Seahawks $990 Million Star Player Says That why he agreed to revised contract It Because…
After taking a big step forward in 2022, the Seattle Seahawks weren’t able to replicate their success in 2023. While they have some questions that need to be answered, they are keeping their key contributors in town, which helps explain why they went out of their way to restructure Tyler Lockett’s contract earlier this offseason.
Lockett has been a key piece of the Seahawks offense ever since he entered the league in 2015, but he took a bit of a step back in 2023, much like the rest of the offense, as his 894 receiving yards was his lowest total since back in 2017. However, Lockett decided to rework his deal so that he could stay with Seattle, because in his eyes, Seattle is now his home.
“Seattle is home. Obviously it’s a business and so you’ve got to kind of look and see what is good for them, you see what’s good for yourself, as well. And with everything that I had a chance to be able to do and become, it’s really cool that you hear that the staff wants you to be on the team, as well. Cool to hear stuff about John when he’s talking to my agent and kind of see how they see me, how they still view me.”
“[I] try not to get too much into the contract because I’m still kind of in a blessed situation. So everybody kind of talks about the contract or talks about the money or say it’s a pay cut or whatever it is, but it’s enough for us to still be here. It’s enough for them to still want me.’’ – Tyler Lockett, The Seattle Times
While he’s not the flashiest receiver ever, Lockett has been one of the most consistent receivers during his time in the league. Prior to 2023, he had posted at least 1000 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in four straight seasons, and while he didn’t do that last season, that was largely due to Seattle’s inconsistent offense.
Keeping Lockett in town was important for Seattle, as he has good chemistry with Geno Smith under center, and he’s a great complement to their top wideout in DK Metcalf. And the good news for them is that staying with the Seahawks was important to Lockett, who has spent his entire career with them, and seems to want to finish his career in the same place he started it.
As he prepares to enter his age-32 season, Lockett could ultimately begin regressing, but he still has a lot of value for this team on offense right now. This has been a perfect pairing for nine seasons so far, and with this revised deal, Lockett will remain for Seattle for the next few years, and it’s clear that all parties involved are thrilled to have been able to get this deal done.
Lockett agreed to a new two-year deal that guaranteed some of his salary and moved $4 million to incentives. The adjustments also included a signing bonus, resulting in an $8 million decrease in his cap number. During a press conference, Lockett explained why he accepted the changes.
“Seattle is home,” Lockett said.
“It’s business, so you have to consider what’s best for them and yourself. It’s great to feel wanted by the staff. . . . I try not to focus too much on the contract because I’m still in a fortunate position. People talk about the money, but it’s enough for us to stay here and for them to value me still.”
The contract changes will increase Lockett’s cap charge for the 2025 season by $4 million, so there will be more decisions to make after next season. But for now, Lockett remains a member of the Seahawks, the same team he’s been with since his rookie year.
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2024 Draft Preview: Will The Seahawks Add To An Already Strong Defensive Front..
The NFL Draft kicks off later this month in Detroit, and while it will be the 15th in Seattle for general manager and president of football operations John Schneider, it will be his first with new head coach Mike Macdonald.
But while there are some adjustments to be made for Schneider and the player personnel department in terms of learning what Macdonald and his coaching staff look for in players, Schneider doesn’t see this draft process playing out a whole lot differently than the previous 14 did with Pete Carroll as the head coach.
“There’s so much preparation that goes into it, it’s going to be the same,” Schneider said last month at the NFL Annual Meeting. “The preparation is—really, think of it like a game; you’re putting together a game-plan sheet. That’s basically what your board looks like. So you’re like, ‘OK, well that happened, now we’re going here. That happened. Now we’re going here.’ So that’s really your preparation, and I don’t see it being any different.
“Pete, he was a blast to work with throughout the preparation, and Mike and his staff are the same. It’s going to be fun.”
Unlike the past two drafts in which Seattle had multiple first and second-round picks thanks to the Russell Wilson trade, the Seahawks have a little less draft capital in 2024, though the 16th overall pick is still a valuable asset, either to be used on an elite player or perhaps to be traded for a pick later in the first round along with additional picks. The Seahawks have seven total picks heading into the draft, but do not have a second-rounder having sent that to the Giants in last year’s trade for Leonard Williams.
