Seahawks Might Not Be Able to Keep Shaquill Griffin Based on 2021 NFL Salary Cap Update

The NFL is continuing with business as usual despite the uncertainty in the world caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They held their annual draft on time, and released the official 2020 regular season schedule this week. While the league remains confident that they'll start the campaign on time, their finances are expected to take a massive hit, which could have a negative effect on the 2021 salary cap, notes ESPN's Adam Schefter.

That leaves teams like the Seattle Seahawks in massive trouble, as they have just $2 million in cap space right now. Taking into account thaat they have a bunch of impending free agents in 2021, this leaves them in quite a bind when it comes to retaining starting cornerback Shaquill Griffin.

The Hawks are known for their ability to find steals in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft. That happened back in 2017 when they selected Griffin out of UCF in the third round.

Through his first three seasons, Griffin missed just three contests. Griffin isn't a prototypical ballhawk that logs the turnovers like many teams and fans would like, but he's almost literally impossible to complete a pass against. That was evidenced this past season, as he forced an incompletion on 14 out of 66 targets (21.2%), the second-best mark among corners in the entire league, per Pro Football Focus. Even without logging a single interception in 2019, Griffin earned a spot in the Pro Bowl, proving that he's one of the better shutdown cornerbacks in the league.

Now, he's set to hit the open market in 2021. He won't break the market like Darius Slay did with the Philadelphia Eagles ($16.9 million average salary), but he can easily earn as much as James Bradberry did with the New York Giants this offseason ($14.5 million annually).

The Seahawks are on the verge of completing their renovation of the "Legion of Boom" defense, and now, they're in danger of it breaking up... again.