RENTON, Wash. — Approximately two hours after signing a multiyear extension to be a cornerstone piece on Seattle’s new-look defense, Julian Love made a play that illustrated why the Seahawks were willing to pay him like an upper-echelon safety before he had played a regular-season snap in head coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme.
It was third-and-medium near the red zone, and the defense disguised its coverage. But, Love said, quarterback Geno Smith sniffed out the deception and figured he had an answer: an out-route to Jaxon Smith-Njigba near the sticks. Playing off-coverage on Smith-Njigba, Love read it, broke on it, snatched the ball away and paraded down the sideline in celebration with the majority of the defense.
“Ball was right there for me,” Love said Thursday afternoon in a post-practice news conference. “I was able to grab it, (and) got off the field.”
Last season, Love led Seattle with four interceptions, finished third on the team with 10 total passes defensed and was voted to the Pro Bowl on the original ballot, all of which contributed to the Seahawks signing him to a three-year extension worth up to $36 million on Thursday afternoon.
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Seahawks, Julian Love agree to 3-year extension
In March 2023, Love joined the Seahawks on a two-year, $12 million free-agent deal. His 2024 cap hit was initially slated to be $8.09 million (according to Over the Cap), but that number should drop, depending on the structure of the new deal, which was not immediately available Thursday.
More important than the cap savings, though, is Seattle’s feeling that the 26-year-old Love has a bright enough future to be a long-term cog in Macdonald’s new machine.
“I like a lot about his game,” Macdonald said Thursday. “Really excited for him. It’s a shout-out to him and the type of person that he is, the type of football player. Definitely the type of guy we want here. He’s worked his tail off, and hopefully he has found a home here in Seattle for a long time.”
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Love was a part-time player last season behind Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, but now he’s basically the veteran leader in the safety room — even though free-agent addition Rayshawn Jenkins is a few years older — and with that role comes a great deal of responsibility, particularly with communication. As a former team captain with the New York Giants who occasionally wore the green dot as the play caller, Love is already equipped to step into that space.
“Julian is a guy that’ll shoot you straight and hit you between the eyes on stuff, and you respect that,” Macdonald said. “Has a great perspective on what he’s been through, what he expects, the temperature from the locker room, (and) can translate some of the messaging. That and just being a great football player.”
Love is one of two starting safeties along with Jenkins, who signed a two-year, $12 million deal in March after playing the last three seasons in Jacksonville. The Jaguars used him primarily as a strong safety, and he was effective in that role, totaling more than 100 tackles, two interceptions and nine total passes defensed last season. But Jenkins was drawn to Seattle because he views the team as a contender and envisions being unleashed at multiple spots, highlighting his ability to play strong safety, free safety, nickel and dime if needed.
Moving safeties around is not a novel concept, but what players have said about Macdonald’s scheme is that the idea is to be so interchangeable from down to down that the offense really has to be on top of it to beat whatever they have called.
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Jenkins spent his first four seasons with the Chargers, and he said between his time there and with Jacksonville, it’s been tough for him to fool the offense; teams knew he was likely going to be in the post because of the Chargers’ scheme tendencies. Jacksonville’s schemes were at times equally predictable, with opponents knowing he’d likely be rotating down into the tackle box.
Macdonald’s goal is to avoid such stagnancy. Second-year defender Devon Witherspoon is part of that puzzle, too. He’s arguably the most versatile defender on the roster, and he demonstrated that last year, with his ability to blitz and bounce from left cornerback to nickel all within the same drive. Witherspoon is more of a corner than safety, but between him, Jenkins and Love, Seattle’s vision is for the offense to think twice about who’s coming at them, and from where.
On Love’s interception, for example, Seattle appeared to be keeping a lid on the defense, but that turned out to not be the case. Smith figured it out ahead of time, but it didn’t matter — the defense won the rep and turned the offense over.
“For us to be successful, I think we have to be multiple,” Love said. “We have so much talent, but it makes no sense if the talent is lined up in the same spot every play. Moving guys around, we’re going to be really fluid in that. What that takes is higher responsibility for guys to learn more things. … If you look at what the Ravens were doing defensively last year, guys were everywhere. That’s what we need to get to. And we have the ability, which is so exciting.”
Love and Jenkins view themselves similarly in that they’ve been productive but haven’t been held in high regard like other players at their position. “An underdog of sorts” is how Love described Jenkins. That changed for Love last year when he made the Pro Bowl, and the recognition continues to come his way, as he just made his debut on the NFL Top 100 list — voted on by the players — at No. 95.
When asked about his personal goals for the season, Jenkins said, “Play to the best of my ability, and just get the exposure I feel like I deserve.”
“I’ve been amongst the top defenders in the league the last two years, but the recognition isn’t always there because of whatever it may be, but hopefully I’m at the right team now and the right fan base and the right coaching staff,” Jenkins added.
The Seahawks are hoping Macdonald can elevate the entire defense, but he has often said this offseason that his scheme asks a lot of its safeties, from positional versatility to pre-snap communication and veteran leadership. Love has characterized his career to this point as one big gamble on himself. The extension he received represents Seattle betting on him as well, a show of faith that his 2023 season — and plays like the interception he had Thursday — are a sign of things to come.
“You feel good when the guy you’re playing for trusts you and believes in you,” Love said of Macdonald. “From an early point, we hit it off. I think we connected in a lot of ways. I’m familiar with how he calls games, and he’s just a good guy to talk to and be around. We just connected, and I’m excited to play for him and to earn what I have going forward.”
(Photo: Steven Bisig / USA Today)
