The Seattle Seahawks are moving on from veteran defensive tackle Bryan Mone. The team announced the release of Mone one day after Seattle cut Jamal Adams, Will Dissly and Quandre Diggs.
Mone sustained an ACL injury late in the 2022 season that caused the defender to miss all of 2023. The defensive tackle had one season remaining on a two-year, $11 million contract. Mone notched 25 tackles in 13 appearances during 2022, including three starts.
Not only will the Seahawks coaching staff look entirely different, but head coach Mike Macdonald will be working with a roster that also has undergone significant changes. Within a 24 hour period, the Seahawks have now cleared more than $40 million with less than one week remaining until NFL free agency begins on March 11, 2024.
“Bryan Mone was due $5.9M in salary in 2024,” Over the Cap’s Nick Norte detailed in a March 6, 2024 message on X. “He was also listed 20th on the top 100 possible cut candidates. …Seahawks have also now shed over $40M in 2024 salary, most in the league by far right now.”
Seahawks Rumors: What Will Seattle Do With the Team’s Expanding Cap Space?
Given this sudden wealth of cap space, fans want to know how the team plans to utilize this newfound money. Seattle has not typically been an aggressive team in NFL free agency during the John Schneider era.
Could this change with Macdonald as the new head coach in place of Pete Carroll? We did see the Seahawks sign three-year, $51.5 million deal last offseason, a move that went against Seattle’s traditional frugal ways.
Given the Seahawks defensive woes in recent seasons, it would not be a surprise if some of this cap space it utilized to upgrade the defensive roster. Keep in mind, Seattle also has their own key free agents the team likely wants to re-sign including Leonard Williams and Jordyn Brooks.
The Seahawks Needed to Reallocate Their Resources to Other Positions
Yet, there are also free agents who Seattle could be interested in, including several players Macdonald coached with the Baltimore Ravens. Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Queen continues to be a name to watch.
Could some of this money be used for the Seahawks to go big game hunting in the coming days? As Seattle Sports’ Mike Salk pointed out, the Seahawks had been spending significant money at positions like safety while other NFL teams were going bargain shopping.
“Nowhere was this more obvious than in a cursory look at their salary cap figures,” Salk wrote in a March 6 story titled, “Do Seahawks’ 3 releases signal a big change?” “According to Over The Cap, three of their top eight players (by cap hit) were safeties. Given that most teams only start two safeties, that seems pretty out of the ordinary. Of the other six players, two were wide receivers, plus one tight end, a quarterback and a defensive lineman.
“For a team that hasn’t been paying its quarterback top dollar, the Seahawks should have been in prime position to take advantage of free agency. But those high numbers on low-value positions made them only minor players in the market.”
Moving forward, Seattle may be better served using this money to add to important positions like pass rushers. Regardless, the moves signal a shift in the Seahawks’ roster construction.
