The general perception is that the Seahawks’ top three needs heading into the offseason are offensive line, offensive line and offensive line.
Regardless, John Schneider, Seattle’s general manager and vice president of football operations, said the team will more than ever try to not consider only needs when the draft arrives April 24-26.
When he spoke to reporters last week at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, Schneider said some recent drafts have only reinforced the value of being open-minded when the Seahawks are on the clock.
“We’ve made our biggest mistakes when we’ve pushed players up a board for need,’’ he said. “…So you have to be careful. You have to take the best. You really have to. The philosophy is you take the best player, take the best person, best competitor. When you try to stick something in there it’s just hard. It’s hard. You’re kind of behind the eight ball already. You’re drafting a guy that you’re like, ‘all right, well, no, that guy’s a better player than him, but you don’t have a left guard.’’’
So if Seattle really goes best player available, that means the Seahawks could well be looking at taking an interior defensive lineman or edge rusher when pick No. 18 arrives.
This week’s combine appeared to only make it clearer how strong the defensive front and edge rush groups are.
“Deepest Interior-DL class since 31 were drafted in 1992,’’ wrote NFL draft analyst Todd McShay on X this week. “EDGE group is loaded too. Buckle up.’’
How much Seattle has needs in each area could fluctuate greatly over the next week or so as the free agent signing period begins March 12.
Every edge rusher who played significantly for Seattle last year (Derick Hall, Boye Mafe, Dre’Mont Jones, Uchenna Nwosu) is under contract for 2025.
But Schneider acknowledged in Indy that the Seahawks are trying to work out a new contract with Nwosu, who has a cap hit of just over $21 million in 2025, fifth-highest on the team.
Injuries have limited Nwosu to just 12 games the past two seasons.
Nwosu would seem likely to be back but may have to accept a pay cut to stay.
There has also been speculation Seattle could look to massage the contract of Jones, whose $25.6 million cap hit is the fourth-highest on the team but whose $16 million base salary is not guaranteed. Cutting Jones would save $11.5 million in cap space.
Coach Mike Macdonald spoke optimistically at the combine of what a full season of a healthy Nwosu could mean for the Seahawks.
He played just six games due to a several injuries, including a sprained knee suffered in the final preseason game.
Macdonald noted how well Nwosu played when healthy last season and said “it was a bummer, because you just saw what he could be, a force on the edge.’’
Mafe also missed two games with a knee injury. Those injuries reinforced to Macdonald the value of depth at a position as important as there is on defense.
“You’re never going to go into the season like, ‘Yep, we’re good (at) D-line,’’’ Macdonald said. “I thought we were loaded last year. … But look at the ‘Chenna (Nwosu) situation. We lost ‘Chenna for a big chunk of the year. And you always want to be full strength.”
Seattle’s interior front also has some questions.
Leonard Williams and 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy II are back and Macdonald is confident that Murphy will make an even bigger impact in his second season, especially in passing situations.
“He’s earned more pass rush reps than he has (had),’’ Macdonald said. “…It’s just how. And other guys have earned those reps, too. So that’s something we’re going to be focused on.’’
But veteran tackles Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins are free agents and Seattle could release Roy Robertson-Harris, who carries a $6.6 million cap hit in 2025 with no guaranteed money. The 31-year old Robertson-Harris, acquired in a midseason trade, played 15 or fewer snaps in five of the last six games.
Macdonald said last week he hopes Reed and Hankins return.
“We love J-Reed,’’ Macdonald said. “We love Hank.’’
Reed said several times last year he hopes to end his career as a Seahawk and Macdonald said “I’m confident on how J-Reed feels about us. And he knows how we feel about him.”
Still, Reed and Hankins are also each 32 years old and would likely come back on one-year deals.
The Seahawks are also still holding out hope that two 2023 draft picks — end Mike Morris and tackle Cameron Young — can become significant contributors.
Young, a fourth-round pick, played 16 games in 2023 before being held to just one game in 2024 due to a knee injury.
Morris, a fifth-round pick, got some regular time in the defensive-line rotation early in the season due to injuries. But he played just three snaps over the final eight games, indicating the team still needed to see more from him before considering him a candidate to be a regular contributor.
“I’d love to see those guys come on,’’ Macdonald said. “But there’s going to be great competition in our D-line, because you only put four out there for the most part when it’s a pass-rush opportunity. The best four need to stack those reps so we can rush at a high level. It takes a lot. There’s a lot of unspoken chemistry that it takes to rush four as a unit, and you got to stack those reps. Again, I like the D-line room, (but) man, you can never have a deep enough D-line.’’
So while Seattle spent its first pick a year ago on an interior defensive lineman, the Seahawks could be compelled to do so again given that only Williams and Murphy seem assured of being with the team beyond 2025.
“I do (feel good about it),’’ Macdonald said of the defensive front. “But it’s like, you know, when you stop adding guys that affect the quarterback, you never turn that down, that opportunity. I’m sure the Eagles right now, probably the best pass-rushing crew in the league, they’re thinking the same thing. So same thing, like the quarterback questions, like, ‘yeah, we love our guys, but there’s somebody that’s sitting there staring you in the face, like, why would you not add to that crew?”’
