Seahawks Extension Candidate: Duane Brown
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We may get some clarity on the direction future Seahawks teams will take as early as Monday morning. While there aren’t many who believe Pete Carroll will be fired, if he was, it may be a clear sign that Seattle has chosen Russell Wilson over Carroll. Another obvious sign could be a potential extension of stalwart left tackle Duane Brown. After a preseason holdout failed to secure a long-term extension for Brown, the 37-year old will become an unrestricted free agent in March.
Brown struggled mightily early in the season, including a five-game stretch in late September-October in which he surrendered 15 pressures and 5.0 sacks. However, Brown has righted the ship since and currently enters Week 18 with a solid 71.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. He's allowed just 3.0 sacks and 17 pressures (six against Green Bay) outside of the disastrous five-game stretch. Brown has only been penalized five times in 911 snaps and has helped revitalize a stagnant Seahawks run game. Additionally, he's allowed just nine pressures since Week 11.
Seattle doesn’t currently have a viable replacement on its roster and if it intends on placating Wilson for another offseason, letting Brown go seems ill-advised. Brown is also one of the few players on the offense with the reputation and track record to hold Wilson accountable, and he’s done it on occasion.
But there are some factors that make a Brown extension a little more difficult to fathom. General manager John Schneider declined to give Brown an extension in the fall, despite not having an obvious fallback plan. It’s not unheard of for a team to decline to discuss an extension before the season and then ultimately pay the player, but it doesn’t happen much in Seattle. Brown’s age is going to give the front office pause, although players like Andrew Whitworth have proven that good tackles can play into their 40s.
Without question, the biggest issue surrounding a Brown extension has been the explosion of $20 million APY contracts handed to left tackles. The Seahawks could very well be interested in a deal similar to Whitworth’s three-year, $30 million contract he signed as a 39-year old in 2020. The $10 million APY would actually be a bit of a pay cut for Brown. There are currently three left tackles earning $20 million or more per year, and 10 are earning more than $15 million per year.
Charles Leno parlayed a quality season into a three-year, $37.5 million extension with Washington earlier this week; and with Brown’s lengthy track record of success, it seems unlikely that he would settle for less than that. Brown has recently expressed his desire to return to Seattle and Wilson will surely be advocating for an extension for Brown (if he intends to stay in the Pacific Northwest). But the team needs to be careful; Brown has battled a rash of minor injuries and spent large stretches of this season as a below-average tackle.
The Seahawks’ inability to draft a quality left tackle since Russell Okung has left them in a position where they may not have much of a choice but to give Brown a deal he wants, which could sit in the three-year, $45 million range. Seattle has a lot of key players headed to free agency, and it’s unlikely it can keep them all. Brown could be the odd man out.
