How Seahawks' salary-cap picture looks after signing Derick Hall

The first rule of understanding NFL contracts these days: the details released later often tell a different story than the numbers released when first reported.

The new contract for Seahawk rush end Derick Hall is no exception.

While the deal is unquestionably a good one for Hall - guaranteeing him more than twice as much money up front as he's made so far in his NFL career - the final details unveiled Friday reveal it's more team friendly than may have been thought.

Hall's contract was advertised at signing as a three-year contract through the 2029 season worth up to $42 million with $21 million guaranteed.

All those numbers are true if just incomplete.

As reported by OvertheCap.com and Spotrac.com, Hall's signing guarantee is a little over $15 million - made up mostly of a $13.9 million signing bonus and a $1.25 million salary for 2026.

Most of the other almost $6 million in guarantees comes if he's on the roster next Feb. 10, mostly in the form of a $2.9 million salary for the 2027 season.

Another $1.506 million becomes guaranteed if he is still on the roster in February 2027. Hall's salaries jump to nonguaranteed numbers of $9.23 million in 2028 and $12.73 million in 2029.

As Spotrac notes, that makes it a deal the Seahawks could get out of after the 2027 season if desired, paying Hall just over $19 million and taking a $6.5 million dead cap hit.

The contract is most realistically viewed as a three-year deal in which Hall will make $28 million from 2026-28.

That's because, as is a usual contract structure in the NFL, the cap numbers rise sharply in the final years.

Hall's cap hits for the next four years are: $6.27 million, $7.43 million, $13.75 million and $17.25 million.

In the final year of the deal, Hall carries a $3.25 million dead-cap hit with cap savings of $14 million if he were released.

In other words, Hall is going to have to earn the final year of the deal, or more likely, the contract will be renegotiated heading into that final season.

Some had questioned initially if the Seahawks overpaid in giving Hall a contract averaging $14 million a season considering he had just two sacks last season and has 10 for his career.

But as the details show, the deal is officially four years and $42 million, with the 2026 season folded into it, and Hall is actually averaging $9.3 million over the next three seasons before he would get $14 million in 2029.

At $14 million per, Hall has the 28th-highest average-per-year salary, according to Spotrac.com. But the $9.3 million he is making over the next three years - which is a more realistic view - ranks him 38th.

There is an additional $4.5 million in performance incentives available over the life of the deal.

All of this is a healthy and much-deserved payday for Hall, who was averaging $2.278 million a season on his rookie deal and whose true worth to team in his run-defending and overall usage is viewed as far greater than the raw stat of two sacks last season indicates.

It simply is less risky for the Seahawks than was initially portrayed.

Hall was due to have a cap hit of $2.9 season for 2026 and that more than doubles to $6.247 million and brings the Seahawks down to $25.493 million in remaining available cap space.

That leaves the Seahawks with the 12th most remaining in the NFL and flexibility to make more additions if opportunities and needs arise.

They have one big extension still to complete this year with cornerback Devon Witherspoon.

Witherspoon, the fifth overall pick of the 2023 draft, is likely seeking a contract at or just above that of Trent McDuffie of the Rams, who signed a new deal earlier this year making him the highest-paid corner in the NFL at $31 million a season.

New England's Christian Gonzalez is also seeking a contract extension and likely hoping to become the new highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. Witherspoon and Gonzalez are each represented by Athletes First.

A new deal for Witherspoon could be structured to bring down his 2026 cap number of $10.137 million by backloading the cap hits.

But a new contract for Witherspoon would undoubtedly include a significant signing bonus - McDuffie got $50 million fully guaranteed at signing, a number Witherspoon would likely want to meet if not surpass.

The Seahawks have undoubtedly been managing the cash budget this offseason with that in mind after signing receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a new deal earlier this spring that included a $35 million signing bonus and just over $69 million fully guaranteed at signing.

The Seahawks' long-range cap and cash budget planning includes the likelihood of needing to sign quarterback Sam Darnold to a new deal next offseason, a time when veteran defensive linemen Uchenna Nwosu and Leonard Williams will also be free agents along with kicker Jason Myers. That's also when defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and tight end AJ Barner will be eligible for extensions. Safety Julian Love and linebacker Ernest Jones IV might also be candidates for new contracts next offseason.

The Seahawks' cap situation for this season is about as healthy as can be.

The Seahawks have just $512,823 in dead money on this year's cap - meaning cap space allotted to players who are no longer on the roster (all of it for two recently-drafted players who are no longer with the team, offensive lineman Sataoa Laumea and running back Damien Martinez).

The next-lowest team is Denver at just over $3.4 million, while the Dolphins have the most at a whopping $179.2 million, because of issues such as having a $55.4 million dead cap hit for former QB Tua Tagovailoa and $28.2 million for former receiver Tyreek Hill.

Not that the Seahawks won't have challenges going forward - some of the recent extensions mean they already are listed as having just $28.1 million in cap space available for 2027, in the lower half of the league.

That includes a $44 million cap hit for Darnold, a number that makes clear the team will work to get him a new deal next offseason - one that will secure him beyond the 2027 season while bringing down his cap hit for that year. They will have the flexibility to create space by redoing or potentially moving on from the contracts of veterans such as Cooper Kupp, Jarran Reed and DeMarcus Lawrence.

But the Seahawks' overall clean cap and potentially having 12 draft picks in 2027 to add an influx of cap-controlled young players are reasons why the future remains bright for the Seahawks.

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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 4:56 PM.