Seattle Seahawks: 5 Biggest free agency decisions this offseason
By Samuel Teets
Will the Seahawks bring back K.J. Wright?
Wright has been a key starter on the Seahawks since he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was with the team for their two Super Bowl appearances and has been the perfect complement to Bobby Wagner for as long as the two linebackers have been paired up. But Wright will be turning 30 next season and he only played in five games in 2018.
Consistent injuries kept Wright off of the field for most of the season with his only starts coming in Weeks 8-10, Week 16 and Week 17. I stand by the fact that the Seahawks run defense would have ranked higher had Wright been healthy for most of the season. He’s an incredibly impactful player, especially on a defense that doesn’t have a lot of Pro Bowl talent.
Speaking the Pro Bowl, Wright was selected to the game back in 2016. He arguably deserved the honor several other times during his career. From 2014-2017 Wright averaged over 100 combined tackles per season. The question now is whether or not Wright can return to that level of play.
In 2018 Wright earned a base salary of $7.2 million and received a $1 million signing bonus, which put his cap hit at $8.2 million. 2018 was the final season of a four-year, $27 million contract extension Wright signed back in December of 2014.
As of right now, the Seahawks haven’t offered Wright a contract extension yet. Considering the state of the linebacking corps, outside of Wagner, it would be in Seattle’s best interest to bring back Wright on a shorter, cheaper deal than the one he just completed. Wright might not sign a deal like that though, considering he is still just 29 years old.