Why this Seahawks Sunday off from training-camp practice was a great day for Charles Cross
When asked about his contract situation Saturday at Seahawks training camp, the starting left tackle who is guaranteed to remain with Seattle through 2026 but wants to be here longer said he and his agent have not started talks with his team on a new deal.
'No, not yet,' he said.
The 24-year-old and Seahawks first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft also said Saturday: 'I want to be in Seattle for my career. That's something I've always thought of and wanted for myself.
'Hopefully, we can get something done and it'll go that way.'
Then came Sunday.
While Cross rested on a Seahawks day of from training-camp practices, the Los Angeles Chargers and Rashawn Slater re-set the top of the league's market for left tackles. The Chargers gave Slater, a 26-year-old two-time Pro Bowl selection, a four-year, $114 million contract with a eye-catching $92 million guaranteed, per multiple reports.
Slater is now the league's highest-paid offensive lineman at an average of $28.5 million annually. Slater's deal is higher than the $27.55 million Trent Williams averages, at age 37, for the San Francisco 49ers.
Those will be the comparisons the Seahawks and Cross' agents at Klutch Sports Group will use in negotiations on a multiyear extension Seattle general manager John Schneider would like to agree to with Cross before next year.
Schneider and the Seahawks chose this spring to exercise their fifth-year option on Cross, at $17.56 million guaranteed for 2026. They did it to ensure their cornerstone left tackle remains in Seattle beyond his rookie deal that ends after the 2025 season.
They also did it to buy time to strike a new deal beyond 2026 that would have a better salary-cap charge for next year than the $17.56 million currently on the Seahawks' books for Cross.
Comparing Cross and Slater
Slater's new deal sets the new, highest bar for left tackles. It will also raise the market value for the other left tackles that sign deals over the next year.
That's the way NFL contracts and comparative values work. Timing is everything.
Cross' agents will have a challenge to get the Seahawks to pay their client Slater money. Yet there's no doubt Cross' next payday got higher on Sunday.
The Chargers selected Slater with the 13th pick of the 2021 draft. The Seahawks selected Cross with the ninth pick of the 2022 draft. He became one of the first-round picks Seattle got from Denver in the Seahawks' trade of Russell Wilson to the Broncos in March 2022.
Cross has played 100%, 99% and 100% of the offensive snaps in his first three NFL seasons for Seattle. He missed three games because of a sprained toe in 2023.
Slater was been selected to two Pro Bowls to Cross' none. Slater has more of an injury history than Cross. Slater missed 14 of 17 games in his second NFL season of 2022 because of a torn biceps.
Another of the measurables agents use in negotiating contracts and making comps with teams on other NFL contracts is Pro Football Focus' player grades. That's particularly true for offensive linemen who don't have easily identifiable statistics of rushes, catches, yards and touchdowns.
Cross graded 10th in the league out of 140 tackles rated by PFF last season. Slater was second in the NFL, per PFF.
The 11 highest-paid offensive linemen in terms of annual average contract value begin at Slater's $28.5 million per year and go through the $20 million per season Detroit's Taylor Decker and Baltimore's Ronnie Staley get from their teams.
Cross' agents will have easier times comping their client above Decker and Staley and $20 million per year. Both at 31, Decker and Staley are each seven years older than Cross.
Cross' value rises in new Seahawks system
Cross and Seahawks tackles have added value in the new outside-zone blocking scheme arriving offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is installing in this training camp.
The point of attack for many of the outside-zone running plays is the gap between the tackle and the tight end. The ball carrier makes his decision where to cut and run based of the tackle's ability to drive his man through the destination zone of the called run.
Cross is going to have a prime chance to showcase his worth this season, particularly in run blocking and again as the backside pass protector of a right-handed quarterback, Seattle's Sam Darnold.
'We're running off the ball,' Cross said Saturday, with a smile.
'It's very exciting just being able to run off the ball. Move the line of scrimmage and create holes for our backs and let them do their thing.'
Cross the key in Kubiak's system for a lineman and a tackle in particular is 'making great decisions. Seeing the defense and being able to decide which decision is the right decision to make.'
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