Seattle Seahawks can create over $50 million in cap room with 4 moves

The Seattle Seahawks restructured the contract for defensive end Leonard Williams. The move roughly cut their effective salary cap debt in half, going from around $31 million down to $16.7 million over the cap. While it's a good start, the Seahawks front office is going to have to make several more moves to create the room they need to fill our their roster for the 2025 NFL season.

Along the way they might have to make an unpopular transaction or two, but that's the cost of doing business in the salary cap era. Here are four moves that general manager John Schneider can make that will put them over $50 million in cap space. All salary info is from Over the Cap.

Cut WR Tyler Lockett

The Seahawks just barely get back into the black with our first proposed move: cutting 10-year veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett. This will create a dead money hit just under $14 million, but it also gets them back under the cap. Lockett has had a good run, but the last two seasons have proven that he's in sharp decline. If he can still provide value for a team like the Raiders or the Jaguars, so be it - but it's time for the Lockett era to come to an end in Seattle. This move gets Seattle to a few hundred thousand dollars under the cap.

Trade QB Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders

nfl — RENTON, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 10: Geno Smith and Bobby Wagner attend former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's press conference at Virginia Mason Athletic Center on January 10, 2024 in Renton, Washington. | (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The next move represents a huge shift in the team's direction, as they move on from quarterback Geno Smith after serving as their starter for three years. Smith is a better-than-average NFL starter, but no so much better than average that he's worth the $50 million a year or so he'll likely demand on his next deal. Seattle can get a head-start on the inevitable by trading Smith to Pete Carroll, Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders. This move saves the team $31 million.

Extend WR DK Metcalf

After ditching both Tyler Lockett and Geno Smith, there's a case to blow the whole thing up and rebuild the passing game around Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a younger, cheaper QB. However, we'd feel better about the long-term picture if they kept DK Metcalf around, even if he has been surpassed as the team's WR1 by JSN. Giving Metcalf a new contract saves the team another $13.5 million in cap room, putting them at around $45 million.

Cut TE Noah Fant

Last but not least, the Seahawks should look to reset at the tight end position, where they've been getting worse returns the last few years than any team outside of Carolina. Noah Fant finished the 2024 season with 48 catches, 500 receiving yards and just one touchdown. Odds are that Fant won't be missed by new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and cutting him saves the team another $8.91 million in cap room. That puts them at roughly $54 million for the season, which should be plenty to rebuild the offensive line into something respectable.

Cut WR Tyler Lockett

Trade QB Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders

Extend WR DK Metcalf

Cut TE Noah Fant

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