D.J. Reed's Departure Creates Even Larger Headache For Seahawks This Offseason

So far, the Seahawks have spent the majority of free agency focused on retaining their own. They crossed off a big item on their to-do list by re-upping safety Quandre Diggs on a three-year, $40 million contract and have locked down tight end Will Dissly, defensive tackle Al Woods and cornerback Sidney Jones as well.

But the harsh reality is: Seattle, while successful in most attempts to reunite with its pool of free agents, will not be able to keep them all. That rung true in a major way on Tuesday when cornerback D.J. Reed signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Jets, reuniting him with former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

This now leaves the Seahawks without their starting right cornerback for the last season-and-a-half, who performed at a level comparable to the four corners who earned All-Pro honors in 2021.

After returning to his more comfortable right-side alignment in Week 4 last year, Reed held opponents scoreless and allowed just 25 of the 52 targets that came his way to be completed for 282 yards. This includes a five-game stretch from Weeks 7 to 13 in which he surrendered just one catch per outing for a total of 76 yards.

As Seattle transitioned to calling more man coverage, making things "stickier" as Reed described, its secondary started to make great strides following an historically poor start to the year. But injuries and COVID-related absences, including two games missed by Reed himself, contributed to some disheartening performances toward season's end.

Nevertheless, Reed and his peers felt hopeful about the momentum they had built to cap off an otherwise disappointing campaign. And when head coach Pete Carroll emphasized the organization's desire to keep its top free agents, it felt as if that effort would start with Diggs and Reed.

Half of that came to fruition in the end. But Reed is now heading to the opposite end of the country after taking a deal that is more than reasonable for a player of his caliber, especially when compared to the lucrative contracts Carlton Davis and J.C. Jackson signed with the Buccaneers and Chargers, respectively.

So what happened?

In his end-of-year press conference, Reed noted that his focus heading into free agency was less on salary and more on overall fit. He was open to a return to the Pacific Northwest, but as any young impending free agent looking to test the waters should, he didn't commit to coming back either.

Then, the Seahawks parted ways with defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and, more importantly in this particular instance, pass game coordinator Andre Curtis. Reed partly attributed his recent line of success to Curtis' tutelage, calling him a "mentor" and crediting him with the growth of Seattle's secondary.

But while that may have soured the relationship between player and franchise to some degree, the Seahawks went on to make several defensive coaching staff hires that emphasized a continuation of the scheme Reed openly preferred. As such, the fit for both sides seemed obvious, with the only obstacle being the possibility of a team blowing Seattle out of the water in its bid for Reed's services.

That didn't happen, yet Reed still managed to head elsewhere this offseason. Perhaps he simply had his heart set on linking back up with Saleh. There is also no public knowledge of what the Seahawks' offer to Reed consisted of, or if they even made one. But it's hard not to wonder how much the team trading quarterback Russell Wilson to the Broncos played a role, even if it didn't make veterans like Diggs and Woods run for the hills.

No matter the case, losing Reed at the price Seattle did stings. Sure, his NFL success is more or less condensed down to his last 24 games, and he failed to generate many turnovers in that time. But looking at where the cornerback market is heading and the trajectory Reed appears to be on, letting him walk is hard to justify for a team that has struggled to find consistent cornerback play since the days of the vaunted "Legion of Boom."

It's especially concerning when the team's top two corners at the moment, Jones and second-year man Tre Brown, have major injury concerns. Jones was able to stay healthy in 2021, but he's dealt with Achilles and hamstring issues that have held him out for extended periods of time. Brown, meanwhile, had a promising rookie campaign cut short when he suffered a serious patellar tendon injury in Week 11, which was preceded by a stint on injured reserve for a knee problem.

There is no guarantee that Brown will be ready come Week 1; and while Jones' seven-week audition in the rookie's stead was impressive, it remains to be seen if he can play at such a level over the course of a full season.

In the wake of Reed's departure, the Seahawks handed out a one-year, $2 million contract to cornerback Artie Burns, who brings a familiarity with the system and assistant coach Sean Desai. For now, Burns looks poised to have a decent shot at the starting lineup—at least until Brown is able to make his way back.

The possibility of drafting a cornerback with one of their top picks is also on the table for the Seahawks. Carroll and general manager John Schneider have never taken a corner higher than the third round (Shaquill Griffin in 2017), and the last time the organization used a first-round pick on the position was in 2006 with Kelly Jennings.

With the No. 9 pick acquired in the Wilson trade, Seattle may have its choice of two elite cornerback prospects in Cincinnati's Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner and LSU's Derek Stingley Jr. Both should be able to provide high-end production from day one, though selecting either player would require foregoing the quarterback position—or, more specifically, Liberty's Malik Willis, assuming he's there.

Basically, the Seahawks have created an unnecessary headache by letting Reed move on. Of course, they couldn't have forced him to stay no matter what kind of offer they threw at him, but the circumstances surrounding his exit are tough to swallow. Now there's even more uncertainty and more holes to fill for a team that already has a mountain of work to do this spring.