With the summer doldrums of the slowest part of the NFL news cycle just ahead, the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday formally announced the contract extension for edge rusher Derick Hall that had been widely reported on Tuesday.
As fans await the details of the contract, the reaction from some fans around the league has been to question why the Seahawks would sign a player with just ten career sacks to a $42M contract. Meanwhile, Seattle fans who have watched Hall blossom in recent seasons have mostly
been overjoyed after locking down an explosive, young edge rusher who still has upside and potential that remain untapped.
Specifically, in the case of Hall, it’s the “young” portion of that sentence that makes the extension so tantalizing and appealing. Namely, when it comes to youth, Hall just turned 25 in March, meaning the three-year contract extension now has him under contract with the Seahawks through his age 28 season.
The relevance of that may not be readily apparent for some, but it comes down to the simple fact that for the overwhelming majority of players, the peak of their performance and their prime seasons in the NFL takes place during their late 20s, very often in their age 27 and 28 seasons. Thus, the upside potential for the team on the contract is huge given that Hall is now under contract through what should be the prime of his career.
In contract, former Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe, who of course departed for the Cincinnati Bengals during free agency this spring was a 24-year old rookie in 2022 and will turn 28 during the 2026 season. Thus, while it may be easy to compare 2023 second rounder Hall to 2022 second rounder Mafe, in terms of upside and potential Hall likely has much greater room for growth due to his youth.
Similarly, several members of Hall’s teammates from the 2023 draft class will also play the 2026 season at 25, or even younger. Those Seahawks from the 2023 draft class for whom that is the case include:
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (24 years old)
- Zach Charbonnet (25 years old)
- Anthony Bradford (25 years old)
- Mike Morris (25 years old)
That youth, combined with the Seahawks having already extended two members of the draft class, gives the group the potential to have an even greater long-term impact on the franchise than the 2022 class. The 2022 draft class delivered a Lombardi Trophy, as they played key roles in the 29-13 thumping of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, but that was before Mafe, Kenneth Walker, Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen all left in free agency.
Coming back to Hall, a big part of the attractiveness of extending Hall at this point is the fact that in spite of the fact that he had been set to enter the final year of his rookie contract, he is younger than many players drafted after him. Just a handful of examples include several members of the 2024 Seahawks draft class for whom the 2026 season will be their age 26 season or higher, including Christian Haynes (26), Tyrice Knight (26) and Michael Jerrell (27). That’s not to say these three players will never develop into starting caliber players in the NFL, it’s simply a statement that these three entered the NFL closer to having reached the age at which players reach their athletic peak, meaning they may have less upside when it comes to development.
That’s not a revelatory statement by any means, just something for fans to keep in mind as they debate the pluses and minuses of extending Hall, as well as other members of the roster, at this time.
