drafted a kicker because they might have to dump Justin Tucker for a number of serious allegations. Of all the teams to select Green, the Ravens were an eyebrow raiser.

I wonder what the reaction would’ve been had the Cleveland Browns made this pick instead? Would it have been called a great selection? Would they have been given any benefit of the doubt? Would they have been allowed, as Eric DeCosta and the Ravens have been, to just say ‘we fully researched Mike Green’ and basically that just be accepted?

Then there’s Les Snead of the Rams, another media darling. Their best move was to coax a first round pick out of the hapless Falcons who showed once again they don’t really know what they’re doing. Yet their draft class looks incredibly thin and low-impact. It’s hard to imagine, short of Davante Adams having a career resurgence as he approaches his 33rd birthday, how the Rams have actually improved this off-season. They still don’t have a future at quarterback, they didn’t address a need at cornerback or linebacker and they have other holes on the roster too. The reaction to their draft has been favourable though, almost with a ‘Les, you’ve done it again’ type reaction.

Their best move was to receive a call by the Falcons and say ‘yes’ to their offer.

It’d be nice to see a more critical eye placed on some of the usual suspects who seem to generate praise simply because of past successes.

What I think we’ll see with Seattle’s offense this year

It took things a little while to settle down on defense a year ago. There was a stretch after an easy three-game start for the Seahawks where the unit fell apart. After tweaking personnel we saw a rapid improvement. Seattle ended the season with Mike Macdonald’s group looking like a top-10 group.

I suspect we might see a similar journey with the offense. This is a very young offensive line transitioning to a new scheme. There might be some growing pains. That in turn could impact the running attack and the quarterback. However, things could similarly settle down after the first few weeks. My prediction is that by the final stretch, health permitting, we’ll see a unit that has made the same kind of strides as Macdonald was able to achieve with the defense.

They’ve appointed a really good offensive staff with proper NFL experience and everything appears aligned in a way it wasn’t a year ago. Klint Kubiak already feels like an ideal partner for Macdonald. It might be worth mentally preparing to witness those growing pains but patience could be rewarded down the line.

Closing thoughts

So there we go. My final thoughts (for now). The plan is to take a break but I don’t want anyone to think ‘that’s it’ until August. I’m not shutting the blog or the YouTube channel down until later in the year. I just want you to know that I’m going to play things by ear — respond to events that might occur, write when I feel like writing or jump on a stream when there’s something to get into.

I’ve committed more time than ever to the blog and the YouTube channel over the last year. We’re about to go into a down period for the NFL and I think this is a good opportunity to commit to some family time and recharge. If anything happens over the next few weeks relating to the Seahawks, I will definitely write something and/or do a video. I’m always open to podcast/streaming/radio requests and will let you know if I’m doing any of those. This won’t be a long break — but perhaps a needed one.

By the summer I’ll be digging deep into the tape for 2025 draft eligible players, sharing thoughts and preparing for the new season. I fully intend to travel to Seattle for a game this year. If the Seahawks are chosen to play Jacksonville in London, I would also plan to cover that extensively for the full week.

I want to take this opportunity to thank a few people. Firstly, to Curtis Allen who does such an exceptional job providing articles for the blog. His analysis on the cap, for me, is the best around. It’s been joyous to see him invited on to other shows to discuss the Seahawks. He’s a great guy and it’s a privilege to have him contribute to SDB.

To Robbie and Adam, who put up with me talking too much on the live streams and humour my long winded views. They are both so supportive and constantly raise my spirits. They have their own busy lives to deal with but still find time for SDB. Along with Curtis, I feel like I’ve made great friends through this website and I’m so grateful for that. They are also both really good at what they do and are so passionate about this team.

To the wider community — I still think this is the best place to talk Seahawks on the internet by far. That’s down to you. I’m not even sure how many blogs carry a significant comments section these days, with people instead turning to social media or Reddit forums. Yet here it’s so busy all of the time. Moderating the comments is nowhere near as difficult as it should be because of the people who contribute. You are all so supportive of what we do, you kept me going through the times where things were tough and the knives were out when I/we dared to challenge aspects of the franchise. If I didn’t write this blog, I’d still visit and comment because of the people in the community. Thank you.

To the Patrons and contributors via Super Chat on YouTube — I massively appreciate it. This is a commercial free website and I’m never going to plaster ads all over the place, making articles a chore to read. There are significant running costs though as the blog has grown and those of you assist are all heroes to me.

Finally to anyone who has helped promote SDB by having me on your shows or streams, I’m very grateful. The site and YouTube channel continue to grow and that’s in part due to the opportunities I’m given elsewhere.

