Designing a Defensive Blueprint for Seahawks' 2021 Super Bowl Run
With Tom Brady and the Buccaneers defeating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 31-9 for a Super Bowl victory, an unprecedented 2020 season is officially in the books and offseason activity will ramp up league-wide in coming days and weeks.
Though there won't be an NFL Scouting Combine this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools will be hosting Pro Days over the next several weeks for coaches and scouts to evaluate incoming talent. Free agency will kick off at the start of the new league year on March 17 as teams brace for an offseason with significantly less salary cap room to work with.
After capturing an NFC West title in 2020, Seahawks general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll will now shift their sights towards making a run to Super Bowl LVI, which will take place in Los Angeles next February. While big names such as Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner remain under contract, the team's brain trust faces a bevy of tough decisions to make with several starters set to hit free agency and a number of stars needing contract extensions.
From a defensive standpoint, what does Seattle need to do this offseason to get back to the big game? Here's a five-step blueprint Schneider and Carroll should follow to facilitate a 2021 Super Bowl run.
1. After giving up the farm for him, agreeing to terms with Jamal Adams on a record-breaking deal must be the top priority.
Numerous injuries had an impact on Adams' overall play during his first season in Seattle, particularly in coverage, where he received a mediocre 53.1 grade from Pro Football Focus. He allowed 37 receptions, three touchdowns, and a 118.3 passer rating against him on 46 targets. He also dropped a handful of interceptions during the season in part due to playing with multiple broken fingers and then allowed a 44-yard reception to Rams receiver Cooper Kupp in the playoffs when he couldn't reach up to the play the football due to a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder.
But there's no question the Seahawks defense started to turn things around once Adams returned from a groin issue in Week 9 and became more comfortable in their defensive scheme. Capitalizing on his rare skill set as an elite edge rushing safety, he broke Adrian Wilson's single-season sacks record for defensive backs in just 10 games and finished the year with 9.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits. His energy flying all over the field was contagious and rubbed off on everyone.
Now recovering from two offseason surgeries, Adams will be fully healthy for the start of training camp and entering his second season, he should be even better now that Seattle's coaching staff has a better idea of how deploy him. His coverage should improve substantially as a result and considering he's only 25 years old and the team gave up a king's ransom for him, locking him up on a multi-year deal as the league's highest paid safety should be at the top of Schneider's offseason agenda to ensure he's a centerpiece of the defense for the foreseeable future.
2. Even if K.J. Wright unexpectedly takes a pay cut and comes back, it's time to hand over the keys to Jordyn Brooks full-time.
Though he didn't necessarily want to make the transition, the selfless Wright slid from weakside linebacker to strongside linebacker after Bruce Irvin tore his ACL in Week 2. He played arguably his best football as a result of the switch, finishing the season as the only player with double digit tackles for loss and passes defensed.
Along with Wright excelling playing off the edge, the move opened the door for Brooks to vault into a larger role in his former stead when Seattle was in 4-3 base defense looks. Despite missing a pair of games with a knee injury, the first-round pick out of Texas Tech improved throughout the second half, recording at least eight tackles in four of the team's final six games, including eight against Los Angeles in the wild card round. He posted this production while consistently playing less than 50 percent of the defensive snaps, as Wright replaced him in nickel packages.
Heading into his sophomore season, the Seahawks will need to take off the training wheels and let Brooks roll as an every down defender alongside Bobby Wagner. He made noticeable strides in coverage as he gained experience during the season and there's no question he's an elite athlete at the position, bringing much-needed speed to the middle of the defense. While Wright still has good football left in him and he has earned a new deal, tough business decisions may need to happen with the youngster primed for an expanded role.
3. Trade Jarran Reed to acquire an early day three pick, extend Carlos Dunlap as a means to create cap space, and re-sign Benson Mayowa.
The Seahawks would love to keep Reed, Dunlap, and Mayowa together after the trio relentlessly harassed opposing quarterbacks during the second half of the 2020 season. After Dunlap arrived via trade, they combined to amass 14.5 sacks in the final eight games of the regular season.
But financially, Schneider will have a difficult time making that happen with Reed and Dunlap carrying cap hits near $14 million apiece for next season. There's a possibility the team could try to extend both players as a means of lowering their respective cap hits next season to keep the band together. However, that would inevitably push money onto the cap next season and the team would still be left with only four draft picks to work with in April.
Trading Dunlap would result in no dead cap charges and he's significantly older than Reed. But he plays arguably a more important position and the ripple effect he had on the rest of Seattle's pass rush cannot be overstated. There would be risk jettisoning either player, but difficult decisions will have to be made this winter due to the cap crunch and ultimately, the team is better positioned to move forward without Reed and should look to move him for an additional day three pick.
4. With Reed heading elsewhere, extend restricted free agent Poona Ford with a long-term contract to lock him up for at least three seasons.
There will be plenty of discussion in coming weeks about Seattle's unrestricted free agents, but Ford should be another player whose future with the organization is prioritized this offseason. The former undrafted free agent out of Texas has been a revelation in his first three seasons, evolving into one of the better all-around defensive tackles in the NFC with a career-best 28 quarterback pressures in 2020. He earned a stellar 81.9 grade from Pro Football Focus, sixth overall behind the likes of Aaron Donald, Cam Heyward, and Chris Jones.
Rather than simply give Ford a second-round tender as a restricted free agent, with money created by trading Reed and extending a few other players, the Seahawks would be wise to invest in him long-term. Along with being a wrecking ball against the run, he's continued to grow as an interior pass rusher and at only 25 years old, he hasn't yet reached his ceiling in that capacity. Extending him now should save the franchise money in the long run, as he's primed to be a cornerstone of the defensive line for years to come.
5. Let Shaquill Griffin walk, re-sign Quinton Dunbar on a one-year pact, and have him compete against Tre Flowers for the right to start next to D.J. Reed.
When the Seahawks decided to release Richard Sherman after the 2017 season, the organization didn't have a clear succession plan in place. Griffin struggled under the weight of trying to replace a future Hall of Famer in his first full season as a starter and a converted safety in Flowers was thrust into the starting lineup as a rookie.
Now, three years later, Seattle finds itself at a similar crossroads with Griffin now approaching free agency. While he earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2019, he hasn't developed into the shutdown corner they envisioned he would and it remains unclear how much they will be willing to pay to retain him. Flowers is heading into the final year of his rookie deal coming off a subpar season and fellow veteran Quinton Dunbar is also heading to free agency after playing in just six games due to injury.
What's the biggest difference between now and 2018? The presence of Reed proved to be a game changer for Seattle's secondary as well as special teams in the second half of the 2020 season. Though he's only 5-foot-9, he compensates for his size with quickness, sound technique, and physicality. Starting seven games at outside corner, quarterbacks posted just a 75.8 passer rating against him and he produced seven passes defensed and a pair of interceptions. He also racked up 62 tackles, proving himself a capable and willing run defender.
Unless Griffin doesn't receive much interest on the market and can return at a lower salary than anticipated, the Seahawks shouldn't overpay to retain him and unlike three years ago, they can have a steady plan in place without him. With Reed providing much needed stability at an affordable rate and Flowers still on the roster, Schneider should bring back Dunbar on a one-year "prove it" contract and draft a cornerback in April instead.
