@segdeha on Bluesky says, "Disappointed to see Seattle, again, be not so aggressive in free agency. We cleared cap space, get some dudes!" He also laments the lack of spending on the offensive line.
On a similar note, @meatopinion.bsky.social asks, "What's the plan? If we don't want to pay players competitive rates, how do you build a contender? Signing bargain bin players to fill holes and seems like a less-than-ideal team building plan?"
A: I'll echo John Schneider when I say, I get it, fans want the Seahawks to add to the offensive line after that unit struggled at times, and there's still a lot of time to add to that group, and not just bargain bin players, as the question above puts it. But to say the Seahawks don't want to pay players or aren't being aggressive with their newly-created cap space is just plain inaccurate. According to overthecap.com, the Seahawks have spent the fourth most money of any team in free agency, in part by signing the top quarterback on the market, and also by signing Pro-Bowl players like Kupp and Lawrence.
And again, there is still plenty of time to continue to add to the roster—the league year started all of a week ago—and there are still linemen out there the team can sign. Fans shouldn't assume that every time a lineman signs with another team it's because the Seahawks missed out on that signing; teams can view players differently, and a player one offensive staff and front office might view as worthy of a big deal might not be a fit with another team. As for Will Fries, the former Colts guard who signed a huge five-year deal with Minnesota, Schneider all but confirmed the Seahawks were after him.
"We were in on a bigtime guy that we wanted to bring in and get a physical on when you spend that kind of money on a player," Schneider said. "We wanted a visit, another team didn't want a visit and they just went ahead and did the deal."
If one team wants to do a deal without giving a physical to a player, something that could not happen until the start of the new league year last Wednesday—Fries and the Vikings agreed to a deal during the negotiation window before that—that's certainly their prerogative, but it's hardly the sign of the Seahawks being cheap because they don't want to match or surpass a huge, multi-year deal without being able to first give a physical to a player coming off a significant leg injury that ended his 2024 season.
The Seahawks also have a lot of draft capital they can use to beef up the line, or any other position group, and as fun as it is to see teams make splashes in free agency, the best way to win consistently in the NFL is to draft and develop players. And speaking of drafting and developing, I think an important part of this equation that some fans might be overlooking is that the Seahawks are expecting a new scheme and a new coaching staff to help current linemen develop while also putting them in more advantageous positions. The Seahawks have drafted several interior linemen in the past two years, adding center Olu Oluwatimi and guard Anthony Bradford in 2023 and guards Christian Haynes and Sataoa Laumea last year, and they see potential in 2024 undrafted free agent Jalen Sundell. That's not to say they shouldn't or won't keep adding to that group, but it's also way too early to just write off all the players currently on the roster and say the Seahawks can't win with them.
And the last point I'll make on this topic: it's mid-March. The season starts in sixth months, and there are tons of ways, from free agency in the next few weeks to the draft to trades to potential cap casualties before the season, to add good players.