The Seattle Seahawks have made a couple of big splashes in free agency by signing both quarterback Sam Darnold and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, but they've largely neglected their biggest weakness: the offensive line,
As pretty much everyone knows by now, Seattle's offensive line was awful in 2024, allowing 54 sacks. Despite that, the only addition they've made is offensive tackle/guard Josh Jones, who will most likely be a backup. In terms of the starting lineup, they've done pretty much nothing.
However, it wasn't for a lack of trying.
Without naming any names, Seahawks general manager John Schneider confirmed that they were in on free agent guard Will Fries, even offering him a $50 million deal. However, they wanted to bring him in for a visit and physical before signing him, as he broke his leg in Week 5 of last season with the Indianapolis Colts. The Minnesota Vikings, who ended up signing him to a five-year, $88 million deal, reportedly did not request a visit or physical beforehand.
“We were in on a big-time guy that we wanted to bring in and get a physical on,’’ Schneider told reporters. “When you spend that kind of money on a player, we wanted to visit. The other team didn’t want to visit and they just went ahead and did the deal.’’
While it's obviously unfortunate that the Seahawks couldn't close the deal with Fries, their caution is very understandable. Broken leg injuries are never easy to come back from, especially for big players like offensive linemen, so Schneider and co. definitely wanted to see how Fries would hold up just months after the injury.
It's reasonable to assume that $50 million deal would've run for three years, which would've averaged out to around $16.7 million per year. The deal he signed with Minnesota pays him an average of $17.6 million over five years, so the Vikings definitely had the Seahawks beat in terms of money as well.
At any rate, the Seahawks can't afford to dwell on what could've been. They still have a lot of work to do to put Darnold in a situation to succeed, and it starts with keeping him upright.
