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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Embattled Seahawks WR/KR Dee Eskridge agrees to a pay cut

Wide receiver Dee Eskridge has also agreed to a pay cut

The Seahawks are getting their salary cap ducks in a row as we approach the unofficial start of free agency tomorrow. Last week the team made several players salary cap casualties, cutting safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams as well as tight end Will Dissly and nose tackle Bryan Mone.

Yesterday, we learned of two more players getting their contracts restructured going into 2024. Wide receiver Tyler Lockett is the far more significant of the two, essentially taking a pay cut but keeping the final two years on his current contract.

Wide receiver Dee Eskridge has also agreed to a pay cut. Eskridge was originally due around $1.47 million this year, but he’s agreed to a new one-year deal worth a little over $1 million. Aaron Wilson was the first to have reported the news.

The move saved the Seahawks roughly $400,000 in cap room.

Injuries have derailed whatever promise Eskridge might have shown coming out of Western Michigan when Seattle drafted him in the second round back in 2021. All together he has appeared in 24 games and missed 27. Outside of some decent kickoff returns, when Eskridge has been on the field the results have been sloppy and he’s been out of sync with his quarterbacks.

We don’t have all the details on Lockett’s new deal yet, but assuming they net around $7 million in cap room, when combined with Eskridge’s new deal it should put the Seahawks around $50 million in cap space as free agency begins.

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Tyler Lockett and Seahawks agreed to restructured contract

According to a report by Mike Garafolo at NFL Network, the Seahawks have restructured the contract of wide receiver Tyler Lockett.

According to a report by Mike Garafolo at NFL Network, the Seahawks have restructured the contract of wide receiver Tyler Lockett. Lockett keeps the remaining two years on his current deal, but it’s now a $30 million deal with $13 million guaranteed in 2024. If he hits all his incentives, Lockett can earn up to $34 million.

Before restructuring, Lockett was set to have cap hits a little under $27 million in each of the next two years, which made him a good candidate to get cut. This new contract makes that unnecessary. While we don’t have all the details yet, according to Over the Cap, the team could save a little over $7 million by restructuring Lockett’s deal this year.

Lockett is coming off a bit of an off season in 2023 – totaling just five touchdowns, his lowest since he became a starter back in 2018. His catch rate was also uncharacteristically low, coming in at 64.8%, about five points lower than his career average. Lockett still managed to post 79 catches and 894 yards, though.

Looking ahead, Lockett might see his role diminish further as Jaxon Smith-Njigba inevitably takes a larger share of targets. However, on his new deal Lockett is still a high-value receiver even if he’s not going to be producing the same numbers that Seahawks fans have grown accustomed to.

The Seahawks also restructured the contract of wide receiver Dee Eskridge, saving another few hundred thousand in cap room. Assuming Lockett’s new deal saves them around $7 million, that should give Seattle roughly $50 million in cap space going into free agency.

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Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson solidified senior rise in Mobile

Roman Wilson set himself apart during the Senior Bowl process.

Heading into the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl, former Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson was viewed as a sleeper who needed a ton more draft hype. Wilson had modest production while at Michigan, saving his best for last as part of the Wolverine’s national championship run in 2023.

The diminutive pass catcher led the squad with 789 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on just 48 receptions, impressive numbers considering how fixating on the run game Michigan is offensively. 

During the first day, Wilson weighed in and it wasn’t a big surprise that he was on the smaller side. At 5’10 ½” and 186 pounds, he isn’t going to look like a dominant passing game weapon on the hoof. Then the pads got on and Wilson morphed into arguably the top wide receiver on either side in Mobile. Wilson played so well over the first two days, that he opted to shut it down and not practice the final couple of days or participate in the game. 

Throughout the week, Wilson was mentioned by pretty much every major media outlet as a big winner. The director of the Senior Bowl, Jim Nagy, even put a lofty Tyler Lockett comparison on Wilson during the week. The reason for that is his rare combination of vertical speed, competitiveness, and ability to track the ball down the field. 

Wilson wasn’t an unknown player to NFL scouts coming into the season. There were a ton of early day-three grades out there even before he had his breakout season for Michigan. Leaving the event, it’s hard to believe that Wilson won’t hear his name called in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL draft come April according to multiple scouts on site. 

The last big hurdle for his evaluation is complete at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, where Wilson is expected to test exceptionally well. Running in the 4.3s in the forty-yard dash is a number that has been thrown out there a ton. If he does, Wilson would have cemented what he started at the Senior Bowl: becoming a near-lock top 50 selection.

7 moves the Seahawks can make to create salary cap space in 2024

Once he has his new head coach Schneider has to turn his attention to the salary cap situation, which is pretty ugly going into 2024.

There’s a new king at the VMAC. All hail Seahawks general manager John Schneider, the first of his name, Drafter of Gems and Keeper of the Books. In the wake of the earth-shattering news that Pete Carroll has been removed as head coach, the first order of business for Schneider is to find a new head coach. The good news is that there’s a ton of incredibly-qualified options on the market, including the most-successful coach in NFL history – as this morning we learned Bill Belichick will part ways with the Patriots today.

