Report: Seattle Seahawks Restructure Quandre Diggs’ Final Year of Contract

After seeing his defensive backfield colleague Jamal Adams “stalled” for a record-breaking contract extension, it was suspected that Quandre Diggs would follow suit with Pro Bowl security. When he trained for a week in late August, it seemed to be exactly what he was doing, as evidenced by Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who said Diggs had “made a statement”.

But on August 31, Diggs made it clear that this was not his intention. Instead, he simply stayed out of practice – and was in danger – when he got an “insurance policy” that would protect him from injury but had no qualms about playing the Colts in Week 1.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it a statement,” Diggs told reporters. “I would just say that I had a few things to sort out for myself, just like the team had to do on business – they have things to do – and it was just something I had to do to protect myself like the team did themselves protects itself. I also have a family to support, so I had to make the best decision for myself. “

Now we know exactly what Diggs and the Seahawks were working on behind the scenes: not a new contract, but a reorganization of the last year of his current contract. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Seattle has converted the Texas native’s $ 100,000 per game bonus ($ 1.7 million) into salary. Additionally, the team gives him $ 5.05 million of his base salary upfront by converting it into a signature bonus while adding an invalid year to distribute the financial achievement.

As Diggs hinted at in his press conference in late August, this is a deal that will benefit not only him but the Seahawks as well. According to OverTheCap.com founder Jason Fitzgerald, this is expected to open up $ 2.6 million in salary caps, bringing Seattle to $ 11.6 million in available funds.

On Monday, the Seahawks struck a similar deal with veteran offensive tackle Duane Brown, who, unlike Diggs, suspended the entire training camp and preseason in hopes of securing an extension. Although he was unable to land a long-term commitment, he was able to successfully negotiate a restructuring of the previous year on his respective contract. As a result, Brown can now make up to $ 12 million in 2021 and has $ 2 million injury coverage if he can’t play in 2022 thanks to another invalid year.

After the business was done, Diggs and Brown returned to practice and will get dressed in Indianapolis this Sunday. And the Seahawks can now focus purely on football.