I think the OL situation is the most interesting on the team by far. On paper we have some good pieces but there's a lot of moving parts and there's more uncertainty than people think here.
Starting LT - Duane Brown ($10.5m) is under contract for the next three seasons (age 34-36) but very interestingly most of the remaining guaranteed dollars hit this season. The Hawks could move on in 2020 with a minor dead cap hit if his play slips as he gets older. That wouldn't be a surprise historically, and 33-34 is the age at which most of the great LTs have retired recently. Walter Jones, Orlando Pace and Anthony Munoz all played their final seasons at age 34, while Jonathan Ogden and Joe Thomas played their final seasons at age 33. I don't see it as a given at all that Brown will be here in 2020 and 2021 and long-term the Hawks may need a solution.
Backup LT - That could be George Fant ($3.1m 2nd round tender). However, he's not going to be cheap in 2020 ($8m+ likely) and the last time we actually saw him on the field at LT in the regular season it wasn't great. He's a valuable piece in 2019 but then the team has to decide whether he's worth a big contract.
Backup LT - Jamarco Jones ($0.5m) would be a much cheaper option and looks like a valuable contract. He looked great in small sample sizes and is signed through 2021 on a cheap rookie deal. We could probably get a good deal on an extension down the road as well due to the low rookie contract.
Starting LG/RG - ???. UFAs Fluker and Sweezy were both effective contributors last season when healthy, but Fluker has never stayed healthy while Sweezy has always been a lot better with run blocking than pass protecting. Either or both could be continued short term fixes but I don't see either as a long-term solution. I expect the Hawks to draft at least one interior OL this season in the first few rounds.
Backup LG/RG - Ethan Pocic ($1.2m). This will be Pocic's third season and there's a long list of Seahawks OL that made a big jump forwards in their third year. However, they brought in Sweezy because he wasn't playing well at guard in his second season. I think there's still a good chance that he may be Britt's eventual successor at center.
Backup LG/RG - Jordan Roos ($0.6m). Roos has earned a lot of praise in practice and the preseason but he didn't play a snap in a regular game last year and was only active for a few games in 2017. We really don't know that much about him but it seems like a stretch to expect him to take either starting guard spot this year.
Backup LG/RG - Jordan Simmons ($0.68m). ERFA who suffered a season ending knee injury and had off-season surgery on it. Possible starter at RG?
Starting C - Justin Britt ($8m). Locked in as a starter this year, but like Brown his guaranteed dollars are mostly ending this year. His cap hit balloons to $11.6m next season with very little guarantees, so he'll be a likely candidate for some sort of contract rework, extension, or we may replace him with a cheaper option in 2020 (Pocic, Hunt).
Backup C - Joey Hunt ($0.68m - thanks Jammerhawk). They can bring Hunt back for one more year as a restricted free agent. If we wanted to work out a longer deal instead the price would likely be reasonable. He's started 3 games for us in the last three seasons and been active in 20 games.
Backup C - Marcus Henry (0.5m). 2016 UDFA from Boise State who has yet to make a 53 man roster. He's been on and off our practice squad but there's not much public information about his growth.
Starting RT - Germaine Ifedi ($2.6m) is on the final year of his rookie contract but we do have a fifth year option we could exercise on him because we took him in the first round. I'm still not 100% convinced that he shouldn't move inside to RG and sort of like the idea of a right side with Ifedi at RG and Fant at RT.
Backup RT - Elijah Nkansah ($0.5m). Question mark practice squad player that we just promoted to the roster. 6'6" tackle with long 34" arms who was a 2018 UDFA. Draft analysis on him was good strength and power but lack of agility and lateral movement led to him going un drafted. Probably backup RT material.
In summary, we have a lot better depth at OT than OG, and so moving Ifedi inside and starting Fant at RT seems attractive. We could also use further influx of rookie talent here as Brown and Britt may not be on the roster down the road.
Starting LT - Duane Brown ($10.5m) is under contract for the next three seasons (age 34-36) but very interestingly most of the remaining guaranteed dollars hit this season. The Hawks could move on in 2020 with a minor dead cap hit if his play slips as he gets older. That wouldn't be a surprise historically, and 33-34 is the age at which most of the great LTs have retired recently. Walter Jones, Orlando Pace and Anthony Munoz all played their final seasons at age 34, while Jonathan Ogden and Joe Thomas played their final seasons at age 33. I don't see it as a given at all that Brown will be here in 2020 and 2021 and long-term the Hawks may need a solution.
Backup LT - That could be George Fant ($3.1m 2nd round tender). However, he's not going to be cheap in 2020 ($8m+ likely) and the last time we actually saw him on the field at LT in the regular season it wasn't great. He's a valuable piece in 2019 but then the team has to decide whether he's worth a big contract.
Backup LT - Jamarco Jones ($0.5m) would be a much cheaper option and looks like a valuable contract. He looked great in small sample sizes and is signed through 2021 on a cheap rookie deal. We could probably get a good deal on an extension down the road as well due to the low rookie contract.
Starting LG/RG - ???. UFAs Fluker and Sweezy were both effective contributors last season when healthy, but Fluker has never stayed healthy while Sweezy has always been a lot better with run blocking than pass protecting. Either or both could be continued short term fixes but I don't see either as a long-term solution. I expect the Hawks to draft at least one interior OL this season in the first few rounds.
Backup LG/RG - Ethan Pocic ($1.2m). This will be Pocic's third season and there's a long list of Seahawks OL that made a big jump forwards in their third year. However, they brought in Sweezy because he wasn't playing well at guard in his second season. I think there's still a good chance that he may be Britt's eventual successor at center.
Backup LG/RG - Jordan Roos ($0.6m). Roos has earned a lot of praise in practice and the preseason but he didn't play a snap in a regular game last year and was only active for a few games in 2017. We really don't know that much about him but it seems like a stretch to expect him to take either starting guard spot this year.
Backup LG/RG - Jordan Simmons ($0.68m). ERFA who suffered a season ending knee injury and had off-season surgery on it. Possible starter at RG?
Starting C - Justin Britt ($8m). Locked in as a starter this year, but like Brown his guaranteed dollars are mostly ending this year. His cap hit balloons to $11.6m next season with very little guarantees, so he'll be a likely candidate for some sort of contract rework, extension, or we may replace him with a cheaper option in 2020 (Pocic, Hunt).
Backup C - Joey Hunt ($0.68m - thanks Jammerhawk). They can bring Hunt back for one more year as a restricted free agent. If we wanted to work out a longer deal instead the price would likely be reasonable. He's started 3 games for us in the last three seasons and been active in 20 games.
Backup C - Marcus Henry (0.5m). 2016 UDFA from Boise State who has yet to make a 53 man roster. He's been on and off our practice squad but there's not much public information about his growth.
Starting RT - Germaine Ifedi ($2.6m) is on the final year of his rookie contract but we do have a fifth year option we could exercise on him because we took him in the first round. I'm still not 100% convinced that he shouldn't move inside to RG and sort of like the idea of a right side with Ifedi at RG and Fant at RT.
Backup RT - Elijah Nkansah ($0.5m). Question mark practice squad player that we just promoted to the roster. 6'6" tackle with long 34" arms who was a 2018 UDFA. Draft analysis on him was good strength and power but lack of agility and lateral movement led to him going un drafted. Probably backup RT material.
In summary, we have a lot better depth at OT than OG, and so moving Ifedi inside and starting Fant at RT seems attractive. We could also use further influx of rookie talent here as Brown and Britt may not be on the roster down the road.
