Seahawks hope to keep core of offensive line around for 2022 season

INDIANAPOLIS – As the Seahawks head into free agency, no position may hold as much intrigue as the offensive line.

Just two of the five regular starters last year are under contract for 2022 – guards Damien Lewis and Gabe Jackson. Only two others who took snaps last year (tackles Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe) are signed.

Seattle also has a new offensive line coach, Andy Dickerson, who has replaced the fired Mike Solari after spending last season as the run game coordinator. Solari had been Seattle’s OL coach the past four years after replacing Tom Cable in 2018.

Dickerson, who arrived in Seattle last year along with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron from the Rams, is the fourth offensive line coach for the Seahawks since Pete Carroll arrived in 2010.

Carroll said he was impressed with the job Dickerson did last year with the running game as Seattle was third in the NFL in yards per carry at 5.02.

“He came in with Shane, to give Shane support schematically and to help us transition, and he did all of that,” Carroll said. “I just saw his impact and his connection with our players. It was just too significant to keep him out of, really, the fundamental interaction that he can have with players and the effect that he can have. So it was a natural move in that regard.

“Again, another difficult decision with a guy I love and we work with, Mike Solari. Beautiful coach, beautiful man, and all that, but this it was a part of the move, to keep moving forward, and developing and accenting really the best that Shane brings as a leader on offense. So it was a good move for us. He does have good relationships with his players. He’s very demanding, very technic-oriented, scheme-centered, and the continuity was just too good to not put together.”

While it’s worth wondering if the move to Dickerson could mean a different approach to assembling the line, the Seahawks liked the way the line played down the stretch, so Seattle may opt for as much continuity as possible.

Which may specifically mean attempting to re-sign left tackle Duane Brown, center Ethan Pocic and right tackle Brandon Shell.

“We want to get our guys as best we can,” Carroll said. “We’re trying to get our guys back. That’s what (free agency is for). We’ll see what happens. We don’t know right now. We like our guys, and we think that the opportunity to grow with them and continue will help us. We’ve got to see what happens.”

Brown will the most expensive and a player Seattle may want to lock up before he hits the market when the free-agency signing period begins March 16.

Brown said after the season he’d be willing to take a one-year deal. But Carroll said at the combine the team would not lock itself in to thinking of just a one-year contract with Brown, who turns 37 before next season.

“There is no limitation right now,” Carroll said. “We’re wide open. That might be a good idea, it might not be a good idea. Just depends on how things fit.”

Solidifying the center position may be next on the priority list with both of last year’s starters – Pocic and Kyle Fuller – free agents. Pocic took over the job the second half of the season during which time the running game began to thrive.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider also noted that Seattle has another potential option at center in Dakoda Shepley, a player the Seahawks claimed off waivers from the 49ers in September. Shepley, 27, is an exclusive rights free agent and will undoubtedly be retained. He did not have a snap on offense last year but played in eight games on special teams. He spent the year working primarily at center in practice, a spot he moved to at the end of the 2020 season with the 49ers.

“Ethan had a real nice year,” Schneider said. “Fuller played in there and then nobody’s even seen Dakoda Shepley yet. And he was a guy that we’re really excited about claiming. I never feel like we haven’t licked. So I’m excited about the guys, but we’re always evaluating everything. But I was happy for Ethan having the year he had and he’s overcome a lot with his surgeries and stuff too. But, yeah, Dakoda Shepley’s the guy we claimed last year. He just hasn’t had a chance to play yet. And you guys weren’t able to see him play in the preseason. So yeah, we were fired up about him.”

Shell has battled injuries in his two Seattle seasons, missing 12 games. That opened the door last year for rookie Jake Curhan to start the final five games and give the Seahawks a young and potentially inexpensive option at right tackle.

But Carroll said at the combine the team is not yet ready to turn that job over to Curhan full time.

“Jake did OK,” Carroll said. “We would work to make that (position) really competitive. We’d try to get somebody else to compete with him. He needs to be challenged just like everybody else does.”

Also a free agent is Jamarco Jones, who has started seven games in his Seattle career at both guard and tackle.

Meetings at the combine with player agents will help Seattle start to figure out how the line may develop.

“We’ll start with our own guys,” Carroll said. “That’s what we’re trying to get done here.”