Offseason review: Key departures, additions, for the 2024 Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks have seen transformative endings in the past half-year.

The 2023 season, the legendary tenure of Pete Carroll, and the reunion tour of Bobby Wagner all came to a close.

Yet time marches on, and it’s also a season of beginnings. The first draft and free agency with new coach Mike Macdonald, the addition of Geno Smith’s backup - the curious commenter adds “and replacement???” - and the first crack at shiny new schemes on both sides of the ball have been ushered in.

Does it leave the Seahawks in a better place than last year? As of today, are they a better team than Spring of 2023?

Key Departures:

• Pete Carroll
• All the other coordinators
• Bobby Wagner
• Jordyn Brooks
• Damien Lewis
• Some tight ends
• Quandre Diggs
• Jamal Adams
• DeeJay Dallas
• Drew Lock

Key Additions:

• Mike Macdonald
• All the coordinators
• Jerome Baker
• Tyrel Dodson
• Some tight ends
• Byron Murphy
• Christian Haynes
• Sam Howell
• Laken Tomlinson
• Rayshawn Jenkins
• Leonard Williams*

Outside of the No. 16 overall pick, and arguably the best defensive player in this year’s draft, Seattle didn’t add much star power on the field. Leonard Williams is in that ballpark but doesn’t completely count as a new addition. While he wasn’t on the roster last offseason, we already saw him play for the worst run defense in the history of organized sport 32nd-ranked run defense.

It appears then, that for one to carry a great deal of optimism into the 2024 season they’re banking on the first two positions listed above.

The coaching staff.

Might a healthy Abe Lucas and a new pair of guards unlock the Seahawks offense? Or is it Ryan Grubb’s scheme and offensive line background?

Were the linebackers so outmatched that Baker and Dodson save the day, or is Macdonald’s scheme more likely to fix the gaping holes that have existed for three years?

Therefore, I have come to the following conclusions, and you may type “homer” below if it makes you feel better:

• The defense wildly underperformed last...year? half-decade? While it’s not in a new tier on paper, a healthy version of the current d-line is formidable, and it just cannot be possible to be worse-coached than the Carroll/Hurt years.
• The only potential improvement on offense is also on the line. Similarly, I believe injuries decimated this unit last year, and that improvement depends on Haynes being good, Olu Oluwatimi being good, and Lucas not shattering. All three are attainable.
• The team is in a better place than last season, but only a little. The talent is comparable, the coaching is likely going to be better, and it’s hard for me to justify that coaching alone can take the team to a top-3 unit in the NFC.