The idea of the Seahawks reuniting with legendary linebacker Bobby Wagner seemed unlikely a year ago.
Huard: What Bobby Wagner brings to the table in his Seahawks return
The way Seattle released Wagner resulted in some hard feelings, as Wagner, who serves as his own agent, didn’t learn about the release from the team directly. Seahawks general manager John Schneider owned up to the mistake shortly after, however, and the air was cleared enough that on Saturday, Seattle and Wagner agreed to get the band back together.
Even with Wagner’s return, the Seahawks still have holes to fill on defense. And according to Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus, a former NFL wide receiver who now serves as host on the Seahawks Radio Network, Seattle could follow the blueprint they did with Wagner to address another position of need: nose tackle.
Three players who were on the Seahawks’ defensive line last season are currently free agents: Poona Ford, Shelby Harris and Al Woods, the latter two of which were released by Seattle. Bumpus said on Monday’s edition of Bump and Stacy, though, that what kept the door open for Wagner to come back could be a factor with any one of those three linemen.
“We talked about not burning any bridges,” Bumpus said (for that conversation, watch the video below), “ending relationships in a way to where you don’t have to agree on the situation, but ending it in a way to where both sides still respect each other. I’m looking at the guys who haven’t signed yet – I’m looking at Poona Ford, I’m looking at Shelby, I’m looking at Al Woods and saying, ‘OK, how did you end that relationship? What’s the status of that relationship?’ Because those guys are still on the market.”
The Seahawks may have released Harris and Woods and let Ford enter free agency knowing there may eventually be an opportunity to bring them back on a deal with a smaller hit to the salary cap.
“So because they’re still available, no one’s signing them, they might be a post-draft signing type of deal,” Bumpus said. “But you got to take a look at those guys again and say, ‘Look, man, we can still use your services, just not at the rate that we were paying you.’ So I think they have to start at home first and tap into the guys that they know and love already. And then you just got to keep your eyes open and your ears open when it comes to free agency. But I’m looking at those three and saying, alright, take a look at those three again, have those conversations, hopefully the relationship is good, and see if they will come back.”
Another way for Seahawks to clear cap space
Bump’s co-host Stacy Rost brought up another option for Seattle to make room under the salary cap.
“In order to be able to even pay for a free agent nose tackle … the Seahawks are going to need to create some cap space,” Rost said. “They could extend Uchenna Nwosu. That’s the one I want to look at – would you extend Uchenna?”
Bumpus is certainly good with the idea of locking up outside linebacker Nwosu, who had a strong first season with Seattle in 2022, in a way that would pay him more money on the back end.
“I would. Definitely,” Bumpus answered. “Uchenna is one of the staples of this defense, in my opinion, for the next two to three seasons. He’s up there with Quandre (Diggs), he’s up there with Jordyn (Brooks). Last year, that was his first year to be ‘the guy’ at that position. Over there in LA (with the Chargers), he played behind some really good ballplayers, and he took advantage of the opportunity (with Seattle) and I think he’s only going to get better. He’s still pretty young. So yes, I would definitely do that.”
Listen to the full conversation in the Four-Down Territory segment from Monday’s Bump and Stacy in the podcast at this link or in the player below.
Hasselbeck: How Seahawks may use Bobby Wagner differently in return
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