We’re all caught up on the contract details for every Seattle Seahawks free agent signing.
OverTheCap.com posted the details on Seattle’s three most recent acquisitions: tight end Eric Saubert, wide receiver/special teams returner Steven Sims, and cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles. As expected, these are all very cheap deals so there’s functionally zero point in getting worked up or holding any strong opinions about any of these signings.
Perhaps the one thing to note about this trio is the commonality in their contracts.
Eric Saubert
Cap number: $1,197,500
Base salary: $1,255,000
Guaranteed salary: $350,000
Signing bonus: $167,500
Shemar Jean-Charles
Cap number: $1,080,000
Base salary: $1,170,000
Signing bonus: $50,000
Steven Sims
Cap number: $1,030,000
Base salary: $1,170,000
What is the Veteran Salary Benefit?
All of the base salaries correspond with the minimums based on their respective credited seasons. Sims’ cap number being only $1,030,000 despite zero guaranteed money is the product of the Veteran Salary Benefit, which allows teams to sign players with four minimum credited seasons but only have a cap charge equivalent to two credited seasons. Any additional compensation (e.g. a signing bonus) has to max out at $167,500 to still qualify for the benefit.
In the respective cases of Saubert and Jean Charles, their cap numbers are the VSB plus their signing bonuses. The only thing really interesting to note is Saubert’s $350,000 in guaranteed salary, whereas Jean-Charles and Sims did not.
Seattle also used the VSB for wide receiver River Cracraft, whose minimum is also $1,170,000 but his cap charge is only $1,030,000. He also has no guaranteed money or signing bonuses, so his contract is identical to Sims.
Cracraft and Sims are not in Seattle’s top 51 out of their 68 players under contract, which means that up until the regular season neither one of their salaries will count toward cap calculations.
Seattle Seahawks’ current available cap space
Now that everyone is accounted for, the Seahawks’ cap room does dip a tiny bit to just over $36 million after previously being at $36.3 million. Even with over $4 million projected to sign their 2025 draft class, the Seahawks shouldn’t have any salary cap problems or extra maneuvers required in the months to come.
