Seahawks announce they’ve signed former Rams G Tremayne Anchrum Jr.

The Seahawks just gave themselves another option at this position, announcing that they have signed former Rams guard Tremayne Anchrum.

Guard remains one of the most unsettled positions on the Seahawks roster currently. 2023 starters Damien Lewis and Phil Haynes have been allowed to test the market, opening a path for two new potential starters.

The Seahawks just gave themselves another option at this position, announcing that they have signed former Rams guard Tremayne Anchrum.

Anchrum (6-foot-2, 314 pounds) played his college ball at Clemson. After that, he was picked by the Rams in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft. Since then he has appeared in 31 games, but has only started once.

Anchrum’s first few years he barely played, but last season he played 96 snaps at right guard, raising the possibility he could compete with Anthony Bradford to replace Phil Haynes at that spot.

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John Schneider says the Seahawks wanted to re-sign Drew Lock

Apparently the Giants sold Drew Lock on competing for the starting job with Daniel Jones.

The Seahawks made a significant change at quarterback last week, pulling off a surprise trade for Sam Howell of the Commanders. The teams swapped picks as part of the deal. According to one trade value chart, Seattle gave up a seventh-round draft pick. Another says that they gave up a third-rounder, but we’re going to go with the former for mental health’s sake.

Seattle had an opening beneath Geno Smith on their depth chart at quarterback after watching backup Drew Lock sign a one-year deal with the Giants, worth $5 million. Last week when Schneider spoke with ESPN radio, he said the team wanted to bring Lock back, but apparently the Giants sold him on competing for the starting job with Daniel Jones, per Brady Henderson.

You can’t always trust what NFL GMs tell you, but in this case we believe Schneider, at least about wanting to keep Lock around. If it’s true that the Giants did sell Lock on competing with Jones then there’s a real chance he might beat him out for the job.

However, if the original plan was to keep Lock as Geno’s top understudy then Seattle got an upgrade in Howell. While he has much the same skillset, Howell is four years younger than Lock and is now under contract for the next two seasons for a little over $2 million, according to Over the Cap. That’s significantly less than what Lock’s getting just this year alone.

It’s also clear that John Schneider definitely has a type at quarterback. That will be something to watch going forward.

In a vacuum we like the Howell trade but if it prevents the team from using one of their picks in the upcoming 2024 NFL draft on a quarterback prospect then it’s a bust.

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Devon Witherspoon gives scouting report on Illinois DT Johnny Newton

He comes from the same tenacious defense that spawned Seattle’s first selection in last year’s draft, gremlin slot corner Devon Witherspoon – who should have won Defensive Rookie of the Year.

One of the most popular prospects in the 2024 NFL draft class that’s been frequently connected to the Seahawks and their No. 16 overall pick is Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton. He comes from the same tenacious Fighting Illini defense that spawned Seattle’s first selection in last year’s draft, gremlin slot corner Devon Witherspoon – who should have won Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In any case, Newton says that he’d love reuiniting with Witherspoon and playing together on the Seahawks. It sounds like Spoon wouldn’t mind it, either. Replying to a thread between former Seahawks scout Jim Nagy and ESPN analyst Mina Kimes, Spoon gave a short scouting report on Newton.

The clip Spoon is referring to is below, where Newton breezes past the right tackle and chases down Minnesota QB Athan Kaliakmanis for a sack.

Here’s a longer video with more highlights from Newton’s time at Illinois.

We certainly wouldn’t hate seeing Newton get drafted by Seattle. However, after re-signing Leonard Williams to a significant new contract, the chances of the Seahawks spending a first-round pick on an interior defensive lineman probably dwindled significantly. While we certainly can’t rule it out, we are expecting the team to address other positions first.

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Tyler Lockett contract details for his new deal with Seahawks

Last week just before free agency began Tyler Lockett agreed to a restructured contract.

Last week just before free agency began Tyler Lockett agreed to a restructured contract. Now we finally have contract details for Lockett’s new deal with the Seahawks.

According to Spotrac it’s a two-year, $29.66 million deal. That amounts to a big pay cut for Lockett, which saved the team $8.34 million in salary cap space in 2024. Lockett gets $12.66 million guaranteed, all this year.

A key date to watch for Lockett is exactly one year from today. On March 18, 2025 Lockett’s $5.3 million roster bonus hits the books. Painful as it is to contemplate, chances are that he will be cut for cap savings before that happens – no matter how he performs in 2024.

Speaking of next season, we should probably expect Lockett’s role to shrink a bit in Year 1 of Ryan Grubb’s offense compare to Shane Waldron’s. Jaxon Smith-Njigba should be projected to get more targets, bumping Lockett down to the WR3 spot on the depth chart.

Seahawks fans need to savor what is likely their last season watching Lockett, who will finish as the second-greatest wide receiver in franchise history behind Steve Largent.

