While the sport has evolved a great deal over the years, football games are still largely won in the trenches. That’s why the Seahawks will need to upgrade on both sides of the line of scrimmage if they’re going to improve on their 2021 record – and part of that will mean keeping their best linemen around for at least another year.
Good news: Seattle’s top offensive and defensive linemen from this past season say they’re both open to returning. Here’s what veteran left tackle Duane Brown said in his press conference at the end of the season about returning to Seattle.
Duane Brown on his future. pic.twitter.com/uHHc6c4VKh
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) January 10, 2022
Brown was the team’s highest graded offensive lineman of the season and only allowed one sack over the final eight games. While he’s 36 years old, Brown is still by far the Seahawks’ best option at left tackle and they’ll need to retain him at least until they find a suitable successor.
On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Al Woods is also getting up there at 34. However, he just put in arguably the best season of his career and was a critical part of Seattle stopping the run so well. Woods was the team’s second-highest graded defender by PFF with at least 100 snaps.
Woods says he told GM John Schneider he wants to come back.
Al Woods said he's talked to John Schneider about wanting to play next year. Sounded energized by the season he had and loves being part of an organization where there's never a dull day and you can come in and be yourself.
— Jen Mueller (@JenTalksSports) January 10, 2022
The Seahawks have more than enough salary cap room in 2022 to re-sign both as well as all their other important pending free agents.
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