Ted’s Talk: How Seahawks free agency moves opened up the draft

Seattle is likely done with impactful additions before the 2024 NFL Draft. The moves they’ve made shored up holes and created flexibility with their upcoming selections.

The bulk of the work in free agency is over and John Schneider filled the Seattle Seahawks toy box for new head coach Mike Macdonald and his staff. There could still be transactions prior to the draft, but this breakdown of the roster is likely to be close to what it will look like when the 2024 NFL Draft opens up in Detroit, just a mere month away.

Some positions are stronger than others for sure but nearly all the glaring holes have been addressed. Schneider brought in help at the LB, S, OL, DL, QB and TE position. Whether they’ve been filled to your liking is a matter of preference.

Regardless of our feelings on the quality of the players added, it gives the Seahawks front office flexibility going into next month’s draft. Schneider recently outlined their draft philosophy as a mixture of best player available (BPA) and need.

This shouldn’t be a surprise. If you literally drafted solely on BPA, chances are you would never be able to field a competitive roster with all the different positions that need to be filled. It makes sense to bring your team’s needs into the equation and push guys up and down the board based on that.

Back to Seattle’s moves in free agency. I don’t think any of them have completely ruled out drafting a certain position, nor should they feel compelled to go a certain way early in the draft. The trade for Sam Howell was probably an admission that Seattle won’t be able to position themselves to draft one of the top prospects in the first round this year. Still, it wouldn’t preclude them from doing so if someone slides – or potentially trading back and drafting a QB in the second round.

Seattle still needs help on the interior OL but there are good prospects at that position well into the third and fourth round where the Seahawks currently have three draft picks. They’re not boxed into a corner where they need to take one in the first round or be left with the scraps.

The strong draft classes in 2022 and 2023 play a part in this as well. These guys need to keep improving and take the next step but look at the list of second and third year players from the last two drafts.

QB

Sam Howell – not drafted by Seattle, but he’s on the team now so we’re counting him

RB

Ken Walker III

Zach Charbonnet

Kenny McIntosh

WR

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

OL

Charles Cross

Abe Lucas

Anthony Bradford

Olu Oluwatimi

DL

Mike Morris

Cam Young

EDGE

Boye Mafe

Derick Hall

DB

Riq Woolen

Coby Bryant

Devon Witherspoon

Jerrick Reed II

That’s a lot of young talent and not even an exhaustive list. Don’t forget other veterans like Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, Noah Fant, Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, etc. along with all the players just added in free agency. Seattle is not facing a dearth of talent and we shouldn’t downplay the effect that the new coaching staff could have to bring out the best in these players.

This makes me wonder if Seattle will be more apt to target “their guys” this year, especially early in the draft. What I mean by that is to have a short list of realistic players that they feel they need to leave the draft with and use their picks to move around the board to secure them. Maybe it’s a year where Seattle selects less players but each one is more impactful.

It could include “sticking and picking” at No. 16 instead of trading back to acquire more picks, which is a popular refrain amongst mock drafters. Getting a true, game-changing talent is worth it in my opinion. Seattle still needs long term solutions at interior OL, S, and LB since the players added in free agency were on short term deals. These are positions where value can be found in the middle rounds.

As per usual, the draft will carry much intrigue for the Seahawks. Their additions during free agency filled holes but the short term contracts open up all sorts of possibilities in the draft. Not every position can get squared away in one offseason – it will take a few years to form the roster to fit Macdonald’s vision.

The ability to be flexible in next month’s draft will be a good step in the right direction.