-
Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Wash. — Much like they did with left tackle Duane Brown earlier this week, the Seattle Seahawks have tweaked free safety Quandre Diggs‘ contract as a compromise in the absence of a new deal.
Diggs had been seeking an extension as he enters the final year of his current contract, which was scheduled to pay him $5.95 million in base salary with another $100,000 available in per-game roster bonuses. A source told ESPN’s Field Yates that the team converted the $100,000 into base salary and converted $5.05 million of base salary into a signing bonus while adding a void year in 2022 for cap purposes.
As was the case with Brown, the adjustment doesn’t add any new money to Diggs’ deal. But it pays the bulk of his 2021 compensation up front and essentially guarantees $100,000 that he would have had to stay healthy in order to earn.
The adjustment to Diggs’ contract also clears around $2.5 million in 2021 cap space by deferring that amount into 2022. The Seahawks pushed another $3.5 million into next year with Brown’s adjustment and now have roughly $11.6 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com.
Both Diggs and Brown are scheduled to become free agents after this season.
Diggs, 28, made his first Pro Bowl last season after setting a career high with five interceptions. He returned to practice Monday after sitting out for two weeks while he finalized an undisclosed personal financial matter that was reportedly an insurance policy.
The adjustment to Diggs’ deal brings some form of resolution to the last bit of contract-related discord the Seahawks have dealt with this offseason. The team released defensive tackle Jarran Reed in March when he declined to move money around in his contract because he was insistent on getting a new deal. Strong safety Jamal Adams held-in for the first three weeks of training camp before signing his four-year, $70 million extension. Brown returned to practice Monday, along with Diggs, after staging his own hold-in for the entirety of camp.