Huard: Seahawks signing Reed ‘didn’t move me,’ priority must be Clowney

After a very quiet start to the first day of free agency, the Seahawks were able to re-sign one of their top free agents in defensive tackle Jarran Reed. Reed has signed a two-year deal, which has been confirmed by the team. The contract is worth $23 million between the two seasons according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.

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Reed, 27, was selected by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2016 draft and has been a regular player ever since.

After being a solid run defender and tallying just 3 total sacks in his first two seasons, Reed broke out in 2018 with 10.5 sacks and, heading into a contract year in 2019, expectations for him were extremely high. But a six-game suspension to start 2019 slowed him down, and Reed finished the regular season with 2 sacks.

Brock Huard joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant and said the news that Reed had re-signed wasn’t as great as some have made it out to be.

What could make the deal better for the Seahawks is how the money is spread out.

Last offseason, linebacker K.J. Wright signed a two-year deal that was more team-friendly in the first year with the majority of the owed money due in the second season. Huard hopes that Reed’s deal has more money owed in the second year so the Seahawks can get out of the contract after one season if it doesn’t work out.

Regardless, Huard wasn’t blown away by the news.

“That didn’t move me,” Huard said. “That wasn’t one where I was like, ‘Oh great, we had to get that one done, we checked that one off, it was a top priority.'”

Even though Reed’s production dipped tremendously in 2019, Huard isn’t that surprised by how much he got paid.

“Jarran Reed had 2 sacks last year, was suspended for six games (and had) a sprained ankle and he still got that much?” Huard said. “You show any life as a defensive lineman, you put together any single year where you get 7.5 or 8.5 (sacks) … you are going to get paid.”

While the Seahawks made one bigger move in re-signing Reed to a deal, the team’s top priority, Huard said, is still trying retain Jadeveon Clowney.

“I really hope that gets done in the next 24-48 hours,” Huard said.

While some of the top free agents have reportedly agreed to deals, Clowney is still out there, which could be a good sign for Seattle.

“Part of me … has been somewhat excited that on (the first day of free agency) we didn’t see the (New York) Giants or somebody pay Jadeveon Clowney $150 million, right?” Huard said. “We haven’t seen that, so some of this money goes and we know this from past free agency spending and wave spending and wave one spending: once that money goes, it’s not like many teams are sitting there in wave two going, ‘OK, here’s your $22 million a year.’ I guess, to me, that’s the biggest positive.”

Clowney will likely demand a contract worth more than $20 million a season, especially with how other defensive linemen are getting paid.

The Giants have been one team linked to Clowney this offseason as they struggled with their pass rush in 2019 like the Seahawks and they also have more cap room than Seattle.

It could come down to whether Clowney favors playing for a contender, which he said at the end of 2019 – and the Seahawks appear to be one – or whether he’s looking for the biggest payday he can find. If it’s the latter, the Seahawks may have to address their pass rush elsewhere, as they have historically not dished out top-end money in free agency.

You can follow along with all the Seahawks’ moves in free agency at 710Sports.com’s offseason tracker.

Listen to Huard at this link or in the player below.

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