Expected money trim continues as Seahawks release Ed Dickson. So what’s this mean?
The Seahawks two latest salary-cap moves don’t necessarily foreshadow a big addition is imminent. Such as, oh, I don’t know...Jadeveon Clowney?
Seattle was going to release Ed Dickson and Tedric Thompson, anyway.
Dickson was the second one cut Tuesday. The NFL’s official transactions showed Seattle terminated his veteran contract with a failed-physical designation. His release saves the Seahawks $3 million off their cap in 2020. The veteran tight end was hurt both his seasons since Seattle signed him from Carolina.
The Seahawks signed three-time Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen, Dickson’s former teammate in Carolina, to a $7 million, one-year contract last month. Will Dissly remains the tight end for the future in the team’s minds. He is returning from a season-ending Achilles injury from October. Seattle also has brought back Jacob Hollister, a surprise key contributor later last season after injuries at tight end, and veteran Luke Willson.
So they no longer needed to wait for Dickson to get healthy from knee surgery last year. The 32-year-old was on injured reserve into November last season. He came back for one practice day and the knee hurt again. So he went back on IR for the rest of the season.
The league’s official transactions for Tuesday also showed Seattle waiving Thompson, also with a failed-physical designation. The benched free safety failed to adequately replace departed All-Pro Earl Thomas at free safety last season. His release saves Seattle $2.13 million.
Failing physical allows Dickston and Thompson to get some injury-settlement money on their way out.
But the Seahawks are likely to need more than a little over $5 million if they want to re-sign Clowney, the three-time Pro Bowl sack man, and sign another veteran pass rusher, perhaps Everson Griffen. That’s what it’s going to take to overhaul the most problematic area of the team, the one coach Pete Carroll said was the Seahawks’ highest priority to address this offseason.
With Clowney healthy into mid-November before his sports-hernia injury and eventual surgery in January, Seattle still had the second-worst sack production in the league in 2019. Only Miami produced fewer than the Seahawks’ 28 sacks in 16 games during last regular season.
Clowney is Plan A. The apparent backup Plan B in free agency could be the next attractive remaining pass rusher still out on the market. That’s Griffen, who played for Carroll at USC. But there are reasons Griffen’s still available. He’s 32. He’s a year and a half removed from a mental breakdown that had his career in jeopardy.
Plan C would then be exploring the viability of trading for one of the league franchise-tagged edge rushers, such as Jacksonville’s Yannick Ngakoue or Baltimore’s Matt Judon. It’s Plan C because general manager John Schneider hates trading top draft choices. He loves stockpiling them through trades instead.
The Jaguars have fielded “multiple” trade offers for Ngakoue, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday. “The Jags value him and won’t give him away for little return,” Garafolo wrote.
Ngakoue reiterated his desire to get out of Jacksonville with a Twitter post on Tuesday: “Let’s agree to disagree . Why hold a man from taking care of his family. It’s obvious my time is up in my current situation. Let’s both move on @Jaguars”
He ended that with an emoji of a checkered flag, to signify the finish line with his team.
To do any of that, the Seahawks will need to clear more cap space. They entered Tuesday with $11.3 million in room entering Tuesday, per estimations from overthecap.com. That did not include the one-year deal free agent wide receiver Phillip Dorsett just signed, nor the $6 million or so they need to allocate for the seven picks they currently own in the upcoming draft.
The Seahawks could save $8.75 million against next year’s cap by releasing center Justin Britt. Yet he’s been a steady force on the iffy offensive line, a trusted protection caller with quarterback Russell Wilson just before snaps. He’s been Pro Bowl alternate for them at center after he failed at tackle then at guard his first two seasons with the team.
But Britt’s $11.67 million cap charge is scheduled to be the fourth-highest on the team in 2020. That’s behind only franchise pillars Wilson and Bobby Wagner then Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown and ahead of top wide receiver Tyler Lockett. That’s a hefty chunk of the team’s salary cap to a veteran who will be 29 and likely not on the field until September or October, after next season begins. Recoveries from reconstructive knee surgeries generally take 12 months or so, and players usually don’t come back from it immediately as the same performers they were prior to the injury. Not right away.
Britt seems too valuable to release. Still, he could be getting a call from the only NFL team he’s known asking him to restructure his deal into one with a more team-friendly cap charge for 2020. Same is true of Wilson’s ($31 million) or Bobby Wagner’s ($14.75 million) cap charges; the Seahawks could convert some of their hefty salaries to bonus money this year for a better cap charge in 2020—at the price of additional cap charges in 2021 and beyond. Wilson did that a couple years ago to make room for Brown’s new deal.
Thing is, even after releasing Dickson and Thompson the Seahawks don’t truly know how much if any of Britt’s (or anyone else’s) cap space they may need before the draft. That depends on Clowney and/or Griffen.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 1:16 PM.