Once he has his new head coach Schneider has to turn his attention to the salary cap situation, which is pretty ugly going into 2024. Just to field a 53-man roster the team is going to have to shed some contracts and take on a whole lot of dead money – and that’s before they have to pay big cash for a large extension for Leonard Williams.

Here are seven moves Schneider can make to free up some room. (Salary numbers are via Over the Cap and assume post-June 1 designation).

Seahawks eliminated, but finish strong with 21-20 win over Cardinals

Seahawks eliminated, but finish strong with 21-20 win over Cardinals

The Seattle Seahawks’ 2023-24 campaign has officially ended, and it did so in unusual fashion with a 21-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals. For the second straight year, the Seahawks have finished 9-8. Unfortunately, there was no magic this year for a Packers upset at Lambeau Field, so Seattle’s season comes to a conclusion in the Valley of the Sun.

Seattle looked in control in the first half, scoring 13 points and holding Arizona to only a pair of field goals despite two deep red zone drives. But in the second half, the Cardinals completely took over, scoring touchdowns on two of their first three drives. Meanwhile, the Seahawks had four straight drives ending in a punt.

Fortunes began to shift for Seattle when the usually sure-footed Matt Prater missed from 43-yards out. Up to that point, Arizona was dominating the Seahawks, outgaining them in total yards 232-41.

From there, the stagnant Seattle offense turned on the jets and engineered a four play, 67-yard scoring drive capped off by a 34-yard strike from Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett. Having been eliminated and with nothing left to lose, the Seahawks decided to go for two. Once more, Smith found Lockett and gave Seattle a 21-20 lead.

Still, they were not out of the woods yet. With almost two minutes left, Arizona marched 42 yards in nine plays to get safely within Prater’s range. Fortunately for the Seahawks, Prater missed from 51 and Seattle survived.

While it’s always great to win, it’s hard to not feel like this season was a disappointment. The Seahawks had high hopes after a surprisingly resurgent 2022 only to have an almost carbon copy 2023 campaign, only no blowout playoff loss to the 49ers this time around.

Regardless, winning – even if it is “meaningless” or not – always feels better than the alternative. Whatever the future may hold for this franchise, I’m glad the Seahawks got to close out this season on a high note and finish as winners for their efforts.

Leonard Williams reaches milestone not seen in almost 100 years

Leonard Williams has been the Seahawks’ best defender since he came over from the Giants in a trade just before the deadline. 

Leonard Williams has been the Seahawks’ best defender since he came over from the Giants in a trade just before the deadline.

Williams’ performance on the field has been especially impressive when you consider that he hasn’t gotten a bye week this season. Thanks to the trade, he missed out on getting a week off both with the Giants and with the Seahawks. That means today Williams will be playing in his 18th game this season. In case you’re wondering, that hasn’t been done since 1930.

Williams has totaled 5.5 sacks, nine tackles for a loss and 15 quarterback hits.

Williams will become a free agent in March. However, he has bought a house in the Seattle area – with Tyler Lockett acting as his real estate agent – indicating he wants to stay.

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Watch: What Pete Carroll and the Seahawks told the media after NYE loss

Here’s what Pete Carroll and a few Seattle players had to say to the media after their loss to Pittsburgh.

The Seahawks suffered another frustrating loss at home yesterday, this time against the Steelers – and this time dealing a potentially fatal blow to their playoff hopes. Now they need to beat the Cardinals in Week 18 and hope the Bears upset the Packers, otherwise they’ll be going home early again.

Here’s what Pete Carroll and a few Seattle players had to say to the media after their loss to Pittsburgh.

Takeaways and observations from Eagles 33-25 win over Giants in Week 16

We’re looking at takeaways and observations from the Philadelphia Eagles 33-25 win over New York Giants in Week 16

Philadelphia snapped a three-game losing streak and needs to beat Arizona next week and defeat the Giants again in the season finale to finish atop the NFC East.

The Eagles (11-4) now hold a one-game lead over the Cowboys in the NFC East after their 33-25 win over the Giants on Christmas Day.   Philadelphia is 11-0 at the Linc against New York since 2014 and beat the Giants three times last season in Brian Daboll’s first season.

With the matchup complete, here are takeaways and observations of the ugly win.

Instant analysis of Eagles 33-25 win over the Giants on Christmas Day

We’re looking at the instant analysis of the Philadelphia Eagles 33-25 win over the New York Giants on Christmas Day at Lincoln Financial Field

It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles (11-4) now hold a one-game lead over the Cowboys in the NFC East after their 33-25 win over the Giants on Christmas Day.

Philadelphia snapped a three-game losing streak and needs to beat Arizona next week and defeat the Giants again in the season finale to finish atop the NFC East.

The Eagles are 11-0 at the Linc against New York since 2014 and beat the Giants three times last season in Brian Daboll’s first season.

With the matchup complete, here’s an instant analysis of the ugly win.