A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter the group is expected to exchange or release Reed, which will save almost $9 million from the salary cap. Agent Drew Rosenhaus told Schefter the Dunlap’s deal is for two decades and $16.6 million with $8.5 million ensured.
Dunlap had helped spark the Seahawks’ shocking pass rush once he came in an October trade in the Cincinnati Bengals by listing five sacks and 15 QB strikes in nine games, including playoff. He missed one game with a foot injury he played for a portion of the time in Seattle. He had six rebounds and four passes defended with the Seahawks.
To ease his transaction to Seattle, Dunlap agreed to restructure his contract together with the knowledge that the Seahawks would launch him and allow him to test free agency if both sides could not agree to an extension. That restructure improved his 2021 cap amount into a prohibitive $14.1 million.
The Seahawks believed when they published Dunlap they would have a opportunity to re-sign him into some more team-friendly bargain, which they are doing. 1 reason that his return seemed like a chance was that his fondness for the Seahawks. He had publicly gushed about the company after the transaction, stating he felt ashamed in his new atmosphere.
“I would really like to remain at Seattle so long as they will have me,” he said following the Seahawks dropped in the wild-card round. “It was quite clear what I had been coming to do and what my time period is, so today it is a dialogue and I am welcoming and open for this. You guys already know how thankful I am to be here. They have taken excellent care. I believe that it’s a fantastic business for vets, although I feel youthful and new like a young player too. I feel like I have a great deal of ball and I’d love to finish this up with a company such as this.
“My two aims continue to be a Super Bowl and 100 sacks, and I haven’t accomplished either among these. I have not won a playoff match. I believe we now have the pedigree here to perform all that next year, and I’d really like to become part of it”
This fondness was on display Thursday night after he tweeted his response to the bargain — with teammate Russell Wilson afterwards doing exactly the same.
Dunlap’s 87.5 regular-season sacks in his career position him 12th among active players, based on Pro Football Reference.
Seattle agreed to deals with just two other pass-rushers before this week, bringing Benson Mayowa and including Kerry Hyder. Those two and Dunlap, L.J. Collier, Rasheem Green, Alton Robinson and Darrell Taylor provide the Seahawks a profound set of advantage players.
However, Reed’s anticipated death will leave a void in the inside of the defensive line.
The 28-year-old Reed was a fulltime rookie since 2017, the year after Seattle picked him in the second round from Alabama. He had been called mostly a run-stuffer his first two seasons but broke out for 10.5 sacks at 2018. He started the 2019 year by serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct coverage and completed the season with two sacks in 10 games.
He had something of a bounce-back year with 6.5 sacks in 16 matches but is set to count almost $14 million from the cap. Moving from Reed will leave behind $5 million in dead money whether or not it is via release or trade. The Seahawks have just 3 choices in next month’s draft (at the second, seventh and fourth rounds), which gives them additional incentive to discover a trade partner for Reed.
He signaled his obvious goodbye to the Seahawks on Thursday, composing on Twitter:
Poona Ford, that has launched alongside Reed the previous two seasons, obtained a two-year bargain from Seattle earlier this month as a restricted free agent.