Clayton: Tough decisions the Seahawks must make in the next week
Aug 26, 2021, 4:19 PM
Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs is looking for a new contract from the Seahawks. (Getty)
(Getty)
Things should get very interesting for the Seahawks over the next week.
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On the business side, the Seahawks need to figure out if they can get deals done with Duane Brown and Quandre Diggs. Both are hold-ins, not practicing until they have something done with their contracts. There were reports on Thursday that things have picked up on Brown. They could make a minor enhancement in his deal. It’s not known if they will extend the contract.
For Diggs, this could be very difficult. He makes $6.2 million this year and is a free agent after the season. Jamal Adams just got $17.5 million a year. What would be the right number for Diggs? And can a team pay two safeties more than $10 million a year?
Training camp officially ended Thursday but decisions need to be made. It’s not known yet whether the Seahawks will play their starters Saturday against the Los Angeles Chargers. They have to decide if Rashaad Penny or Alex Collins will be the backup running back behind Chris Carson. They have to decide if Freddie Swain will be the third receiver. Ahkello Witherspoon locked up the one starting cornerback spot. Now they have to see if it’s D.J. Reed or Tre Flowers on the other side.
They also have to sort out the rotation among the eight top defensive ends over the next week.
Tuesday is cutdown day and the Seahawks have to go from 80 to 53. They signed Luke Willson but he retired after one day of work. They traded for cornerback John Reid from the Houston Texans. They may sign defensive tackle Geno Atkins. They have to look to see if they need another wide receiver or linebacker after the ACL tears of John Ursua and Ben Burr-Kirven.
You would think Geno Smith will end up as the backup quarterback, although Sean Mannion looked decent Saturday. Two of the stars of camp were linebacker/defensive end Darrell Taylor and running back DeeJay Dallas. They will probably get a lot of work on Saturday.
Plenty of decisions are ahead.
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O’Neil: Hawks have uncertainty with player ‘holding in,’ but not Diggs
