The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the most active teams in free agency this year.
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But much to frustration of Seahawks fans, those moves haven’t done much to address the team’s glaring needs along the interior offensive line.
Seattle’s lone O-line signing has been former Baltimore Ravens backup tackle/guard Josh Jones, who projects more as a depth piece than a potential full-time starter.
And in the meantime, the interior O-line market has thinned dramatically since the free agent negotiating period began on March 10. According to NFL.com, each of the top eight free agent interior offensive linemen have signed elsewhere.
During his weekly appearance Thursday on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, Seahawks general manager John Schneider was asked a handful of questions about the O-line. Here are a few highlights from what he said.
A patient approach
Schneider said the Seahawks are continuing to bring in offensive linemen for free-agent visits.
Earlier this week, guards Teven Jenkins, Dillon Radunz and Lucas Patrick each reportedly met with Seattle. Jenkins has since signed with the Cleveland Browns.
“We had probably five guys in (for visits) this week,” Schneider said. “We’ll have another guy in this weekend. (We’ll) have the (doctors) spend time with them, keep negotiating with the agent and have the coaches spending a bunch of time with them and seeing if it’s a true fit.”
However, Schneider said it’s difficult to find surefire O-line starters at this stage of the free agency cycle.
“You can’t just throw money at marginal play,” Schneider said. “We want to be a championship team. We don’t want to be an average team. And so we can sign guys that can fill a specific role, but it’s not at a point right now where you’re gonna go sign a guy that’s for sure going to be your starting left guard or right guard. That’s just what it is. I wish I could tell you different.”
Schneider also touched on the Seahawks not signing a top free agent lineman during last week’s initial free agency surge.
According to ESPN’s Brady Henderson, Schneider confirmed to reporters last week that Seattle pursued highly touted guard Will Fries in free agency. Schneider said the Seahawks wanted to bring in Fries for a physical after the former Indianapolis Colts guard suffered a season-ending broken tibia this past October.
However, teams weren’t allowed to conduct physicals on free agents until the new league year began on March 12. Fries ended up signing a massive deal with the Minnesota Vikings on March 11.
“Those first three days (of free agency), it provides a lot of opportunity for risk and error because you’re not able to … (bring in players) on visits,” Schneider told Wyman and Bob.
“(On visits), they can sit down with the coaches and we can have our doctors evaluate them, see where they’re at in their career, what their durability grade would be, what a final medical exam would be, how they’re interacting with the coaches, how are they treating the staff. … Those interactions are really important.”
In-house ‘upside’ and the draft
Schneider also continued to express confidence in Seattle’s young group of interior offensive linemen, which includes center Olu Oluwatimi and guards Anthony Bradford, Christian Haynes and Sataoa Lamuea.
Oluwatimi and Bradford were 2023 draft picks, while Haynes and Laumea were 2024 draft picks. Bradford made 11 starts at right guard last season before suffering an ankle injury. He was replaced by Laumea, who started the final six games. Oluwatimi made eight starts at center after Connor Williams’ abrupt midseason retirement.
Schneider said he thinks that young group of linemen can benefit from a more balanced offense, which is what the Seahawks are expected to have this season under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
“When you’re throwing the heck out of the ball, it’s pretty hard to gain confidence when you’re not running off the ball,” Schneider said. “And that’s what happened with the young group of guys last year, quite frankly. We were throwing the crud out of it (and) we didn’t really establish the running game. You gain confidence when you come off the ball and you can block your guy, instead of being on your heels all the time.”
Schneider said it’s encouraging that Kubiak, new offensive line coach John Benton and incoming run game coordinator/senior offensive advisor Rick Dennison were excited to work with Seattle’s young linemen.
Schneider also pointed to this year’s draft class, which is widely regarded to feature a strong crop of offensive linemen. According to ESPN, 16 of the top 100 draft prospects are offensive linemen – including six interior linemen. The Seahawks have 10 draft picks, including five in the top 92.
“The draft is strong. It feels like a really nice group,” Schneider said. “And we like the guys we drafted last year – the younger guys that we have in that room. And our coaches were excited to come here and work with those guys as well. (They) saw an upside in them.”
