Bumpus: The aggressive but logical move for Seahawks to make

It’s a new era of Seattle Seahawks football as after 14 years of Pete Carroll as head coach, the team has a new leader in Mike Macdonald, who comes to the Hawks after a stellar run as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator.

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Because Macdonald comes to the Seahawks after calling the Ravens’ top-ranked defense, there has, naturally, been speculation about which Baltimore players could follow the first-time head coach to Seattle.

Former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus thinks the Seahawks should make an aggressive but logical move in free agency this offseason by going after one of Macdonald’s top defenders from a year ago: Inside linebacker Patrick Queen.

“The more I look into it, I’m like look man, you have some things to do on defense. And we’ve been talking about Patrick Queen for a week or two now,” he said.

Queen, 24, was a first-round pick of Baltimore’s in 2020. He was a second-team All-Pro last year as well as a Pro Bowler. He’s also likely made himself quite a bit of money through his play in 2023.

“He was projected (by Spotrac) to get a four-year deal worth $67 million. That was in November — $16.75 million a year. He tweeted a thumbs down (emoji) saying, ‘Nah, that’s not the deal,'” Bumpus said.

Now, Spotrac thinks Queen will command a five-year deal worth just north of $90 million total, which would make him the third-hightest paid inside linebacker in football.

“That seems more like it,” Bumpus said. “We’ve talked to the NFL insiders and they say, ‘Look, you’ve got to go and get Queen.'”

The Seahawks won’t be the only team looking to potentially sign Queen as he’s young and a top inside linebacker in the NFL, and Bumpus thinks it’ll be hard for Baltimore to bring him back.

“It’s going to be tough because the Ravens cannot sign Patrick Queen and (All-Pro defensive tackle Justin Madubuike),” he said. “That’s going to break the bank right there. Madubuike is up for a big payday as well. So I’m going look man, whoever they don’t pick up … you go after that.”

In addition to targeting Queen, Bumpus thinks the Seahawks would be wise to try and sign veteran edge rusher Kyle Van Noy, who is 32 but had a career-high nine sacks as a role player in Macdonald’s defense.

“He played in 42% of snaps for Baltimore. He’s a bit older, but he can bring in some veteran knowledge there, the understanding of this defense,” Bumpus said.

Listen to the full second hour of Tuesday’s Bump and Stacy at this link or in the player near the top of this story.

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