The Seattle Seahawks began the offseason with fewer than zero dollars in cap room. 12s likely assumed the team would make needed roster moves to create cap space to sign free agents, 2025 draft picks, and practice squad players. But no one could have anticipated the massive changes that were about to take place.
General manager John Schneider did not just create cap space; he created enough to get Seattle inside the top ten of teams with money to spend. Is Seattle even better? Maybe. Maybe not. We will not know the answer to that question until well into next season.
One player that was not part of the purge that sent fan-favorite wide receiver Tyler Lockett and defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones into free agency was edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu. The team could have saved a good chunk of money by releasing the oft-injured Nwosu, but instead, something else seemed to be going on with him.
NFL analyst has incorrect opinion about Seahawks edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu
The deadline to either release him or pay him his guaranteed roster bonus came and went, but there was no announcement either way. As it turns out, Nwosu and the Seahawks were working on a restructuring where the player accepted $7 million less overall, but got $4 million-plus more in guaranteed dollars.
Instead of a cap hit of $21,288,333, that number for 2025 is now $11,848,333. He had signed with Seattle in 2023 for three years and $45 million, but that included guarantees. The number was actually less.
In his first year with the team, he had 9.5 sacks and led the team in quarterback hits and tackles for loss. But then he got hurt in 2023 and again in 2024 and played a total of 12 games (out of 34). His production was nearly nothing last year, as he could never seem to work his way back into the rotation after missing the first part of the year.
Still, he is only 28 years old and should have, if healthy, several more years to be a good player. He has shown he is a quality one. He is also a fantastic human being and was the Seahawks nominee for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
He is no longer overpaid, but Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon still thinks so. In an article about each team's most overpaid player, Gagnon listed Seattle's as Nwosu. The article came out a week after Nwosu restructured his deal, and his cap number had dropped $10 million for 2025.
Gagnon certainly should have chosen another overpaid Seahawk instead of Nwosu. One is that Nwosu can be good if he stays healthy, plus he has re-done his current deal by the time Gagnon's article was published.
Instead of Nwosu, Gagnon should have gone with cornerback Riq Woolen (cap hit in 2025 of $5,429,054) or recently signed offensive lineman Josh Jones (cap hit of $4 million). Woolen is capable of greatness, but he has been inconsistent enough that he cannot be counted on to be good week to week. Jones has been a lifelong backup and hopefully will remain so with Seattle.
