A trio of players selected by Seattle in the 2022 draft are set to see their salaries increase in 2025 thanks to the collective bargaining agreement.
Just a pair of games remains in the 2024 season for the Seattle Seahawks, and in recent weeks the Hawks have fumbled away control of their playoff destiny with back-to-back losses to the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
Thursday the Seahawks will have the opportunity against the Chicago Bears to avoid going winless against the NFC North this season, but regardless of the Thursday Night Football outcome, a trio of Hawks are in line to see their 2025 salaries increase in the offseason.
There are, of course, several members of the roster who could receive a contract extension and corresponding pay raise in the offseason, but this post is not about those players. This post is about the three members of the 2022 draft class for Seattle who have qualified for the proven performance escalator of the collective bargaining agreement.
For those fans who are unfamiliar with the PPE, under Article 7, Section 4 of the 2020 CBA players drafted in the second round or later who exceed certain playing time thresholds or make the Pro Bowl during the first three seasons of their rookie contract qualify for the PPE. Qualifying for the PPE results in an automatic increase in the base salary in the fourth year of the player’s contract.
For players drafted in the second round, the requisite playing time threshold is
- 60% of snaps played during two of the first three seasons of their rookie contract or
- 60% of all snaps played during the duration of the first three seasons of their rookie contract.
Neither of those are relevant for Seattle, as neither Kenneth Walker nor Boye Mafe will reach these thresholds. If the Seahawks somehow play an NFL record 100+ snaps in each of their final two games and Mafe is on the field for every single snap, then he could qualify, but the odds of that happening are negligible.
For players selected in the third through seventh rounds, there are two relevant playing time thresholds:
- 55% of snaps played during two of the first three seasons of their rookie contract,
- 55% of all snaps played during the duration of the first three seasons of their rookie contract,
- 35% of snaps played during two of the first three seasons of their rookie contract or
- 35% of all snaps played during the duration of the first three seasons of their rookie contract.
Alternatively, as noted earlier, a player selected in any of the second through seventh rounds can also qualify by making the Pro Bowl during any of the first three seasons of their rookie contract.
This is relevant for the Seahawks because:
- Riq Woolen made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2022
- Coby Bryant played 65% of defensive snaps in 2022 and has played 66% of defensive snaps so far in 2024
- Abraham Lucas has played a hair over 50% of all offensive snaps for the Seahawks since 2022.
What this means, assuming that Bryant stays above the 55% threshold over the final two games is that:
- Woolen’s 2025 base salary will increase to an estimated $5.217M ($5.3M cap hit)
- Bryant’s 2025 base salary will increase to an estimated $3.435M ($3.637M cap hit)
- Lucas’s 2025 base salary will increase to an estimated $3.185M ($3.46M cap hit)
The raises are automatic and can only be avoided by the Seahawks by waiving the player or by renegotiating the contract. Since each of these players would be unlikely to pass through waivers unclaimed, it will be necessary for Seattle to create the cap space necessary to keep all three around, which will be just another piece of the puzzle for the Hawks as they prepare to enter an offseason in which several key decisions will need to be made.