Free agency begins March 15 at 4 p.m. ET.
Positional needs for Seattle Seahawks: Safety, defensive Line, linebacker
The Seahawks head into the offseason with the seventh-most cap space at $31 million, according to OverTheCap.com. That could allow them to bolster their needs and keep them in the playoff hunt.
Most of their cap space will be used to bring back quarterback Geno Smith. His Pro Bowl season means Seattle must pay to keep him or franchise him. Smith's paltry $3.5 million cap hit in 2022 will increase dramatically.
Seattle may have to replace both starting safeties as Ryan Neal is a free agent and Quandre Diggs is a potential cut. Given the team’s need to spend money elsewhere, Peppers could be a safe and cheap option for the secondary.
While he hasn’t lived up to the billing coming out of college, the former first-round pick has six years in the league and started 64 games. For the Patriots in 2022, he started five games and racked up 60 tackles.
Seattle likely will use one of its two first-round picks to improve on the defensive line. Payne, coming off a Pro Bowl season, would be a huge addition. He is in line for a big payday after registering 11.5 sacks and 20 QB hits.
Seattle has the cap space to land Payne, who sported a lime-green jump suit when cleaning out his locker earlier this month.
Lotta green for Daron Payne today. A preview of his offseason contract negotiations pic.twitter.com/Z8kaPqWgfF
— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) January 9, 2023
Per Spotrac, Payne -- Pro Football Focus' 11th-ranked free agent -- has a market value of a five-year deal at $97,461,155, an average annual salary of $19,492,231.
Van Noy started slowly in his NFL career with Detroit but has become a solid starter since. He’ll be 32 next season, so the contract length will be short, but he can provide stability in the unit. For the Chargers in 2022, he had 47 tackles and five sacks.
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