Five affordable options for the Seahawks to fill behind potential free agent losses

Less than 24 hours into the negotiating period for players who are set to become unrestricted free agents, we watched as a number of high profile players agreed to deals and are set to be signed at the beginning of the NFL’s new league year.

Among the top earners for the Seattle Seahawks who are hitting the market this week, Earl Thomas, K.J. Wright, Shamar Stephen, Sebastian Janikowski and J.R. Sweezy took up approximately $24 million in cap space on the Seahawks roster in 2018, which accounts for almost all of the money Seattle will have available to spend in free agency after placing the franchise tag on Frank Clark.

Considering the relatively low amount of space, the Seahawks may be better served to take care of some of their own free agents who weren’t swept up in the first wave, and look at some of these other names likely to be available after the biggest names are off the board.

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Glover Quin, Safety

With so many players available at safety, it’s difficult to settle in on single player for the team to consider. Even if the volume helps to devalue the position, remaining players like Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Tashaun Gipson could be out of the Seahawks price range.

Finding a free agent at the position who has created more turnovers than Earl Thomas (8 forced fumbles, 18 interceptions) was difficult. But, Glover Quin (7 forced fumbles, 19 interceptions) is one player who has been able to keep pace with Thomas during his six seasons with the Detroit Lions. At 33 years old, he has yet to miss a start since his rookie year with the Houston Texans in 2009, and could help provide some veteran leadership for Tedrick Thompson and Delano Hill. With his salary and bonuses, Quin made $4.8 million last season with Detroit.

Brandon Marshall, Linebacker

Frank Clark made it known that he’d prefer to see Kwon Alexander come and join the Seahawks. However, Alexander proved to be out of reach of being affordable after he reached at agreement to join the San Francisco 49ers.

Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall will likely be a less expensive option after fighting through injuries two of the last three years. The Broncos declined an option that would have paid him a $6.5 million base salary in 2019 and $7 million in 2020. When healthy, Marshall has combined for more than 100 tackles in three of his last five seasons. He turns 30 near the start of the 2019 season.

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James Carpenter, Guard

After finishing his rookie contract in Seattle, Carpenter signed a 4-year $19 million contract to join the Jets. Now that his contact is up, Carpenter likely won’t be returning to the New York now that the Jets have traded for Oakland guard Kelechi Osemele. He performed well in the first two years of his contract, but is now coming off shoulder surgery that shortened his 2018 season.

The ideal player to bring in at this spot would be Los Angeles Rams guard Rodger Saffold. The Rams recently declined the 2019 option for their veteran center John Sullivan, and a departure by Saffold would leave them with two holes on their offensive line to attempt to fill.

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Corey Liuget, Defensive Tackle

The strength of the draft could bring down the demand for some veteran run stopping interior defenders. Driving down the potential contract offers for Liuget is that he’s also is coming off a season shortened by injury as well as a four-game PED suspension. The 6-foot-2, 300 pound defensive tackle started just three games last season, the fewest of his career since he was drafted 18th overall by the Chargers in 2011. In spite of the injuries and the suspension to start the year, Liuget was the Los Angeles Chargers Walter Peyton Man of the Year nominee in 2018

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Kai Forbath, Kicker

Forbath finished the 2018 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars after he was signed to replace an injured Josh Lambo. In the final three games he was perfect in his three extra point attempts and only missed one of his five field goal attempts -- a 56-yarder with four seconds to go in the first half against the Miami Dolphins. Forbath is tied for 10th place with Lambo among the career leaders for NFL Field Goal percentage.

With the remaining cap space, the Seahawks will also need to use some for re-signing their own free agents. It started late last week with Akeem King agreeing to a one-year deal to stay with the team. The 2019 league year and free agency period begins at 1:00 p.m. PT, March 13.