4 takeaways on the state of the Seahawks after the NFL league meetings

ORLANDO, Fla. – The first official NFL function for the newly revamped Seahawks brain trust is in the books following the league meetings in Orlando.

Along with reiterating that Geno Smith is the starting quarterback heading into camp, coach Mike Macdonald and president of football operations John Schneider spoke on a number of other topics.

Here’s some of what stood out:

This isn’t a rebuilding year

The Seahawks can’t really be said to have not spent money since they rank last in the NFL in available cap space for 2024 at just over $2 million remaining.

But because of their coaching change and that Seattle’s biggest free-agent move was re-signing one of its own players (defensive lineman Leonard Williams) and their external free-agent signings were all one- or two-year contracts, a perception in some circles is that the Seahawks are playing more for the future than the present.

But Schneider insisted nothing has changed with the team’s approach and that the goal is the same: to field a consistent “championship-caliber” team that can compete every year.

“We’re not ever not competing,” Schneider said. “We’re not like, ‘OK, we’re going to tank it’ or whatever. We’re not. That mindset does not exist, and that’s a mandate from (team chair) Jody (Allen). We want to be the best. We’re not going to not have that world of, ‘OK, well, Caleb (Williams) is going to be the No. 1 pick of the draft, so let’s lose a bunch of games to go get that guy.’ That’s not the way we think at all.”Schneider said there is value in bringing players in on short-term deals and then seeing if it’s a good match that can then result in a longer one down the road (which happened with some notable FAs of the past such as Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett).

“You could say, ‘Hey, it’s a selling point, too,’’’ he said. “Like, ‘Hey, come on in. Come with us. You’re going to love being in our building, and you’re going to kick ass and we’ll see what happens.’”

Releasing Adams due to future cap uncertainty

One move that some observers used to question if Seattle’s focus is now or the future was the decision to release Jamal Adams as a regular cut instead of with a post-June 1 designation.

That means Seattle is taking all of his $20.8 million dead-cap hit this year instead of spreading it out over this year and next. Of course, sometimes lost in the post-June 1 discussion is that saved cap space then cannot be used until after June 1.

Seattle is not only just about capped out this year but also for 2025, listed with just $1.9 million, according to OvertheCap.com, with just 34 players under contract. That means there will be some significant moves that will need to be made to open up some space a year from now.

Schneider said the decision with how to cut Adams was made due to uncertainty over just where the cap will be in 2025 – it went up roughly $30 million from 2023 to 2024, which gave teams additional wiggle room this year.But Schneider said the Seahawks can’t necessarily count on that happening again next year. This year’s higher-than-expected cap raise was attributed in part to getting the cap back in line to where it should have been after the lower-revenue years of the COVID-19 seasons.

“We didn’t see this [year’s] increase coming,” Schneider said. “And to say it’s going to come again next year, we don’t know. So it’s like, ‘Let’s just do it right now and deal with it.’”

Yes, they know the offensive line is still incomplete

If you’re among those concerned about the state of Seattle’s interior offensive line, the good news is that both Schneider and Macdonald said the work there is far from done.

“Obviously, offensive line,” said Schneider, when asked what spot on the roster still needs some additions. “We have a lot to figure out there.”

Seattle is set at tackle with Charles Cross, former Washington State Cougar Abraham Lucas (who Schneider said should be ready for the start of the season) and George Fant, signed to be a swing tackle, as well as Stone Forsythe.

Center also at least has two obvious starting candidates: free-agent signee Nick Harris, a former UW standout, and 2023 draft pick Olu Oluwatimi, who started and played all of the home win over Arizona last year.

But Seattle remains with just two players listed as guards on the roster: second-year player Anthony Bradford, who started 10 games on the right side last year, and free-agent signee Tremayne Anchrum Jr., who played just 101 offensive snaps in four years with the Rams.

Schneider also noted that McClendon Curtis, signed in September, played guard extensively in college at Tennessee-Chattanooga.

But Seattle lost left guard Damien Lewis to a four-year deal worth up to $53 million with Carolina, and right guard Phil Haynes remains unsigned.

Schneider said the Lewis deal was indicative of a hotter-than-expected free-agent guard market, and the team simply had to make some choices given its cap situation.

“You have to balance your cap,” he said. “You have to balance your team. You can’t just go, ‘Well, we need offensive lineman, so we’re going to (spend).’ … You have to be careful.”Also a factor, he said, is that this is considered a strong year for interior offensive linemen in the draft, with many mocks predicting the Seahawks could take one with their first pick at No. 16. Some project they’ll select UW’s Troy Fautanu (who played tackle in college but is considered likely to move inside in the NFL).

ESPN reported that the Seahawks are potentially interested in two veteran free-agent guards who remain unsigned: Cody Whitehair, recently of the Bears, and Laken Tomlinson, who played last year with the Jets.

Said Macdonald of the offensive line: “We’re not done by any stretch of the imagination. … We don’t play until September, so [there’s] a lot of time to figure out who the right guys are and who the right opportunities are to make the team the best we can.’’

Who wears the green dot is unclear

The news that free-agent signee Tyrel Dodson will start out at middle linebacker led to the idea that he will also take over the responsibilities of wearing the green-dot helmet, allowing him to hear the defensive call from Macdonald and relay it to the players on the field – a role Bobby Wagner held since 2012 other than the one year he was with the Rams.

But Jerome Baker, expected to start out at weakside linebacker, also held the green-dot role with Miami.

Macdonald said in his system, the middle linebacker doesn’t necessarily have to also be the play-caller.

“It depends,’’ he said. “Not sure who is going to wear it yet. We’ll figure out how we communicate. I’m sure we will experiment. In Baltimore last year, we had [middle linebacker] Roquan [Smith] wear it all the time, even in practice, just so the communication streams were consistent. Everybody knew that he was the guy with the info that you had to go to. But the year before, Chuck Clark wore it at the safety spot. [Safety] Eric Weddle has worn it. [Inside linebacker] C.J. Mosley has worn it. We’ll figure out how it goes.”