Less than two weeks after the two sides parted ways, Carlos Dunlap could potentially be back in the Seahawks' short term defensive plans.
According to Brady Henderson of ESPN, while Dunlap plans to continue exploring his options on the free agent market, if the right opportunity presents itself, Seattle and the veteran defensive end would have mutual interest in a reunion at the right price. The 33-year old was released on March 18 with a post-June 1 designation.
Acquired by the Seahawks from the Bengals prior to the trade deadline two years ago, Dunlap made an instant impact upon arrival, producing 5.0 sacks in eight regular season games as the team finished 6-2 down the stretch to capture an NFC West title. His presence opened things up for the rest of his pass rushing counterparts as well, as the team lead the entire NFL in sacks from Week 9 through the season finale.
However, after being re-signed last March following a brief foray into free agency, Dunlap struggled during the first 11 games and found himself in an increasingly diminished role for Seattle's defense. He produced just 0.5 sacks and four quarterback hits through Week 12, losing playing time to the likes of Rasheem Green and Kerry Hyder. In Week 12 and Week 13, he played fewer than 10 total snaps.
Dunlap did find his groove down the stretch, racking up 8.0 sacks in the final six games, including a trio of sacks in a loss to the Rams in Week 15. With that pass rushing flurry, many expected the Seahawks to keep him on the roster for the second year of his contract, but that ended up not being the case with the team transitioning towards a hybrid 3-4 defensive scheme.
Given his age and the tread on his tires, Dunlap may be finding offers from other teams to be underwhelming at this stage. With this year's draft class having great depth at defensive end, the market has not been favorable to veterans at the position thus far. If he's willing to accept a lesser role at this stage of his career, Seattle would still have use for him as a situational rusher on four-man fronts in nickel and dime situations.
Of course, everything will boil down to price point. Dunlap had a $6.5 million cap hit scheduled for the second year of his two year deal signed last spring and the Seahawks would likely want to re-sign him with his cap hit being significantly less than that, especially considering the team has only $9.4 million in effective cap space currently according to OverTheCap.com.
For now, Dunlap will likely continue exploring his options with hopes a better offer comes to light. But like he did this time last year after testing the market, he easily could come back to the Seahawks on a smaller contract as he pushes for 100 career sacks in 2022.
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