Seahawks in Prime Position to Improve, Retake NFC West This Offseason

Unlike most other playoff teams and their three divisional rivals, Seattle has most of its stars locked up and has ample cap space and draft capital to improve an 11-win team over the next several months.

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With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror, it’s time for the Seahawks and all 31 other teams to look ahead to the NFL offseason, which includes free agency and the draft.

It’s important to know your enemies. The NFC West should be considered one of the toughest divisions in football. The 49ers were a quarter away from winning the Super Bowl, the Seahawks won 11 regular season games and a road playoff game, the Rams are just a year removed from a Super Bowl loss of their own, and the Cardinals seem to be poised for a big jump in 2020.

Taking a look at the situations of the teams in the NFC West will help paint a picture of how Seattle will stack up against its rivals moving forward into next fall.

First, let’s look at salary cap space.

The Cardinals boast the most cap space in the division at $53.7 million, the 10th-most in the NFL, with the Seahawks just behind them in 11th place with $50.8 million. Both of these teams are in a position to spend big in free agency if they so choose, which includes retaining their own players whose contracts have expired.

For the Cardinals, that may mean re-signing one of their departing starting offensive linemen, as left tackle D.J. Humphries and center A.Q. Shipley are scheduled to both hit the market. They are also set to lose their most successful running back of 2019 in Kenyan Drake barring an extension.

For Seattle, the mission is clear: bring back Jadeveon Clowney at (almost) any cost. The Seahawks would also hate to see Jarran Reed and tackles George Fant and Germain Ifedi go, though re-signing all of those players will be tricky and expensive.

There is a large gap between the spacious cap room of the Cardinals and Seahawks and the other two teams in the NFC West. The Rams are under the weight of Jared Goff’s large contract as well as Todd Gurley and only have $14.7 million in free space.

Los Angeles will most certainly lose Dante Fowler Jr., Michael Brockers, and Cory Littleton to free agency. All-Pro left tackle Andrew Whitworth announced his is not retiring and hopes to return, but he is currently without a contract. 

The 49ers are in a similar situation in large part due to the contract of their Super Bowl-losing quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, as they have just $13.9 million of space available.

Safety Jimmie Ward's contract will expire, leaving a big hole in the back of San Francisco's secondary. Up front, Arik Armstead and his team-leading 10.0 sacks also will likely depart unless cap space is created to keep him.

While the Rams and 49ers have the least amount of cap space, naturally, they have the fewest starters scheduled to hit the market. The Cardinals have 11 starters who will be free agents, while the Seahawks could lose up to eight starters.

Comparatively, the Rams and 49ers have six and five starters potentially departing respectively.

Now, let's peer forward to the draft, where Seattle again appears to have an advantage.

The Cardinals seem set to upgrade their roster the most, with the highest amount of cap space in the division and, as of now, six draft picks in the 2020 Draft in April. Arizona is going to be pesky and dangerous next season. 

The Seahawks boast eight draft picks, the most in the division. Along with a healthy amount of cap space, Seattle is also in great position to upgrade an already strong team. Not many 11-win squads are in as optimal of a situation as Seattle is to get even better.

One could argue the Seahawks have a chance to take control of this division with a strong offseason. They have more firepower through draft capital and financial flexibility to upgrade than the defending NFC champion 49ers. 

The Rams are all of a sudden caught in the middle, with big contracts weighing them down and not a lot of draft capital or cap space to improve the roster.

Overall, the Seahawks should feel good about their opportunity to get better before the 2020 season. And they better take advantage, as the NFC West should be even tighter and deeper when the new season kicks off in September.