The Vikings gave Will Fries a long-term commitment the Seahawks were reportedly unwilling to give.
The Seattle Seahawks have not landed a starting caliber offensive lineman through the “legal tampering” portion of free agency, but apparently it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Indianapolis Colts guard Will Fries, considered one of the top interior OL targets in free agency, has agreed to a big five-year, $88 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings. As if that wasn’t enough, the Vikings also signed ex-Colts center Ryan Kelly.
A report from Seahawks insider Corbin Smith says that Seattle was interested in Fries and was willing to splash the cash (by Seattle’s free agent standards). Smith wrote on Tuesday that the Seahawks had an offer of three years and at least $50 million for Fries, which is effectively in the same ballpark as what the Vikings offered in terms of average annual value. Obviously the big difference is Minnesota lined up a longer-term contract.
The Seahawks haven’t given any outside free agent contracts of five years in length since Sidney Rice and Zach Miller in 2011, which you might recall was a season impacted by lockout. I must admit that a five-year deal for Fries, however talented he may be, coming off a season-ending tibia fracture would’ve been way out of character for John Schneider.
Teven Jenkins of the Chicago Bears, Kevin Zeitler of the Detroit Lions, and Super Bowl champion Mekhi Becton of the Philadelphia Eagles figure to be the top available guards heading into Wednesday.