Keep checking the blog because like I say, I’m not shutting things down. Things will slow for a while though as we head into the quiet period in the NFL. Yet by training camp, we’ll be back at it — providing constant analysis on everything Seahawks and draft. Although many people find the blog in the March/April months — I always think the best stuff we do is August to December when we’re studying the 2026 prospects long before mainstream media get involved. So please do join us for that and continue to be part of this great community.

If you’ve enjoyed the work we’ve done during this draft cycle and want to contribute to the blog, you can do so via Patreon by clicking here or email me at rob@seahawksdraftblog.com for alternative options.

I’m not a fan of way too early mock drafts. They tend to be lists of players who either appeared on Bruce Feldman’s last freaks list or ESPN’s top-300 recruits from yesteyear. What started as a fun annual exercise by Todd McShay, consulting with sources in the league, has become an ‘everyone must do one of these’ and they’re all mainly rubbish.

Many of the names I’ve seen on the lists are just unproven highly recruited athletes. Most of the mocks have Arch Manning included, when anyone who knows anything about football knows he isn’t going to turn pro after one college season as a starter.

In this piece I’m just going to give a few general predictions and thoughts on the class 12 months out and note a few players I think are worth highlighting, based on tape study over the last two years.

What is the class?

There is potential depth at quarterback, that’s absolutely true. We could even see a top-10 dominated by quarterbacks depending on how they play in 2025. We’ll come back to the QB’s in a moment.

Caleb Downs the Ohio State safety is the best draft eligible player for next year. He is an obvious future NFL starter who deserves high grades based on what he’s shown in college already. He is a complete safety — impressing in coverage, versus the run, blitzing and completing a high percentage of his tackles. Every time you watched Ohio State last season, Downs jumped off the screen.

The other player I have watched that I absolutely love for the next draft is Spencer Fano the right tackle at Utah. I studied his tape a couple of months ago because he had the highest zone-blocking grade (93.5) in college football last season and I wanted to use his tape as a means for comparing to everyone else. I was blown away by the way he attacks opponents and engages contact, how when he’s latched on he leverages and then re-sets his feet constantly to maintain position and he’s a violent finisher. I can’t wait to watch him play again in 2025.

Two Clemson defensive linemen warrant a mention. TJ Parker doesn’t have a typical lean frame and his agility testing and burst will be critical. However, he just wins in so many different ways. He has an excellent, powerful bull-rush working the edge. His inside stunt, even when engaged in contact, can be deadly. He has such forceful power in his hands and it feels like he’s only scratching the surface in terms of how he can use that to his advantage. As a speed-rusher there is evidence of him attacking the outside shoulder and bending the arc. He had some big wins, most notably against Pittsburgh. Parker recorded 12 sacks last season. He only had a win percentage of 15% though and that’s why I wonder whether he’s quite dynamic enough to challenge the front end of round one.

There’s no such concern for Peter Woods. He has plenty of speed and dynamism and combines it with a bull-in-a-china-shop mentality to getting through blockers. Clemson used him as a big-end and there’s High School recruiting tape where he’s defending the edge and playing read-option plays like a linebacker. It’d be good to see him used more conventionally as a full-time three-technique to add to his 13.5% win percentage and show the league what he can be.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, brother of Jordan, is also a special talent who could really promote his stock high into the first round this year. On the subject of running backs, Nicholas Singleton — provided he can shine through a time-share with Kaytron Allen — is also an incredibly dynamic runner.

Thing to note

Two years ago Jayden Daniels was considered a day three pick. A year ago, Cam Ward had just transferred from Washington State and was being given day three grades by the NFL. He wasn’t invited to the Senior Bowl and he reneged on a decision to turn pro because he was going to be a late round selection. I’d seen Ward play live and there was nothing — absolutely nothing — to suggest he could be a future first round pick, let alone the #1 overall selection.

Things can change quickly, particularly with mature quarterbacks who reach a comfort level from their experience.

The quarterbacks

There’s a lot of potential within this group but every single player has to take a step forward in 2025. That’s typical for any draft prospect of course, particularly at quarterback. But there are several players here where it could genuinely go either way, determining whether they end up declaring or staying in school.

Garrett Nussmeier could’ve been a first round pick this year if a team was willing to overlook the avoidable turnovers that blotted his copybook. He lacks elite physical tools but he’s in the ‘good enough’ category in terms of arm strength. He made more NFL-style throws than any other quarterback last season and his technical ability is excellent and unsurprising given his family background. His ability to read the field, throw with timing and anticipation and make difficult throws on the move was highly impressive at times.

There were also the moments of erraticism and some ugly interceptions to go with the positives. LSU will always have enough talent to be competitive and in year two as a starter, with plenty of experience in the system, Nussmeier can secure a first round placing with a big year in the SEC and should enter the season as the most projectable first round talent. If he fails to fix the turnover issues though, it could easily go the other way.

