Seahawks re-sign Phil Haynes. Here’s why he is likely to replace Gabe Jackson at guard
The Seahawks appear to have their new starting right guard in place for next season.
There are four million reasons why Phil Haynes appears to be their guy.
Seattle re-signed its 2019 draft choice Tuesday to a one-year contract. That keeps Haynes from entering free agency next month.
Coaches alternated Haynes and Gabe Jackson as the starting right guard during the 2022 season, seemingly preparing for a transition at that position for 2023.
Haynes’ deal is reportedly worth $4 million. That is starter money on the Seahawks’ offensive line.
And it’s a better deal than Jackson is for this year.
Jackson, 31, is four years older than Haynes. He is scheduled to have a salary-cap charge of $11.26 million in 2023. That’s the seventh-highest on the Seahawks for this year. His base salary in the final year of his contract is $6.5 million. Importantly, none of that money is guaranteed.
That’s a typically back-loaded contract and a cap charge ripe to cut in the coming weeks. Seattle would save all his scheduled $6.5 million against the cap by releasing Jackson.
The Seahawks appear headed to get at right guard what all teams want each offseason: younger and cheaper, with comparable performance.
All five of Haynes’ NFL starts have come in the last two seasons. That included three last season. Coach Pete Carroll said throughout 2022 he believed Haynes gave the Seahawks essentially six starters for five spots on their offensive line.
That unit improved in pass protection and run blocking in 2022 over ‘21.
Center Austin Blythe may be the next offensive lineman to leave before Seattle’s 2023 season begins.
The veteran’s one-year, $4 million contract ended with the team’s playoff loss at San Francisco last month.
Asked after that game in the visiting locker room in Santa Clara, California what he thought his future held for next season, Blythe told The News Tribune: “I don’t know.”
The rest of the Seahawks’ offensive line is under contract for 2023.
Tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas will be entering the second seasons of their rookie contracts after stellar debut years. Left guard Damien Lewis will be entering the final year of his rookie deal he signed as Seattle’s third-round draft choice in 2020. Lewis is set to $3 million with a $3.27 million cap charge for 2023.
It appears Lewis and Haynes are on inside tracks to be the team’s starting guards next season — for a roughly combined cost of about what Jackson is scheduled to cost Seattle this years.
This story was originally published February 21, 2023 at 5:58 PM.