So with the draft coming up soon, Seahawks.com is taking a position-by-position look at where things currently stand for the Seahawks, as well as the top draft prospects at each position. We’ll also look at Seattle’s draft history at each position over the past 14 drafts under Schneider.
So far we’ve covered quarterback, linebacker, and the offensive line, and today we turn our attention to the defensive line and outside linebacker. Check back tomorrow when we focus on running back.
Seattle’s 2024 Draft Picks: Round 1, No. 16 overall; Round 3, No. 81 overall (from New Orleans via Denver); Round 4, No. 102 overall (from Washington); Round 4, No. 118 overall; Round 6, No. 179 overall (from Washington); Round 6, No. 192 overall; Round 7, No. 235 overall.
Defensive line & Outside Linebacker Draft History Under John Schneider: DE E.J. Wilson (No. 127 overall, 2010); DE Dexter Davis (No. 236, 2010); DE Pep Levingston (No. 205, 2011); DE/OLB Bruce Irvin (No. 15, 2012); DE Jaye Howard (No. 114, 2012); DE Greg Scruggs (No. 232, 2012); DT Jordan Hill (No. 87, 2013); DT Jesse Williams (No. 137, 2013); OLB Ty Powell (No. 231; 2013); DE Cassius Marsh (No. 108, 2014); DT Jimmy Staten (No. 172, 2014); DE Frank Clark (No. 63, 2015); DE Obum Gwacham (No. 209, 2015); DT Jarran Reed (No. 49, 2016); DT Quinton Jefferson (No. 147, 2016); DT Malik McDowell (No. 35, 2017); DT Nazair Jones (No. 102, 2017); DE Rasheem Green (No. 79, 2018); DE/OLB Jacob Martin (No. 186, 2018); DE L.J. Collier (No. 29, 2019); DT DeMarcus Christmas (No. 209, 2019); DE/OLB Darrell Taylor (No. 48, 2020); DE Alton Robinson (No. 148, 2020); OLB Boye Mafe (No. 40, 2022); OLB Tyreke Smith (No. 158, 2022); OLB Derick Hall (No. 37, 2023), DT Cameron Young (No. 123, 2023); DE Mike Morris (No. 151, 2023).
While the Seahawks will never head into a draft feeling like they are completely set at a particular position, they do go into the 2024 draft feeling pretty strong about their defensive line and their collection of outside linebackers.
The Seahawks took care of what Schneider referred to as the team’s top priority in free agency by re-signing Leonard Williams, and they added some size and experience up front by signing veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, adding to an interior line that also includes Jarran Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, and 2023 draft picks Cameron Young and Mike Morris. On the edge, the Seahawks have Boye Mafe coming off a breakout second season in which he led the team with 9.0 sacks; Uchenna Nwosu, who had 9.5 sacks in 2022, and was playing well again last year before suffering a season-ending injury; Derick Hall, a 2023 second-round pick who should see his role expand in Year 2, and Darrell Taylor, who has 21.5 sacks in the past three seasons.
The Seahawks took care of what Schneider referred to as the team’s top priority in free agency by re-signing Leonard Williams, and they added some size and experience up front by signing veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, adding to an interior line that also includes Jarran Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, and 2023 draft picks Cameron Young and Mike Morris. On the edge, the Seahawks have Boye Mafe coming off a breakout second season in which he led the team with 9.0 sacks; Uchenna Nwosu, who had 9.5 sacks in 2022, and was playing well again last year before suffering a season-ending injury; Derick Hall, a 2023 second-round pick who should see his role expand in Year 2, and Darrell Taylor, who has 21.5 sacks in the past three seasons.”I’m really excited about the guys we brought in,” Macdonald said. “I’m really excited about the guys on the roster. If the right opportunity presents itself to make us better, we won’t hesitate to pull the trigger, but I think going in we’re very confident in the guys we have. We have some position flexibility, more so than we might have had in the past. Being able to change up some fronts with the same personnel on the field will be exciting. Guys that can play multiple spots across the line, we’ll have some cool combinations of people on the field at the same time. That will be fun to figure out with A.D. (Aden Durde) as we go. He’s got some cool ideas we’ll experiment with as we get rocking. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ve got a lot of talent up there.”