The Seahawks’ options to tame their salary cap crunch

Feb 10, 2025, 6:57 PM | Updated: 10:50 pm

Seattle Sports

As the Seattle Seahawks look to build a championship contender under Mike Macdonald, they enter a pivotal offseason with no shortage of significant decisions to be made.

Many of those decisions stem from their current salary cap situation.

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According to the sports salary website Spotrac.com, the Seahawks are currently projected to be $11.3 million over the cap in 2025, based on their top 51 players in terms of cap hits. That ranks as the fifth-worst cap situation in the league.

Seattle has already begun its cap-clearing process, having reportedly freed up about $14 million in cap space by restructuring star defensive lineman Leonard Williams’ contract. But as one of seven teams still projected to be over the cap, there’s plenty more work to be done.

The Seahawks not only have to be under the cap when the new league year begins on March 12, but they also need additional room by that date to sign players in free agency.

Michael Ginnitti, co-founder and editor of Spotrac.com, joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday to discuss the Seahawks’ cap situation. Ginnitti says it’s one of the more challenging situations the franchise has been in since general manager John Schneider arrived in 2010.

“This is one of the first years that I think they’ve had a real, real struggle to get back to zero here with their salary cap,” Ginnitti said. “And it happens. It’s an ebb-and-flow situation. … But this is gonna be one of the more aggressive offseasons that this team has had to go through in terms of their finances.”

‘It might be a whole bag of everything’

The good news for Schneider & Co.? There are plenty of avenues to free up cap space.

According to Spotrac, the Seahawks could clear $17 million in cap space by releasing veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett, whose declining production and massive $30.895 million cap hit make him a potential cap casualty.

Other possible cap casualties for Seattle include defensive end Dre’Mont Jones ($16.51 million in cap savings if released with a post-June 1 designation), tight end Noah Fant ($9 million in cap savings), safety Rayshawn Jenkins ($5.4 million) and defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris ($6.6 million).

The Seahawks also could free up cap space by reaching extensions with quarterback Geno Smith and star wideout DK Metcalf, which would spread their cap hits into future years. Smith’s 2025 cap hit is currently $44.5 million and Metcalf’s is $31.875 million. Both have one year remaining on their current contracts.

Seattle could even decide to trade a player like Metcalf, as ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler wrote about last month.

“I think in this case, you might have a little bit of everything,” Ginnitti said. “Geno might get extended. DK might get traded. Tyler might get released. Dre’Mont might get restructured. It might be a whole bag of everything this offseason for this Seattle team. And certainly that process has already started with Leonard Williams.”

In addition, the Seahawks have some interesting decisions to make regarding their talented 2022 NFL Draft class. That group, which is now eligible for extensions with one year left on their rookie contracts, has produced a half-dozen starters in left tackle Charles Cross, right tackle Abraham Lucas, running back Kenneth Walker III, outside linebacker Boye Mafe, safety Coby Bryant and cornerback Riq Woolen.

With so many big decisions looming, the next few months will be massively important for the trajectory of the Seahawks’ franchise. But as Ginnitti said, Schneider & Co. have a strong track record.

“They are near the top of where I would say things have gone in terms of adjusting, changing, not going too crazy with this cap deferral stuff that we’re talking about and taking it in small doses,” Ginnitti said. “I like the fact that every two to three years, there’s some sort of talk about extending players, and that they’re not getting into long-terms like some other teams that are kind of stuck in the mud.

“That Williams deal was a nice start,” he added. “… But there’s probably two or three significant moves just to get yourself ready for March 12 – just to get yourself in a situation where you’re active in free agency, and then certainly thinking about the draft pick signings down the road as well.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on Seattle Sports or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.