The Seattle Seahawks have a number of key personnel decisions to make in what’s shaping up to be a critical offseason.
Following a Divisional Round exit from the NFL playoffs, the Seattle Seahawks enter an intriguing offseason that will be filled with crucial decisions in the draft and free agency.
Seattle fell short of its goal of reaching a third consecutive Super Bowl, but had a successful season nonetheless. The Seahawks overcame a very shaky 2-4 start to finish at 10-6, and picked up a road win over the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Game.
However, some clear weaknesses on the roster emerged even with that outstanding mid-season turnaround. The offensive line was awful early in the season before being manhandled by the Carolina Panthers in the playoff loss, even after some signs of improvement during Seattle’s late surge. The Seahawks’ talented pass rush also disappeared at times, and the roster needs an influx of youth on the defensive line.
While Seattle has locked up several core players with long-term extensions in recent offseasons, it still has a long list of important free agents that could be headed elsewhere. General manager John Schneider will have to carefully manage Seattle’s cap situation, although the team still has around $30 million in space as things currently stand.
The Seahawks aren’t going to be able to keep or replace all of those free agents, so this year’s draft will be crucial to add depth at a few positions. Barring a trade, the Seahawks will have a first round pick for the first time since 2012, so they have a chance to add an instant impact player.
Seattle has enough returning talent to compete for a playoff spot again in 2016, but it’s going to take a strong offseason for it to beat the likes of the Panthers and Arizona Cardinals to return to the Super Bowl.
Next: Players who might be leaving