Drew Allar at Penn State will be planning to turn pro too. He almost declared this year and could’ve been a first round pick based on upside. He made major strides in 2024, going from a player who didn’t look draftable the prior year to someone who deserved first round buzz. Allar is big, athletic and has a good arm. He is a less creative, more structured version of what Drake Maye was at North Carolina, with less upside.

The problem with Allar is we saw a lot of ups and downs. Against Oregon he looked like he could be QB1 in this years draft. Against Notre Dame in the playoffs, he fell apart under the pressure of the situation. He also relied heavily on Tyler Warren as a go-to target and won’t have his safety net next season.

A lot of people are putting LaNorris Sellers at the top of their ‘way too early’ mock drafts. He certainly has physical tools and after an average start to last season he finished very strongly. I’m torn on whether he’d realistically declare next year. He’s a one-year starter in college only. He would be declaring, if he chose to, as a redshirt sophomore. That is quite rare at his position and with NIL money taking away the pressure to chase a NFL contract as quickly as possible, I suspect he’ll only turn pro if he has an outstanding season. That said — if he wants to be a quarterback who uses his legs a lot, he might be better off not taking the punishment in college and risking injury.

Sellers needs to develop on a technical level — learning to throw with better touch, operate from the pocket and find the balance between using his arm/legs to simply out-athletic opponents and become a genuine NFL talent under center. He can achieve this but it might take more than one extra year at South Carolina.

Aside from these three, I was surprised how much improvement Cade Klubnik showed at the end of last season. He finally seems like he’s delivering on the recruitment hype and kudos to Clemson for being patient with him. He has all the tools but now needs to become a killer — putting up huge numbers like you’d expect from an experienced quarterback with his traits playing in the ACC. There’s no reason why he can’t seriously elevate his stock into early round contention but equally, if he falls back into bad habits his stock will collapse.

Haynes King showed some serious balls for Georgia Tech last season and his combination of running and throwing is very appealing. If you’re looking for someone who could really elevate his stock in 2025 who isn’t being talked about much, keep an eye on King.

Jacob Zeno did a good job in a difficult situation at UAB. He turned down big NIL money to stick with his old team but has now decided to take one last shot to promote his NFL abilities by going to Texas A&M. As with King, he is a player with tools who could really jump onto the scene next season.

Elsewhere, let’s see how Sam Leavitt plays at Arizona State but like Sellers, he might be a player who is only really just getting started in college and might not declare. I am intrigued to see how Washington State transfer John Mateer gets on at Oklahoma while Miller Moss has landed in an excellent spot playing for Jeff Brohm in Louisville. Kansas State’s Avery Johnson has a lot of physical talent but whether he’s minded to declare early remains to be seen.

I’ve no doubt that Carson Beck will have some success in Miami but to me it’ll be hard to shake off what he showed in 2024. He’s simply too inaccurate, lacks big-time physical tools and you don’t get the sense he’s going to walk into a NFL locker room and be the alpha leader.

Other players who transferred include Tyler Van Dyke (SMU), Billy Edwards Jr (Wisconsin), Mark Gronowski (Iowa) and Conner Weigman (Houston).

A lot of names, then, and it’s possible several could push themselves towards round one by the end of the year. It’s also possible the class could be reduced to a Nussmeier and Allar first round — which wouldn’t be the ‘much better class’ vibe many were touting throughout the 2025 pre-draft cycle.

One player I’m really interested in for Seattle

Logan Jones the Iowa center was one of the most improved players in college football last season. He was night and day compared to the raw athlete we saw in 2023. Jones recorded an 84.5 grade as a zone blocker and looks tailor made for Seattle’s scheme. It was gut-wrenching when he chose not to declare.

He’s reportedly capable of jumping a near 37-inch vertical while running a 4.09 short shuttle and a 1.53 10-yard split. These are elite numbers, even better than another former Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.

I’m secretly hoping that part of the reason the Seahawks didn’t select from a weak center class this year is because they’re eyeing Jones in 12 months time. I graded him as a fringe first round talent based on his 2024 tape. If he plays well again in 2025, there’s no reason why he can’t go in the same range as Linderbaum and be a potential first round target for Seattle.

Keep an eye on his team mate Gennings Dunker too, who lined up at right tackle and recorded a 92.3 zone-blocking grade last season.

Another potential center target, Parker Brailsford at Alabama, also didn’t turn pro this year. He’s very experienced in Kalen DeBoer’s system now so big things will be expected of him in 2024.

Other players I’m looking forward to watching further

Jalon Kilgore (CB, South Carolina)
Malik Muhammad (CB, Texas)
Patrick Payton (EDGE, LSU)
Sonny Styles (LB, Ohio State)
Dontay Corleone (DT, Cincinnati)
Josh Kreutz (C, Illinois)
Mansoor Delane (CB, Virginia Tech)

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