Given their contrasting fortunes during recent times, the San Francisco 49ers would appear to have a significant edge over the Seattle Seahawks when it comes to attracting players.
But new Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins revealed this week that he picked the Seahawks over the 49ers after visiting with both, despite the fact the Niners went to the Super Bowl last season and have won their last five games against Seattle, including the postseason.
Though he is clearly excited at the prospect of playing for one of the finest defensive minds in the game in new Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald, the critical factor in his decision had nothing to do with football.
"I wanted to go to a contender, I wanted to go to a bigger market," Jenkins said.
"I felt like Seattle was the perfect place. Plenty of opportunity. I'm going into a team with a head coach that's defensive-minded and quite frankly out of San Francisco and Seattle, the taxes as well. So I had to think about that.
"I took a visit to the 49ers. I went here first, then to the 49ers. Then I had two more visits set up, but Seattle called, made an offer. They [the 49ers] matched it obviously, but going back to those taxes, I was like, I'm going out here."
Taking away the football component, Jenkins' decision makes a lot of sense.
Washington has no state income tax, whereas California's is the highest in the country. Given that Jenkins' contract is for $12 million over two years with $6.26 million guaranteed, the importance the 30-year-old placed on not losing money to taxes is understandable.
The edge the Seahawks had in that regard allowed them to sign an underrated safety.
Jenkins was the best safety in the NFL in 2023 by NextGen Stats’ receptions over expected metric. He had minus 5.6 receptions over expected last season, reflecting strength in coverage that is further illustrated by efficiency numbers
Jenkins was the sixth-most targeted safety in the NFL last season, per Sports Info Solutions. He was thrown at 41 times, yet he allowed the fifth-lowest completion percentage (41.5%) and his passer rating against of 50.3 was the eighth-best among safeties with at least 20 targets.
Only four safeties performed better than Jenkins by positive play rate allowed (31.7%), while he was seventh in Expected Points Added per target allowed.
In short, Jenkins is a safety who can put the Seattle pass defense in a better position to defend San Francisco's potent aerial attack. Whether his addition will be enough for the Seahawks to stop the losing streak against the 49ers is a different matter, but they can be thankful he put his finances first when making the decision between the two NFC West rivals.
