A few bad moments early might have obscured the bigger picture of the Seahawks’ special teams units in 2022.
And that is that by just about any metric you want to use, Seattle’s special teams were among the best in the NFL last season.
To cite one, longtime NFL writer Rick Gosselin rates each NFL team’s special teams at the end of each season by, as he puts it, assigning points to their standing in 22 different kicking-game categories. One is for best, 32 for worst.
Seattle finished with just 269.5 points, second-fewest of all teams behind Houston’s 255.
Seattle’s special teams were keyed by kicker Jason Myers, who made the Pro Bowl, and punter Michael Dickson, who turned in another season worthy of a bid, as well as kick and punt units that each had substantially better averages for the season than their opponents.
As we conclude our review of the Seahawks position groups heading into the offseason, let’s look more closely at Seattle’s special teams.
Special teams
Kicker Jason Myers
Age: 31
Contract situation: Last month, Myers signed a four-year contract that can pay him up to $21.1 million.
Punter Michael Dickson
Age: 27
Contract situation: Dickson has three seasons left on a contract signed before the 2021 season that will pay him a base salary of $2 million in 2023.
Snapper Carson Tinker
Age: 33
Contract situation: Unrestricted free agent.
2022 review
As noted, Myers had another standout year, hitting 34 of 37 field goals and 41 of 42 point after attempts, including making all six from 50 and beyond to tie a team record. And when it was over, he also led the NFL in points scored with 143.
Dickson finished second in the NFL with a net average per punt of 44.4, and an overall punting average of 48.5 per kick for the 2022 season raised his career average to 47.57, the best in NFL history.
Seattle was also ninth in kickoff return average at 24.3, thanks largely to the emergence of midseason pickup Godwin Igwebuike, and averaged 3.4 yards more per kickoff than opponents and 0.9 yards per punt return.
There were some stumbles.
Fumbled or botched punt returns led to touchdowns in early games against the 49ers and Lions, a decision by Dickson to take off running when he didn’t think he could get a rugby punt off against the Saints led to a New Orleans TD in a game Seattle lost by seven, and a failure to call the proper punt blocking led to an Arizona touchdown in a game in Seattle.
But when it was over, it was the third straight year the Seahawks finished in the top five in Gosselin’s ratings, the last two seasons coming after Larry Izzo took over as the special teams coordinator after having been assistant special teams coordinator the previous three seasons.
2023 preview
The Seahawks got the big question of the offseason in this spot answered early by re-signing Myers to a new four-year deal.
With Dickson under contract for three more years, the Seahawks are assured of having what has been one of the best kicking duos in the NFL the past four years under contract though 2025.
The one unanswered question left is at snapper. Tinker took over when Tyler Ott suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery. Both are now unrestricted free agents, with 2022 marking the last year of a three-year extension Ott signed in 2019 and Tinker having signed a one-year deal when he came to Seattle in September.
Seattle will obviously need to sign a snapper at some point, be it Ott, Tinker or someone else. Ott had been Seattle’s snapper since the end of the 2016 season before his injury, making him the second-longest tenured player on the team other than Tyler Lockett.
Igwebuike is now an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he’ll return as long as Seattle gives him a qualifying tender and surely enter 2023 as the leader in the kickoff return competition
DeeJay Dallas and Dee Eskridge handled all the other kickoff returns this year and both remain under contract for 2023.
Dallas was also the primary punt returner this year, though Lockett took a few, as well.
And as always, Seattle could look to add some competition at the return spots and particularly the punt return position.
One internal candidate is receiver Easop Winston Jr, a former WSU standout who signed to the practice squad late in the year and then to a futures contract after the season. Winston was lauded by coach Pete Carroll for his work on punt returns in practice this year and handled 10 for the Saints in 2021 for 119 and could get a long look at that job in camp this year.
Seattle will also have to answer the question of whether it wants to bring back Nick Bellore for another season at age 34. Bellore, now a free agent, is listed as both a fullback and linebacker but his primary job is on special teams where he has been the special teams captain the past two seasons as voted on by teammates. He has three straight seasons with 14 or more tackles on coverage units. His 14 this year were six more than anyone else on the team and tied for seventh in the NFL. His 352 snaps on special teams were also the most on the team.