This is a guest article by Curtis Allen…
One of the most important parts of the offseason is upon us.
The Scouting Combine, Free Agency and the Draft are in the rearview mirror. The hay is in the barn and training camp and the preseason are next on the calendar.
This is typically the time that successful teams are working on extending their core players. While Free Agency is the “drive for show” portion of the offseason, extending proven draft picks often proves to be a time to “putt for dough.”
Do the Seahawks view Charles Cross or Abe Lucas as the type of player they want to give a second contract to? Very likely they do. They took advantage of Cross’ fifth-year tender option as a first-round pick, and there has been nothing but positiveness about Lucas coming from the organization.
Both have concerns.
For Cross it is a question of growth. How close is he to his ceiling? If we have seen his best football, is continuity alone something the team would like to pay a healthy contract for? Can he develop a physical edge to his game to complement his athletic feet? Put another way, will he ever become a top-10 Left Tackle?
Lucas’ concerns are obvious. There are serious questions about whether he can physically endure through a second contract without missing large amounts of time. The organization will have to lean hard on their medical staff for a proper assessment. The last couple of seasons, the information available to the public on the extent of his health has been wildly inconsistent. What we do know about Lucas is that he brings a ‘heart and soul’ mentality to the Offensive Line that Cross lacks. His physicality and demeanor are something the offense can build around. Also, as much as the team struggled with the interior of their line last year, it could be argued that the offense suffered just as much from losing Lucas (and then George Fant) at Right Tackle. Is it worth handing out a handsome contract and then holding their breath every time they see Lucas wince in pain or slow to get up off the ground?
Consistency is one of the most important traits on an effective Offensive Line. With the middle of the line still an open question, there will certainly be more incentive to solidify the edges of the line.
Another factor involved may be the team’s post-Pete Carroll mentality. They may be more inclined to be aggressive to address their biggest team weakness than they have in the past.
A Proposal for Charles Cross
All outward signs are pointing to extension talks being underway already. Cross has hired an agent and is talking very positively about staying in Seattle. His comments indicated he has a good working relationship with the organization and not merely that geographically he likes Seattle. That is a good sign.
Why? Among the reasons successful teams spend cap on their own players are: You know what you are getting and you can get ahead of the market. If you can position your player for even greater growth and success, what seems like an excessive contract can quickly get left in the dust by the market.
By the time Cross reaches the Free Agent market in 2027, these are the established starters that might be available: Ikem Ekwonu (27), Broderick Jones (26), Jaylon Moore (29), Orlando Brown Jr (31), Laremy Tunsil (33) and maybe Trent Williams (39).
That’s not exactly a windfall. Very likely, we will see some outrageous overpays like the $20m AAV for Dan Moore Jr by Tennessee and the $15m AAV for Jaylon Moore by Kansas City this offseason.
Why should Cross not just be patient and cash in on a weak market in 2027? It is a route he could take. Yet given his young age (he will be 25 in November), if he signs this year he can get back into the market at a prime age like 28 or 29 and reap another top contract, and then maybe a third if he is back at 32 or 33 with a good track record and good health. He also would tap into the wealth due him earlier than if he decided to wait.
For the Seahawks, extending Cross now locks down a critical position while allowing them the cap flexibility to pursue other improvements. It also mitigates some of the risk if Cross does not ascend any further up the league’s hierarchy of top linemen.
A three-year $60 million extension with $37 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $18 million might get the job done. Here is how it would look on a cap table:
The details: we fold in the last year of his rookie deal and rip up the fifth-year option of $17.56 million. The $5 million guaranteed in 2027 is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully vested in February or March. A roster bonus in 2028 helps spur a decision on extending or cutting him free. New guarantees are $33 million with $28 million in new full guarantees at signing.
Benefits to the Seahawks: They spend about $2.6 million in cap this year and recoup about $2.4 million to their cap in 2026. It is essentially cap-neutral for the first two years. They have a nuclear option in 2027 if they want to exit the deal – a $10.26m dead cap hit and just under $7 million of cap savings. If Cross is performing great, they can convert most of his 2027 salary to a bonus and pick up about $8 million in cap room.
Benefits to Cross: Right now, his cash income for 2025 is $3.6 million + 2026’s guaranteed salary of $17.56 million for a total of $21.18 million in the next two years. Under this new contract he brings in $20.5 million in 2025 + a $10 million guaranteed salary in 2026 for a total of $30.5 million. The math checks out. $30 million is more than $21 million, and it comes sooner. Even if Cross waits and signs an extension next year it won’t change his 2026 number very much, it will just be paid out differently.
Cross might be tempted to go the Lamar Jackson route. Play his contract all the way out and force his leverage. That is a perfectly acceptable idea. However, he runs the risk of getting only one top contract in his career. This way, he will have banked $40 million on this contract before turning 28 and the Free Agent market that is so barren will still be there for him.
An Abe Lucas Proposal with an Asterisk
Lucas has only played 13 of 34 games in the last two seasons. Likely, it would be premature to sign him to an extension before the season starts. The team needs to see that he can hold up under the strain of training camp, the preseason, weekly game prep and the games themselves.
My guess would be that the Seahawks love everything about Lucas and if he were healthy, would probably be a bit ahead of Cross as a priority to sign.
The only thing holding them back is something out of their control; you can project all you like about medicals, but only until the rubber meets the road can you know whether a previously injured player is worth investing in a second contract.
A logical comp for the methodology of a Lucas extension might be what Miami did with Austin Jackson in 2023. Jackson was a first-round pick in 2020 and started 28 games in his first two seasons. In 2022 he was sidelined by an injury for all but two games. The Dolphins rightly declined the fifth-year option in the summer of 2023, and when he proved to be fully back from injury, signed him in December 2023 to a three-year $36 million extension with about $21 million guaranteed.
A similar course might be wise for the Seahawks. Lay the groundwork for an extension in camp, and if he plays like he can and appears recovered – and testing confirms his long-term health does not contain a high chance of catastrophic breakdown – they can work on getting him locked down.
I added about 17% on Jackson’s contract for inflation:
Details: The Seahawks fold in what is left on his 2025 contract, give him a $10 million signing bonus and fully guarantee his salary for 2026. There is $17 million new money fully guaranteed at signing and $22 million in total new guarantees. They set up a decision point in 2027 to see if moving forward with him on the roster is feasible. If not, they can cut him with a $5 million dead cap hit and save $10 million on the cap. 2028 is also a year with a lot of flexibility. They can move on or extend him and lower the cap hit in a big way.
Their extra cap outlay this year is $2.5 million.
Cap Impact
These contracts are just sketches. The Seahawks could add incentives or be creative in other ways to make this work.
For a moment, assume those are the contracts they sign. The added cap impact this year is just over $5 million. Next year, it will be a little over $7 million (the Cross $17.56m is already on the books, so call it $24.6m to pay those two).
They would secure their bookend tackles and still have the flexibility to extend other players from the 2022 draft class or pursue another expensive piece to upgrade their roster.
