Last offseason, the Seattle Seahawks signed Julian Love, a former New York Giants safety, to a two-year, $12 million deal. After just one season, the Seahawks were impressed enough to offer him a pay raise. According to ESPN, Love has now received a three-year extension potentially worth up to $36 million.
While the “up to $36 million” figure doesn’t provide a precise average annual value (AAV), if Love performs at his best, the contract could equate to a $12 million AAV, which would rank ninth among safeties. The market reset earlier in May when Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed a four-year extension worth $84.1 million, averaging $21.025 million per year.
In 2023, Love had a standout season with 123 combined tackles, two forced fumbles, 10 passes defensed, and four interceptions, earning his first Pro Bowl selection and debuting at No. 95 on the NFL’s top 100 players of 2024 list.
Originally drafted in the fourth round by the Giants out of Notre Dame in 2019, Love has intercepted at least one pass in each of his five NFL seasons, totaling nine, and has accumulated 414 combined tackles over 81 career games.
Seattle is undergoing significant changes this offseason, having parted ways with top safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and longtime head coach Pete Carroll. New head coach Mike Macdonald, previously the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, steps in. Macdonald’s 2023 Ravens defense led the NFL in points per game (16.5), sacks (60), and takeaways (31).
