Seattle Seahawks guard Ryan Neal (26) walks through the tunnel on his way to the field before the start of the NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Pete Custer/The News Tribune
The Seahawks have taken the first step to keeping one of their most productive and popular players recently.
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They may need to take more.
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The NFL released its official list of free agents plus those restricted free agents tendered contract offers to remain with their teams. It showed Seattle gave safety Ryan Neal the tender offer at the level of right of first refusal. That’s the lowest of three tender-offer levels. It’s worth $2,627,000 on a one-year deal for the 2023 season.
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The tender gives the Seahawks the right to match any offer Neal, 27, might receive from another team. If he signs with another team, Seattle gets nothing.
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The higher tender levels would have brought the Seahawks draft-pick compensation if another team were to sign Neal. But higher tenders result in more expensive one-year contracts, and Seattle is managing their salary-cap space to rebuild the defensive front seven.
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The move with Neal could also indicate the Seahawks remain hopeful of signing their strong safety for the majority of the last two seasons to a multiyear contract to keep him beyond 2023. The tender offer affords the team time to do that before the summer.
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Neal said the day after Seattle’s 2022 season with a playoff loss at San Francisco two months ago he needed “clean-up” surgery on his knee this offseason.
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Not offering him a tender would have made Neal a free agent. That’s what happened to Seattle’s other restricted free agents. Wide receiver Penny Hart, reserve linebacker and special-teams player Tanner Muse and backup running back Tony Jones are now unrestricted free agents able to sign with any team, the league announced.
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Neal emerged as a trusted tackler on third downs and an outspoken resident of the locker room first as the Seahawks’ sixth, dime defensive back then as the replacement for injured Jamal Adams in the 2021 and ‘22 season.
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Adams tore the quadriceps tendon and injured his knee in the first half of the first game last season, blitzing in on Denver quarterback Russell Wilson. He’s yet to play a full season in the three years since Seattle traded a two first-round draft choices to the New York Jets then gave Adams a $70 million contract, a record for a safety in the NFL.
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Full recoveries from torn quadriceps tendons are no sure things. The Seahawks likely want and need Neal as proven insurance paired with Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs in the back of their defense.
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Adams posted online recently on his social-media accounts him running without a limp on a treadmill, continuing his rehabilitation from his latest major injury following shoulder and finger surgeries two years ago.
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“He’s making his progress. He’s doing his stuff,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said two weeks ago at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “We’ll see him in the next week or so in person, so we’re anxious to get connected with him. But when he came out and visited with other guys and checked in, everything’s going the way it’s supposed to go.
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“It is a difficult recovery. …really intricate and they got to do a really good job. And again, it’s always, you’ve got to avoid the setbacks.
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“As long as we can do that, then he should be on schedule and be back (for the season).”
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Here’s the full list of the Seahawks’ unrestricted free agents, as of the start of the league year Wednesday:
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