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Seahawks GM John Schneider comments on what happened with Jordyn Brooks

The truth is Seattle let Brooks walk and Bobby Wagner too.

You can’t always take what an NFL executive says at face value. Seahawks fans should have had that lesson permanently seared into their minds two years ago when the organization convinced everyone that they would be drafting Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder. Thankfully, it was an elaborate smokescreen. Seattle passed on Ridder and put together a magnificent draft class.

We may have another example of this from general manager John Schneider’s comments last week about inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks leaving in free agency. Brooks signed a three-year, max $30 million deal with Miami, which was very much in Seattle’s price-range to match if they really wanted to keep him. However, when Schneider was asked about what happened he claims it was a matter of timing.

Supposedly, the team had prioritized signing Leonard Williams first. While they were working on those negotiations, the Dolphins moved quicker than they could to sign Brooks, per Mike Dugar at the Athletic.

“Really, it was the timing of it. We were working on Leonard (Williams.) Leonard’s deal took a while… they had a deal on the table and we just couldn’t move as quickly as they did. They had lost out on a couple of guys that day so they were moving quickly… We had prioritized Leonard ahead of the linebacker position at that point.”

While it’s right to put Williams’ contract first the idea that the Seahawks literally didn’t have the time to speak with Brooks before he signed with the Dolphins is absurd. Schneider’s other comments later in his answer are far more revealing, especially saying “you have to take the emotion out of it” twice. That says everything you need to know. The truth is Seattle let Brooks walk and Bobby Wagner too.

Since then the team has signed two free agent linebackers to replace Brooks and Wagner: Tyrel Dodson of the Bills and Jerome Baker from the Dolphins are both coming in on one-year deals. Our best guess is that they’re not done here yet, though. Fans should expect an off-ball linebacker to be on the menu in the 2024 NFL draft. Michigan’s Junior Colson is a popular candidate given his connections with head coach Mike Macdonald, but this is considered a thin class of linebackers overall.

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Seahawks on track for 4 compensatory picks in the 2025 NFL draft

According to Over the Cap’s projections, Seattle is currently on track to get four comp picks in next year’s draft.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider now has the final say over all personnel decisions. However, the team would not have hired Mike Macdonald as their new head coach they weren’t planning to give him at least some input on roster construction. Already we can see one dramatic change in the organization’s team-building philosophy and it’s arguably related to Macdonald’s influence given where he’s coming from.

During the Pete Carroll years Seattle never made much use of the compensatory pick bucket. This year the team has exactly zero comp picks based on what they did in free agency in 2023. That’s in stark contrast to how things are done in Baltimore, where Macdonald is coming from. No other NFL team has made better use of the comp picks system than the Ravens over the years, and the Seahawks may soon be following suit.

According to Over the Cap’s projections, Seattle is currently on track to get four comp picks in next year’s draft:

  • Fourth-round pick for LG Damien Lewis to Panthers
  • Fifth-round pick for LB Jordyn Brooks to Dolphins
  • Sixth-round pick for LB Bobby Wagner to Commanders
  • Sixth-round pick for TE Colby Parkinson to Rams

Paying Lewis what Carolina was willing to was never a realistic option – and if you think they should have then you have bigger problems than comp picks. One could argue that Brooks was worth the deal he got from Miami – and Schneider’s bizarre answer about why they couldn’t re-sign him doesn’t help his case. However, there is a good argument for letting Brooks walk and hitting the reset button at linebacker – the same principle goes for Bobby Wagner and Washington. Getting anything for Parkinson leaving is just gravy.

Carroll had his strong points to be sure, but this is the right way to build a team and stay competitive in the long run in the modern NFL.

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Analysis: Seahawks make significant progress rebuilding roster in free agency

Thankfully, general manager John Schneider had other ideas.

Heading into the 2024 offseason, our blueprint called for the Seahawks keeping mostly the same core defensively and seeing what new head coach Mike Macdonald could get out of them calling the plays. Thankfully, general manager John Schneider had other ideas. Rather than running it back with the same personnel he chose to blow it up and shed all of the heavy contracts on the back end of that defense.

To begin, Seattle cut starting safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs. The team ate a ton of dead money between them but also saved a massive amount of cap room both this year and in 2025. Next, the Seahawks allowed veteran linebackers Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks to leave in free agency – both at prices they easily could have afforded given their cap space. LB3 Devin Bush is also now gone, having signed with the Browns.

The most significant outside free agent signing the team has made so far is adding former Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins on a two-year, $12 million deal that’s very similar to the one Julian Love signed last year. Those two will now be slated to start at safety.

At linebacker, the Seahawks have effectively replaced Wagner and Brooks with former Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson and former Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker. Financial details for Dodson’s one-year deal have not been disclosed as of yet, but we know Baker has a one-year, $7 million deal.

