The Seattle Seahawks could have one of the league’s best bargains locking down the back end of their secondary.
Veteran safety Julian Love is earning some big praise after his performance over the last two seasons, making his way onto the list of the league’s top safeties. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler surveyed league executives, who shared some big praise for Love and the impact he has had on the Seahawks’ secondary.
Julian Love Earns Big Praise From League Insiders
As Fowler noted, Love was one of the NFL’s top-performing safeties in 2024 and has a knack for creating turnovers.
“Love has used his two-year stint in Seattle to catapult his career, racking up 7 interceptions, 22 pass deflections and 232 total tackles,” Fowler wrote. “His 21.8% ball-hawking rate topped all safeties with at least 50 targets this past season.”
League executives share the sentiment, ranking Love as the No. 1o safety in the NFL. That leaves a bargain for the Seahawks, who initially signed Love to a two-year contract with $12 million in 2023 before giving him a raise last year, inking him to a three-year, $33 million extension.
One unnamed league executive said that Love’s rise is even more impressive given that he only switched to safety after entering the NFL.
“Range, dart, combo of physicality and ball production. Has developed into a high-end player,” an NFC executive said. “Remarkable for a guy that was primarily a corner in college.”
Julian Love Finally Getting His Due
Love made an immediate impact after joining the Seahawks, making 123 tackles in 2023 and following it up with 109 tackles and three interceptions last season. Justin Melo of USA Today’s Seahawks Wire noted that he has been a stabilizing force for the Seahawks amid some changes in the secondary.
“The Seahawks have undergone some change at safety this offseason,” Melo wrote. “They released Rayshawn Jenkins, officially promoting Coby Bryant to a full-time role. They also drafted Nick Emmanwori in the second round, trading up 17 spots to land the athletic defender.
“Love returns as the constant in Macdonald’s defensive backfield. His abilities and value shouldn’t go underappreciated. Pro Football Focus recently named every team’s most underrated player. To nobody’s surprise, Love was the selection for the Seahawks.”
Jonathan Macri of Pro Football Focus named Love the team’s most underrated player, noting that he was one of the best against both the pass and run.
“Love came through with a career year in 2024 as a seemingly perfect fit in Mike MacDonaldâs defense, which led to a more complete showing,” Macri wrote. “Love finished sixth at the position in PFF overall grade (81.2) and was one of only two safeties (Kyle Hamilton) to rank in the top 10 in PFF run-defense grade (89.5) and PFF coverage grade (76.1) this past season.”
The Seahawks will likely continue to lean on Love, who is under contract through the 2027 season. The team could also look to the defense to take on a bigger role after going through some big changes on offense, parting ways with quarterback Geno Smith and wide receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf while bringing in Sam Darnold to lead the offense.
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