Seattle Seahawks re-sign K.J. Wright: Grade, reaction and more
By Chris Wurtz
Depsite the roster turnover that has swept through through the Seahawks defense, Seattle has managed to keep its star linebacker duo intact.
The dominant Seattle Seahawks defense from the middle of the decade has slowly crumbled over the last four years as members of the Legion of Boom land elsewhere. The last piece of that original secondary that remained – safety Earl Thomas – signed with Baltimore yesterday, marking the official end of the legion of boom.
But Seahawks general manager John Schneider has done his best to retain other pieces of that vaunted defense, and he continued today when he re-signed Pro Bowl outside linebacker K.J. Wright to a two-year contract. Wright will re-join linebacker Bobby Wagner to form one of the most dynamic duos at the position in the NFL.
The Seahawks re-signed linebacker Mychal Kendricks Wednesday, which many thought signaled the end of the Wright era in Seattle. Now, defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. has both linebackers at his disposal, and is tasked with figuring out how to utilize both effectively.
Contract Details
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the two-year deal is worth a total of $15.5 million. The guaranteed money is not known as of now.
National Reaction
Overnight news: I received a text from free agent LB KJ Wright saying “I am coming back to Seattle” to play for the #Seahawks.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 14, 2019
Yes it was a knee injury last year for a 29 year old LB, but the thought that KJ Wright has had other injury concerns is just wrong. Missed just 1 game (concussion) the previous 4 seasons while recording triple digit tackles in each of those years. #Seahawks
— Ian Furness (@IanFurnessSea) March 14, 2019
With KJ Wright and Mychal Kendricks back in the fold, the #Seahawks might have the best linebacking corp in football. https://t.co/AcELvldcdo
— Bill Wixey (@BillWixey) March 14, 2019
Keeping KJ Wright to continue to pair w/ Bobby Wagner is an enormous gain in FA for the #Seahawks along with Kendricks who provides an upfield rush ability (2 sacks, 3 qb hits, 4 TFL in 4 gp) and all of a sudden Hawks fans should feel much better about that defense.
— Ian Furness (@IanFurnessSea) March 14, 2019
OLB. Seattle Seahawks. K.J. WRIGHT. A.
Seattle gets an A for the deal simply because of how integral a piece Wright has been for the defense for so long. He and Wagner are each very versatile linebackers who are more than capable of stopping the run or dropping back into pass coverage. Having anchored the front seven in Seattle together for so long, Wright and Wagner know how to play as a unit and complement one another.
With Wright back in the fold, Seattle should be able to again maintain at least a league-average defense; they were 16th in points allowed per game last year. With an offense that led the league in rushing last year behind a rejuvenated offensive line, an average defense should easily be enough to keep the Seahawks in playoff contention.
Wright fought through the most unproductive season of his career in 2018 as he battled a nagging knee injury that kept him out of 11 games. But he returned for Seattle’s playoff loss against Dallas and recorded an interception in the game.