On the other side of the ball, Seattle allowed left guard Damien Lewis to walk – avoiding another huge investment at a non-premium position. Lewis signed a massive new deal with Carolina worth over $20 million per year. Needless to say, matching that number would have been an atrocious use of cap resources.

Fans should expect the front office to select another guard, as well as a linebacker and a safety at some point in the 2024 NFL draft, but it’s clear already what the team’s strategy is this offseason: clear the dead weight and reset with an eye on really making a jump in 2025. That means they will likely be taking a step back next season – but the important thing is they’ve set themselves up to compete much better in the future.

That’s the correct move, because in case you haven’t noticed this team got decimated by practically every contender they faced last season with the exception of the Lions, whose number they just seem to have. The one that matters most is the 49ers, who have won five straight matchups against Seattle in dominant fashion. No matter what the front office did this offseason they were unlikely to close that rather sizable gap in just one year. That means hitting the reset button and rebuilding the roster with a more modern approach is right.

It will take more time to get their course totally corrected, but the Seahawks have made significant progress in that department these last few weeks.

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Trade charts radically conflict on value of Sam Howell pick swap

That makes the trade much easier to swallow.

When the Sam Howell trade first went down last week, we got a sinking feeling when we read the Seahawks had effectively given up a third-round pick to get him, according to the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart.

However, a more modern pick valuation chart has a radically different take on the deal. According to the Fitzgerald-Spielberger chart, Seattle only gave Washington the equivalent of a seventh-round pick, No. 241 overall.

That makes the trade much easier to swallow. Howell has a lot of the same characteristics as Drew Lock, who performed well in backup duty behind Geno Smith last season. If the Seahawks really believe they can get Howell to cut down on his turnover-worthy plays they might get a potentially high-quality starter down the line. For now, Howell is still a largely unknown commodity.

Our take on the trade is that it’s fine in a vacuum, but if it stops the Seahawks from picking a quarterback in the upcoming draft then it’s not so good. There are a lot of ways to build a winning roster in the NFL, but finding a strong starting quarterback on a rookie contract is still the quickest path to being a contender.

Most likely the Howell deal means we won’t be seeing Seattle pick one of the top six quarterbacks in this class – including Washington’s Michael Penix. However, there’s still a chance they may roll the dice on one in Day 3. Our favorite developmental prospect is South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, but there are many other options in this class that will likely still be available in Rounds 4-5.

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Updated Seahawks 2024 draft picks after the Sam Howell trade

The Seahawks were already on the lower end of the league when it comes to total draft capital this year.

Justin Fields getting traded to the Steelers yesterday is only the latest in a flurry of wild NFL roster movement over the last week. Several other quarterbacks also changed teams since the legal tampering period began and one of them is now playing for the Seahawks.

On Thursday afternoon Seattle pulled off a trade with Dan Quinn’s Commanders for their third-year quarterback Sam Howell. They also swapped picks with Washington, sending third and fifth-round picks over and getting fourth and sixth-round selections in return. According to PFF’s trade value draft chart, they essentially gave up a seventh-round pick in order to get Howell.

Getting a young, aggressive QB with upside is a good return for a seventh-round pick. However, there are some solid arguments against making such a move. For one thing, it likely precludes the team from picking a quarterback prospect in this year’s NFL draft. Aside from passing on a deep QB class, that would have given them control over a quarterback on a rookie contract for four years instead of just two.

Another point against the trade is that the Seahawks were already on the lower end of the league when it comes to total draft capital this year. Here’s their updated order of selections, per Tankathon.

  • Round 1: No. 16 overall
  • Round 3: No. 81 overall
  • Round 4: No. 102 overall
  • Round 4: No. 118 overall
  • Round 6: No. 179 overall
  • Round 6: No. 192 overall
  • Round 7: No. 235 overall

More and more it’s looking like trading down from that No. 16 spot is the right move for the first round. They also might consider sending away one of their high-value assets – but trading a piece like DK Metcalf at this point would feel like digging an even deeper hole rather than climbing out of it.

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Seahawks sign LB Jerome Baker to a one-year deal

Seahawks sign LB Jerome Baker to a one-year deal

The Seattle Seahawks have added another piece to their suddenly depleted linebacker position. On Friday, free agent linebacker Jerome Baker visited the Seahawks after previously meeting with the Tennessee Titans. The trip the Pacific Northwest was clearly a good one, as Baker has now signed a one-year contract with Seattle.

For the first time in his career, Baker will play for a new team. Baker was, up to this point, a lifelong Miami Dolphin after being selected by them in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft.

As previously stated in the Tweet above, Baker joins former AFC East rival Tyrel Dodson to make up the new linebacking corps for the Seahawks. They are the latest editions to head coach Mike Macdonald’s new defense.

Baker and Dodson face a tall task, as they will attempt to fix one of the league’s worst run defenses for two years now.

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