Seahawks Interested In Long-Term Deal With Germain Ifedi

The Seahawks may have declined Germain Ifedi‘s fifth-year option earlier this week, but that doesn’t mean the organization is ready to move on from the lineman following the 2019 campaign. Head coach Pete Carroll told Pro Football Talk’s Curtis Crabtree that he’d still be interested in re-signing Ifedi to a long-term deal.

“Well, there’s a lot of factors,” Carroll said (via PFT’s Charean Williams). “We’re in the midst of trying to continue to fit the roster together and all that and the big demands, sometimes we can jump on it; sometimes we can’t. We love Germain. He’s grown with us. He’s become a solid football player and done a great job, started a ton of games for us and hanging in there and being tough about it. We’d love to have him. This is not an indication of anything. We like the guy and hope he’ll be with us for a long time.”

Had the Seahawks picked up the former first-rounder’s fifth-year option, Ifedi would have been due $10.35MM in 2020. Instead, the offensive lineman will now have an opportunity to test unrestricted free agency following the 2019 campaign.

Ifedi was the 31st overall pick of the 2016 draft, and he played 13 games (all starts) at right guard during his rookie campaign. He switched to right tackle for each of the last two years, and he started 31 of a possible 32 games regular season games during that span. However, his play has been underwhelming, and he barely graded out as an average tackle in 2018, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. He may even end up losing his starting job this year, as former undrafted free agent George Fant may push him for playing time.