We are just a few days away from the beginning of free agency, Seattle Seahawks fans. The new league year starts at 1 pm PT on Wednesday, March 12. All expiring contracts end at that time, and players who are not signed to a franchise become free agents.
Those who have accrued at least four years of NFL experience will be unrestricted free agents (UFAs), free to negotiate and sign a contract with any NFL club.
The overwhelming majority of free agents fall into this category. There are two other designations for players with less experience. Restricted free agents (RFAs) have three years of accrued experience, and Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFAs) have two or fewer years. Their clubs retain greater control over those two tiers. Consequently, RFAs and ERFAs do not move nearly as often as UFAs.
Teams are permitted to begin negotiations with pending UFAs prior to the official start of free agency. At noon on Monday, March 10, the NFL allows formal talks to begin even though the pending UFA is still technically under contract to another club. That 52-hour period between 9 am PT, March 10, and 1 pm PT, March 12, is known as the legal tampering period.
When can the Seattle Seahawks start adding new players in free agency in 2025?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is an acknowledgement by all parties that under-the-table deals can damage the integrity of the process. Therefore, the league allows it – hence the oxymoronic name “legal tampering” – provided that it is restricted to the two days leading into the free agency period. Any team found to be engaged in contract discussions prior to the onset of the legal tampering period is subject to a league penalty.
Therefore, even though contracts cannot be signed until 1 pm PT, March 12, news reports will begin flooding the airwaves just after 9 am PT on March 10. These will be agreed-upon deals. One word of caution: Because the deals cannot be signed until March 12, these reports can be misleading. It rarely happens. Almost all reported deals do, in fact, come to fruition.
But it seems that every year, one or two of these deals fall through. The player may have a last-second change of heart, or another team may come in with a last-minute offer that changes the situation. Just keep in mind that nothing is final until the paperwork is signed and that paperwork cannot be signed until March 12.
If the past is any indication, it is likely that more than 100 players will move on to new teams in the first few days of free agency. Many of the biggest names on the market will ink new deals quickly, and then dominoes will start to fall. Teams will move on to plans B, C, and D in their attempts to bolster their rosters.
Last season, three UFAs agreed to deals valued at more than $100 million. The biggest of those deals was signed by Kirk Cousins. His new team, the Atlanta Falcons, benched him before the 2024 season ended. It serves as a reminder that free agency does not always work out the way teams hope.
The Seahawks' biggest move last year was agreeing to an extension with their own pending UFA, Leonard Williams, just before the beginning of the free agency period. Thus, he did enter the open market. That deal worked out rather well for all parties.
Unfortunately, most of the [other deals John Schneider](https://12thmanrising.com/dk-metcalf-trade-could-spell-trouble-geno-smith-future-seahawks) made last off-season were not nearly as fruitful. Laken Tomlinson was the only major contributor acquired through free agency in 2024. (At least the only one who actually remained with the team the entire season. At least three of Schneider's significant signees were no longer Seahawks by the end of the year.)
Signing free agents requires salary cap space, and that is something in tight supply right now. Schneider is working to free up more room. He has released a half-dozen veterans and is fielding offers for DK Metcalf in an attempt to create more room to move once free agency begins. Barring any other major moves (such as the [trade or release of Geno Smith](https://12thmanrising.com/john-schneider-defines-why-he-thinks-seahawks-geno-smith-is-strong-leader)), Schneider will most likely be out of the bidding for the biggest names and will be hunting for bargains.
As we have all learned from past experience, that is not always such a bad thing to do.
### More Seahawks news and analysis: