Seattle Seahawks: 5 Biggest remaining position needs

5. Outside linebacker

The most underrated move of the offseason might be the Seahawks re-signing K.J. Wright and giving him a chance to bounce back. That solidifies one position. The team also re-signed Mychal Kendricks with the hopes that he’ll be allowed to play in 2019 and avoid jail time for insider trading.

Seattle also has outside linebackers Barkevious Mingo and Shaquem Griffin on the roster. That might sound like the position is actually pretty sound, but Kendricks and Mingo will be free agents next year, Wright is coming off of a season mostly lost to injury, and Griffin has shown no sign that he’s ready to take on a major role in the defense.

Even if the outside linebacker position isn’t a problem this year, it will be next year. Kendricks and Mingo will be free agents, and Wright will be on the last year of his contract. While it’s easy to love Griffin’s story, he lost all of his regular defensive snaps early in the 2018 season and was relegated to a special teams position.

The Seahawks do have another player who took snaps at outside linebacker last year. Jacob Martin, the sixth-round pick from last year, played very well in the snaps he got, some of which came at linebacker. However, Martin is more of an edge player. He recorded only nine combined tackles but three sacks in 2018, showing he’s a pass rusher and doesn’t fit the usual mold Seattle looks for at outside linebacker.

Seattle doesn’t ask their outside linebackers to rush the passer a lot, and instead ask them to focus on run and pass defense. That means the Seahawks will likely have to wait to find a player to replace Kendricks or Mingo.