Right tackle Ricky Wagner is expected to sign with the Detroit Lions when free agency officially begins Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, and he'll likely help set the market for offensive linemen.
Per NFL Network, Wagner's new deal will be around $9 million per year.
To put that number into perspective, the Seattle Seahawks have $8.3 million committed to their entire offensive line in 2017.
Wagner's projected deal should make it clear that the Seahawks are not going to be players for the top free-agent offensive linemen, and they might have to get creative to upgrade their position of biggest need.
Seattle has just under $25 million in cap space, which ranks 20th in the NFL. In a perfect world, the Seahawks would add a starting-caliber tackle who could bring veteran leadership and compete with George Fant and Garry Gilliam for a starting job. But given the need at tackle around the league, that might be difficult.
Players such as Russell Okung, Andrew Whitworth, Mike Remmers, Riley Reiff, Matt Kalil and Ryan Clady will be available. But as general manager John Schneider said at the combine, the Seahawks have a threshold for each player they consider signing and have no plans to overpay just because they have a glaring hole.
What are their other options? One would be to focus on guard in free agency, with Germain Ifedi moving over to right tackle. The Seahawks initially drafted Ifedi to play tackle but moved him to guard during his rookie season, and coach Pete Carroll said the plan is to keep Ifedi on the interior.
Of course, plans can change. Particularly with the Seahawks. And particularly on the offensive line. Ifedi has the physical tools to play tackle even though he battled through injuries and inconsistencies in his first season. Moving him outside would provide the Seahawks with more options, perhaps a guard such as T.J. Lang or Brian Schwenke.
One thing to keep in mind is that Schneider prides himself on exploring pretty much every deal even if the Seahawks bow out of most of them. That's particularly important this year.
Seattle has a championship-caliber defense, and quarterback Russell Wilson should be entering his prime. In the weeks ahead, the Seahawks must explore every avenue -- free agency, trades, the draft -- to avoid having the offensive line be a liability going into 2017. And they have to do better than last year, when the Seahawks came out of free agency with J'Marcus Webb and Bradley Sowell.
Since Schneider and Carroll took over, the Seahawks have used 14 draft picks on offensive linemen, tied for most in the NFL over that span. But whether because of talent evaluation or player development, the picks haven't panned out.
That's why the Seahawks are in the position they're in, and with the Super Bowl window wide open, that's why the moves they make in the weeks ahead are so important.