The Seattle Seahawks filled the few remaining vacancies they had this week with the free-agent signings of defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, guard Tremayne Anchrum Jr. and safety K’Von Wallace. The next major step in Seattle’s team-building process will be the draft, in which the Seahawks’ first pick is 16th overall.
Before that, Seattle general manager John Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald will attend the league meetings in Orlando, Fla. For Macdonald, Tuesday morning’s news conference will be his first media session since Feb. 1 (Macdonald and his coaching staff skipped the scouting combine). Schneider likely will speak with reporters as well. In addition to explaining a 2024 vision that isn’t clear after the team’s free-agent moves, here are other questions Schneider and Macdonald must answer this week.
Does Macdonald expect to contend for a championship?
Schneider believes in building a championship-caliber roster every season. It’s in Macdonald’s best interest to publicly be in lockstep with the guy who hired him, but in the handful of times he has spoken with local television and radio outlets, Macdonald hasn’t laid out expectations for this season. During his introductory news conference, Macdonald said the Seahawks have a great opportunity to “build a really competitive team sooner than later,” but there’s only so much stock to put into words said on the coach’s first day on the job. Plus that remark came before he hired a staff, lost a few veterans as cap casualties and acquired new players via free agency. Nearly two months removed from that initial news conference, it’s worth learning whether Macdonald is willing to put expectations on this season.
Macdonald thus far has come off as someone taking one day at a time, an understandable position for a first-time head coach whose assistants are still getting to know each other and haven’t yet gotten to meet with their players. At the same time, Macdonald inherited a team that won nine games last year, and Seattle still has players and executives who thought the team underachieved. Under Pete Carroll, Seattle’s first goal was always to win the NFC West. Does Macdonald have that same expectation in Year 1?
If so, it’ll be interesting to hear whatever version of the plan he’s willing to outline considering the roster on paper isn’t clearly better than last year’s. The defensive line is basically the same and the linebackers and safeties are younger but not obviously more talented. The offensive line exchanged Damien Lewis, Evan Brown and Phil Haynes for — at least at the moment — Anchrum, Nick Harris or Olu Oluwatimi and Anthony Bradford. Is the roster different? Yes. Better? To be determined. With that in mind, is Macdonald expecting to make a deep playoff run out of the gate?
What’s the plan for the offensive line?
Schneider said offensive guards are being over-drafted and overpaid, a notable stance considering the state of Seattle’s interior offensive line. Seattle’s two free-agent additions on the interior were backups on their previous teams after entering the league as Day 3 picks in the 2020 draft.
Harris, a center who can play guard, made four starts in four years with the Browns and signed with Seattle on a one-year deal worth $2.5 million. Anchrum, a guard, made one start in four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Oluwatimi played 126 offensive snaps as a rookie, valuable reps for the 2023 fifth-round pick but not enough to know if he’s an upgrade over Brown (now with the Arizona Cardinals). Bradford played over 600 offensive snaps across 14 games with 10 starts. There’s no doubt he’s a powerful force in the run game, but it’s fair to wonder whether he’s bringing enough in the passing game to prevent Seattle from having the same issues it had last year protecting the quarterback.
The Seahawks aren’t flush with draft capital. They have the 16th pick in the first round, No. 81 overall in the third round and No. 102 in the fourth. Do Schneider and Macdonald consider the interior offensive line worth filling with one of their top three picks or are they confident in the roster as currently constructed?
Does Sam Howell still have starter potential?
Seattle’s view of Howell could impact the team’s willingness to use one of its early draft picks on a quarterback. Seattle has been looking to get younger at quarterback for years and according to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, there’s belief around the league the Seahawks could have been players for a quarterback early in the 2023 draft if their guy was still on the board. Howell is only 23 years old with 18 career regular season starts. He’s the same age as Michael Penix Jr. and Spencer Rattler and younger than Bo Nix. Howell threw for nearly 4,000 yards last season but ranked 30th in adjusted net yards per pass attempt and led all quarterbacks in sacks and interceptions. However, because of his age and cost — Howell is due just $2.08 million over the next two years — there’s a world where Seattle is content with him as a backup for now, but with the belief he could potentially be a starter again in 2025.
Schneider liked Howell coming out of North Carolina in the 2022 draft. Seattle initially was scheduled to pick 145th that year, but when the Washington Commanders drafted Howell with pick No. 144, Seattle traded back with the Kansas City Chiefs and acquired the seventh-round pick that became receiver Dareke Young. Schneider admitted it was “rough sledding” for Howell in Washington last year, but he was nonetheless impressed by Howell’s toughness and the 300-yard, three-touchdown performance he had against Seattle in Week 10.
What will the Seattle Seahawks get out of former Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell? (Joe Nicholson / USA Today)
“That hit home, how tough he was, how strong he was, keeping his eyes downfield, finding the open receiver and almost winning the game there at the end,” Schneider said on Seattle Sports radio. “He’s young, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s just a football player.”
Geno Smith turns 34 in October, and although quarterbacks can play at a high level beyond that age, his 2025 salary cap hit will be $38.5 million (14.8 percent of the projected cap) and he has a $10 million roster bonus due March 20, according to Over the Cap. Would Schneider and Macdonald be willing to move on from Smith after this season and let Howell and either a cheaper vet or a 2025 draft pick compete to be the starting quarterback? Doing so would require viewing Howell as more than just a capable backup.
Schneider essentially has implied that he sees Howell as a potential QB1 but Tuesday will be Macdonald’s first opportunity to state whether he views Howell the same way. If they’re in agreement, that would perhaps signal Seattle isn’t motivated to use one of its two top-100 picks in the upcoming draft on a third quarterback.
Position switches
Now that Macdonald has had time to assess the roster he inherited, it’s time to find out what he envisions for a few of his defensive players with history playing multiple spots under the previous regime. Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon played left cornerback and nickel, often doing both in the same game. He had never played the latter position before, but he was able to thrive there as a rookie (he was more impactful at nickel, which is naturally closer to the action). Will Macdonald continue to have him essentially occupy two starting spots?
Coby Bryant was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft to play outside cornerback then moved to nickel and had a promising rookie season. Last year, he moved from nickel to safety during the preseason then missed most of the season with a toe injury. If Macdonald has a vision for Bryant, perhaps he could have a breakout year the way defensive backs Kyle Hamilton and Geno Stone did in Baltimore last season.
Dre’Mont Jones signed a three-year, $51 million free agent contract last offseason to play defensive tackle. When Uchenna Nwosu suffered a torn pectoral muscle midway through the year, Jones moved to outside linebacker, a position that didn’t seem to maximize his skill set. If Nwosu being healthy prompts Macdonald to move Jones back inside, Seattle may not view defensive tackle as an urgent draft need worthy of a first-round pick. That’d be a heavy investment into the position after paying Jones, drafting a nose tackle (Cam Young) and a three-technique (Mike Morris) last year and then trading for and paying Leonard Williams.
(Top photo of Mike Macdonald: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
2024-03-22 12:09:11
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