Seattle Seahawks: Key March Dates to know
March is a big month in the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks have some big decisions to make as the league starts its new year.
They may play NFL games from September through the first weekend in February, but the business of football is a 365-day operation. With that in mind, here are some key dates for the Seattle Seahawks over the next month.
Between contract renewals, bonus payments, free agency, and the draft, Seahawks General Manager John Schneider will be a very busy man.
Three gone
One important date just passed. Three Seattle Seahawks starters had void years for 2022 on their contracts, and that was February 18. That means left tackle Duane Brown, tight end Gerald Everett, and safety Quandre Diggs are all free agents.
March 1-7
The NFL Scouting Combine begins on Tuesday, March 1, in Indianapolis. Draft hopefuls descend on Lucas Oil Stadium to show their skills to prospective NFL teams. Regardless if a planned player boycott happens, there will be two other important groups in attendance, agents and general managers.
At this point, formal discussions between management and agents are considered tampering. That won’t stop each side from feeling each other out, informally, of course.
March 8
This is the last day to place either a franchise or transition tag on internal free agents. Seattle didn’t use the tag last year when they could have retained cover corner Shaquill Griffin. As a matter of fact, the Seattle Seahawks have only used the franchise tag one time since 2010.
On March 4, 2019, the Seahawks tagged defensive end Frank Clark, who was coming off a career-high 13 sack season. Seattle didn’t want to do it, and Clark didn’t like it despite a $19M guarantee. Six weeks later, the Seahawks traded him to Kansas City for a first, second, and third-round pick.
March 14
Beginning at 9:00 AM PDT, the fun begins. Teams can start negotiating with free agents. Hundreds of millions (maybe billions) of dollars worth of contracts will be announced.
Historically, Schneider and Pete Carroll don’t do much big game hunting. But due to several openings the Seattle Seahawks have on the offensive line and secondary, some solid starters could head to the Emerald City for the 2022 season around this time.
March 16
The 2022 league year starts at 1:00 PM PDT. It’s important for several reasons. First of all, at 12:59:59 PM PDT, every team’s top 51 contracts must be under the salary cap. By that time, the first wave of cap casualties will be over.
When the clock turns over, teams can sign free agents. Those big deals have already happened over the previous two days, but they won’t be official until now. The other big thing of note is that once the new NFL year starts, trades can happen again.
March 19
This isn’t as major as the above events. On March 19, Russell Wilson‘s $5M roster bonus is due.
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How do you see next month shaping up for the Seattle Seahawks? Let us know in the comments section below.