The Seattle Seahawks are a Super Bowl contending team, but their road to the Super Bowl got tougher this off-season. While their rival NFC West teams in the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers acquired key additions that made their team better, the Seahawks didn’t make a lot of noise during the 2021 NFL Draft or in free agency. They did have a busy off-season with the dissatisfaction from several star players, including quarterback Russell Wilson. There are other concerns about the contracts of some other players, including safety Jamal Adams, offensive tackle Duane Brown, and safety Quandre Diggs. Adams was able to get a contract extension of $38 million guaranteed for the next four seasons with the potential of $72 million. But there are two notable Seattle Seahawks holdouts who are still not participating.
Seattle Seahawks Holdouts Duane Brown and Quandre Diggs Still Don’t Have Contract Issues Resolved
Concerns of the Seattle Seahawks Holdouts
As the preseason gets ready to come to a close, the Seahawks have concerns regarding two more star players. Duane Brown has been holding out from practices as he is looking to get a contract extension with the Seahawks. Brown will be 36-years old on Monday, but he is one of the most reliable offensive linemen for the Seahawks. This past season, Pro Football Focus graded out Brown at an overall blocking grade of 87.3 That was one of Brown’s best blocking seasons in his NFL career as he only had two penalties and allowed just two sacks. Brown has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times and named a First-Team or Second-Team All-Pro three times. Last season, Wilson was the third-most sacked quarterback in the league with 47. Having Brown continue to hold out into the 2021 NFL season would be devasting for the Seahawks offense.
Brown isn’t the only Seahawk choosing to hold out for a new contract. Seventh-year safety Quandre Diggs is looking to get more money to match his worth after a standout 2020 season that had him going to his first Pro Bowl. This past season, Diggs accumulated 64 total tackles, 42 solo tackles, ten pass breakups, and five interceptions. Diggs is a player that provides stellar stellar pass coverage for the Seahawks defense. While Diggs believes that he is one of the top free safeties in the NFL, Pro Football Focus omitted from the top 32 safeties in the league. After a Pro Bowl-caliber season in his first full season with Seattle, Diggs has the potential to help create one of the most feared secondaries in the league.
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The Silver Lining for the Seattle Seahawks
While it is concerning and Seahawks fans might be worried, the Seahawks have freed up some salary cap room. The available salary cap room should be enough to fulfill the wishes of these two Seattle Seahawks holdouts and also sign a key free agent. The contract situation with Brown is more about the length of the contract. Unless he re-signs with Seattle, Brown will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2022 off-season. This season is scheduled to make a base salary of $10 million. Brown, however, isn’t guaranteed any money this season. He has the third-highest cap salary hit for Seattle. Brown could have his salary lowered for the 2021 season, but he wants more security.
For Diggs, the issue is not complicated at all. He wants more compensation after a tremendous Pro Bowl season. The money saved from the extension of Adams can go into the extension of Diggs. The impact of Diggs on the field will be significant considering that Seattle’s defense ranked 31st in the league in passing yards allowed per game (285) last season. Last season the secondary was constantly targeted due to the stellar rush defense of the linebackers as well as a lack of pass rush for the majority of the season. Time will tell how these holdouts get resolved, but Seattle has clarified that they will not punish any players holding out of practices due to contract situations. It would greatly benefit the Seahawks to get these holdouts resolved.
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