During the Pete Carroll era the Seahawks put more emphasis on the safety position than just about any other team in the NFL. Sometimes it worked out splendidly, as it did with drafting Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor in the early Legion of Boom days.
Other times it blew up in their faces, such as the dismal Jamal Adams trade and the questionable Quandre Diggs contract extension. However, those two mistakes have now been erased. Yesterday general manager John Schneider released both Adams and Diggs, as well as tight end Will Dissly. All together, the three cuts saved the team around $24 million in cap space for the 2024 season.
Among other things, the news pushes safety up on the team’s list of roster needs this offseason quite a bit. While we can reliably say that Julian Love will see a significant role next season, he’s also the only safety on the roster with any real experience at this position.
Here’s our best guess at what the team’s depth chart at safety looks like right now.
- Julian Love
- Coby Bryant
- Jerrick Reed II
- Ty Okada
- Jonathan Sutherland (practice squad)
Considering that only Frank Clark had a lower coverage grade in 2023 than Bryant, it might be more accurate to place a few question marks in the spot below Love.
The good news is there are a bunch of qualify safeties that are about to become free agents, including Geno Stone – who played under head coach Mike Macdonald with the Ravens last season, finishing second in the NFL with seven interceptions. However, splurging on another veteran safety doesn’t seem likely at this juncture.
Our best guess is Seattle will sign one cheap safety and target another in the draft.
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