Account
Free Agents Seahawks Should Pursue After 2021 NFL Draft
May 12, 2021Free Agents Seahawks Should Pursue After 2021 NFL Draft
The Seattle Seahawks did the best they could to fill their roster voids with three picks in the 2021 NFL draft.
Second-round pick D'Wayne Eskridge will likely be the only key contributor in 2021 at wide receiver beneath D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Fourth-round cornerback Tre Brown could turn into a solid player and may compete for snaps depending on the team's secondary situation entering training camp.
Seattle should look to the free-agent market for more help in the secondary just in case Brown does not pan out and Ahkello Witherspoon doesn't make the necessary impact on that side of the field.
The Seahawks could reunite with one of their former players to fill that void. The same could be said if they want to add extra help to the front seven.
Richard Sherman
Richard Sherman would not require the expensive deals he was once on in Seattle.
The 33-year-old spent the last three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and could provide a boost to the secondary that lost Shaquill Griffin in free agency to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
At the moment, Seattle has Witherspoon, Brown and a few others to fight for a starting position, but nothing is set in stone at cornerback.
Sherman might not come into camp and win the job outright, but he could have an impact on the team that makes him a reliable defender in certain situations.
In 2020, he played just five games for the 49ers but is only one year removed from a decent 2019 in which he held opposing wide receivers to 5.3 yards per target and 8.6 yards per catch.
If the Seahawks could get similar production from Sherman, they will be in a better position to replace Griffin than they are now.
Darqueze Dennard
If the Seahawks prefer a slightly younger option at corner, Darqueze Dennard could be the answer.
The 29-year-old has held opposing wide receivers under 5.5 yards per target in each of the last two seasons. He spent 2019 with the Cincinnati Bengals and played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2020.
Dennard only played 17 games in that span, but when he was healthy, he was effective in the passing game.
Although those numbers were earned in a smaller set of games, his production was actually better than the over seven yards per target Griffin gave up in the last two seasons.
If both parties are interested, Dennard could be available on an affordable cap-friendly deal because of his lack of games in the last two seasons.
If that happens, he would provide more competition at corner, and he could bring a better veteran presence to a secondary that is headlined by safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs.
K.J. Wright
K.J. Wright has only played for the Seahawks in his NFL career.
The 31-year-old is still a free agent, but if the two sides work on an agreement, he could be useful at linebacker. Seattle currently has seven linebackers on its roster.
Wright played every game in 2020 and earned his second-highest tackles for loss total, which came a year after he set a new career best in tackles with 132 in 2019.
The problem with bringing him back is how much it could cost. He had a base salary of $5 million in 2020, per Over the Cap.
The Seahawks do have $7.4 million in cap space available, so there is some flexibility to work with, but they can't spend all of that on re-signing Bobby Wagner just in case they have to add more pieces as the offseason rolls on.
Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.