Carlos Dunlap

Can you with inside information (or not) explain to me why the Hawks are not resigning Carlos Dunlap. I know he had a tendency to take plays off with the Browns, but he was a contributor to the Seahawks D with his tackles and sacks total for 2021.
Is it money, age or other?

I read that Carlos isn't a 3-4 DE, he was let go by Bengals when they switched over to 3-4 too

si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/report-carlos-dunlap-could-return-to-seahawks-after-testing-free-agent-market

"...However, after being re-signed last March following a brief foray into free agency, Dunlap struggled during the first 11 games and found himself in an increasingly diminished role for Seattle's defense. He produced just 0.5 sacks and four quarterback hits through Week 12, losing playing time to the likes of Rasheem Green and Kerry Hyder. In Week 12 and Week 13, he played fewer than 10 total snaps.

Dunlap did find his groove down the stretch, racking up 8.0 sacks in the final six games, including a trio of sacks in a loss to the Rams in Week 15. With that pass rushing flurry, many expected the Seahawks to keep him on the roster for the second year of his contract, but that ended up not being the case with the team transitioning towards a hybrid 3-4 defensive scheme..."

It could be anything, money, age, skill set, performance, attitude, conflict in the dressing room, whatever. The team didn't want to retain him at $5.1M...so they didn't. That he's still a FA suggests they made a correct decision.

cuz we're rebuilding

Dunlap absolutely stank last year and isn't a DE 1 OR 2 in any system. We went ahead and upgraded with guys like Mafe and Uchenna Nwosu so keeping a lackluster, old Dunlap on roster means you're not trying to improve. Come on OP pull your head out

He'd play inside in a 3-4, and he was more of an outside rusher too.

flv2 said:

si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/report-carlos-dunlap-could-return-to-seahawks-after-testing-free-agent-market

"...However, after being re-signed last March following a brief foray into free agency, Dunlap struggled during the first 11 games and found himself in an increasingly diminished role for Seattle's defense. He produced just 0.5 sacks and four quarterback hits through Week 12, losing playing time to the likes of Rasheem Green and Kerry Hyder. In Week 12 and Week 13, he played fewer than 10 total snaps.

Dunlap did find his groove down the stretch, racking up 8.0 sacks in the final six games, including a trio of sacks in a loss to the Rams in Week 15. With that pass rushing flurry, many expected the Seahawks to keep him on the roster for the second year of his contract, but that ended up not being the case with the team transitioning towards a hybrid 3-4 defensive scheme..."

It could be anything, money, age, skill set, performance, attitude, conflict in the dressing room, whatever. The team didn't want to retain him at $5.1M...so they didn't. That he's still a FA suggests they made a correct decision.

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Was the drop off due to scheme they were running earlier in the season? He was dropping in coverage more last season (early on) once they let him focus on his strength down the stretch, he was again racking up sacks. So it could be a case they weren't playing him to his strengths. I agree he's better suited for 4-3 (as many on here have mentioned) so he's not a fit for the type of defense the Seahawks are looking to move forward with.

hawkfan68 said:

Was the drop off due to scheme they were running earlier in the season? He was dropping in coverage more last season (early on) once they let him focus on his strength down the stretch, he was again racking up sacks. So it could be a case they weren't playing him to his strengths. I agree he's better suited for 4-3 (as many on here have mentioned) so he's not a fit for the type of defense the Seahawks are looking to move forward with.

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I don't watch Seahawks games closely enough to comment on that. I don't think people outside of the Seahawks organisation will really know what the Seahawks are trying to do defensively in 2022 until we see it. Multiple teams seem to play Nickel as their base defense with 3 DL, 2 LB, and a hybrid player who can play DE in 4DL sets but can also play edge control or ILB with zone coverage duties. Teams don't play a true 3-4 or 4-3 system because of the proliferation of spread offenses. Hybrid defenses require hybrid players, (which should be a better fit for Adams in a 5th DB role).

misfit said:

cuz we're rebuilding

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That didn't stop Quandre Diggs and Al Woods from being brought back.