Seattle Seahawks 2022 free agency outlook

The Seattle Seahawks had to sit at home and watch as the other three teams in the division made the playoffs with one of them coming away with a Super Bowl win. The Seahawks are at an interesting tipping point where they have the pieces and the salary cap to go ‘all-in’ or they can ship out some pieces at the height of their value and enter a rebuild.

They went 7-10 in 2021, but they did have quarterback Russell Wilson sidelined for three full games and rather than pursuing a free agent quarterback they decided to take three losses with Geno Smith under center.

Last season’s salary cap number dropped to $182.5 million as the league dealt with the pandemic, but the 2022 cap rebound back up to $208 million according to Over The Cap. That increase should loosen a few team pocketbooks this offseason.

Franchise/Transition Tag possibilities

Under their current GM John Schneider, Seattle has used the franchise tag twice and they haven’t ever used the transition tag. While I am not an avid Seahawks fan, their list of impending free agents has some big names that they are going to have to make some decisions about. Brown is likely out because he will be going into his 15th season and they should be able to get him cheaper than the $16.7 million expected to be the price for a franchise-tagged offensive lineman.

Looking at the expected salary and values for these players, I don’t think the Seahawks end up using a tag this season no matter if they decide to blow up the roster and rebuild or go all-in.

Salary cap

Estimated 2022 cap space: ($36.29 million)

Notable unrestricted free agents