Seahawks insider picks overpaid pass rusher as obvious salary cap cut

As a general principle, the Seattle Seahawks refused to really pay for outside free agents for a long time. In 2023 general manager John Schneider made an exception to that rule - and it hasn't exactly worked out. That's when Seattle signed former Denver Broncos defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones to a three-year, $51 million contract - at the time the most they'd ever paid an outside free agent by far.

Fast forward two years and that deal is easily the worst on the books for the Seahawks this coming year. Even after restructuring his contract last offseason and moving him out to the edge full-time, the team still isn't getting the kind of production you'd hope for from Jones given what they are paying for him.

So, while the front office has some brutally tough calls to make in the coming weeks, what to do with Jones isn't one of them. Seahawks insider Mike Dugar at The Athletic has named Dre'Mont Jones the team's most-likely salary cap casualty.

The Athletic on Dre'Mont Jones

"Seattle saves $11.5 million by trading or releasing Jones, who might be the team’s fifth-best pass rusher when everyone is healthy. Jones is only 28 and a decent pass rusher, but his current cap figure appears to be untenable."

It's still possible that the Seahawks will decide to keep Jones around - after all you can never have too many pass rushers in the modern NFL. However, Jones would likely have to take a significant paycut for that to happen - and in any case Seattle will want to move him out of the way so that guys like Boye Mafe and Derick Hall can get more playing time on the field.

Most likely Jones is on his way out no matter what happens, but one important factor that could work in his facor is what the team decides to do with Uchenna Nwosu. They have pushed back the deadline for a $6 million injury guarantee for Nwosu, underscoring how difficult of a decision that one is. If they do decide to cut Nwosu, it gives Jones just a little more breathing room, but probably not enough to secure his spot on the 53-man roster.

The Athletic on Dre'Mont Jones

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