While they search for a play caller, Seahawks get breaks with two exits from the NFC West
The Seahawks’ search continues for a new coordinator and play caller for their offense.
At least two guys who have throttled it inside the NFC West are gone.
If Seattle’s chances to successfully defend its division title next season didn’t get better with Robert Saleh becoming the new head coach of the New York Jets and Brandon Staley now leading the Los Angeles Chargers, they certainly didn’t get worse.
The Jets on Tuesday officially introduced Saleh, the 41-year-old former Seahawks’ defensive assistant under Pete Carroll, as New York’s new head man.
So ends Saleh’s four years as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2019, Saleh led the 49ers’ defense that ranked first in the NFL against the pass—the fewest yards passing allowed in the league in 10 years—and second overall. Saleh’s defense turned away the Seahawks just outside the goal line on Seattle’s final offensive play of the 2019 regular season to win the NFC West, then went on to play in last season’s Super Bowl.
The Chargers announced Staley, 38, as their new head coach Sunday. He was the coordinator this season for the Los Angeles Rams defense that ranked number one overall in the NFL, sacked Russell Wilson 16 times, hit him 30 times and beat the Seahawks twice in three games.
Staley took the Chargers’ head job seven days after his defense with All-Pros Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey dominated Wilson and Seattle, holding them to 11 completions as the Rams beat the Seahawks in a NFC wild-card playoff game.
No team has sacked Wilson more than the 72 times the Rams have dumped him in 18 career regular-season games, plus five more times in that playoff game this month. No NFL player has sacked Wilson more than Donald. The All-Pro defensive tackle has 13 sacks in 14 regular-season games against Wilson, nine of them wins. Donald had two sacks and three hits on Wilson in the wild-card game two weeks ago.
Yet the NFC West rivals’ coaching losses are the Seahawks’ gains.
Saleh was Carroll’s quality-control coach for the Seahawks’ defense in 2011-13. He left to be former Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s linebackers coach at Jacksonville. After the Jaguars fired Bradley following the 2016 season, Saleh became Kyle Shanahan’s new defensive coordinator with San Francisco in 2017. His Niners responded brilliantly to his high-energy leadership and aggressive, press-coverage schemes.
The 49ers’ defensive front was like the Rams and even the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West the last three years; it gave Seattle’s offense and pass protection problems.
But now Saleh is gone. Eighteen of San Francisco’s 30 free agents pending of the opening of the market with the new league year in March are from the defense, according to spotrac.com. Ten of those 18 free-agent defenders are defensive backs.
The most prominent one: former Seahawks All-Pro Richard Sherman. The cornerback’s contract is up. He could be seeking a short-term deal at around $6-7 million per year. Perhaps it will be for just one year. Sherman turns 33 in March. He is coming off an injury-filled season in which he played just five games. Plus, the salary cap expected to drop for each team from $198.2 million to perhaps $176 million because of NFL revenues lost to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Seahawks’ two starting cornerbacks from 2020 are free agents: Shaquill Griffin, their 2019 Pro Bowl selection, and Quinton Dunbar. Dunbar is coming off knee surgery that shortened his Seattle debut season following his trade last offseason from Washington.
Staley leaving the Rams figures to have a lesser impact on them than Saleh’s does leaving San Francisco. Donald and Ramsey will still be on L.A.’s defense, without Staley. Donald has four years remaining on his new contract, and Ramsey has five. They were leading the Rams, and the Rams were dominating the Seahawks’ offense for years, before Staley became their coordinator for the 2020 season.
The Rams have fewer key defensive players who are about to become free agents than the 49ers do. They include cornerback Darious Williams. His interception of Wilson’s screen pass to DK Metcalf when Williams ran through rookie wide receiver Freddie Swain’s missed blocked and 42-yard return for the first touchdown of his career was the key play in the Rams’ playoff win at Seattle two weeks ago. Williams had two interceptions in two NFL seasons before he picked off Wilson three times in three games this season.
Los Angeles also has as pending free agents key pass rusher Leonard Floyd, cornerback Troy Hill, safety John Johnson and outside linebacker Samson Ebukam.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks are reported to be wanting to talk about their offensive coordinator job with the guy Saleh just replaced leading the Jets, Adam G...
Never mind.
