The One Contract Holding Back the Seattle Seahawks
By Jerry Trotta
The Seattle Seahawks would like to retain Jadeveon Clowney, but they simply don't have the finances to adhere to the star pass rusher's steep demands. One could argue that Russell Wilson's gargantuan contract is the one deal holding Seattle back, but without the perennial MVP candidate the Seahawks wouldn't sniff the postseason.
In the simplest of terms, Wilson wholly deserved the four-year, $140 million extension he signed last offseason.
The way we see it, the contract of offensive lineman Duane Brown has really hamstrung the franchise.
Seahawks’ LT Duane Brown reached agreement on a three-year contract extension, tying him to Seattle for the next four seasons, per source. Brown turns 33 years old next month, but Seattle is protecting Russell Wilson’s blindside for seasons to come.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 28, 2018
Seattle signed Brown to a three-year, $36.5 million contract extension in the 2018 offseason. Administering such funds to a player who's evidently on the back nine of his career was a highly questionable move by the Seahawks. He was named a second-team All-Pro in 2018, but appeared in just 12 games last year while accounting for a $10.725 million cap hit.
History suggests that downward trend will continue as Brown enters his age-35 season and Seattle is committed to him through the 2021 campaign. Across the next two seasons, the four-time Pro Bowler will rack up $25.56 million in cap hits, which will stand as the third-highest on the team.
A rough loss grows much, much worse for the #Seahawks: Coach Pete Carroll told reporters that RB Chris Carson (hip) is out next week and docs believe he may be out for the playoffs. RB CJ Prosise broke his arm. And LT Duane Brown will have knee surgery tomorrow, but could return.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 23, 2019
The Seahawks had better hope that Brown is healthy and effective from this point forward. If not -- keep in mind he underwent knee surgery in December -- his contract will look a lot worse than it appears.