Day 3 of NFL free agency for Seahawks: A deal with a former UW Husky, at a needy spot
The Seahawks have entered their typical portion of the annual NFL free-agent market.
The secondary, lower-cost wave.
They agreed to terms Tuesday night with tight end Pharaoh Brown on a one-year contract reportedly worth $3.2 million. Then Wednesday morning, Seattle began day three of the free-agent negotiating period by agreeing with former University of Washington All-Pac-12 center Nick Harris on another one-year deal.
Harris is to get a base salary of $2.51 million, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
Also Wednesday, the Seahawks agreed to bring back reserve cornerback Artie Burns on a one-year contract.
A new safety
The Seahawks reached agreement with veteran safety Rayshawn Jenkins on what’s believed to be a two-year contract.
The 30-year-old Jenkins has played strong safety for most of his seven NFL seasons. He was a fourth-round draft choice by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017. He played his first four pro seasons for the Chargers. He started all 34 regular-season games the last two years for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jenkins and 2023 Pro Bowl selection Julian Love could be Seattle’s new safety pairing for 2024. The team cut Pro Bowl veteran safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs last week.
Return of George Fant
The Seahawks brought back an offensive tackle from their past, agreeing to a free-agent contract with veteran George Fant. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero was the first to report that.
Fant, who turns 32 in July, started 13 games at tackle last season for the Houston Texans, a playoff team. The Seahawks brought him into the NFL in 2016 as a former college basketball player at Western Kentucky with almost no organized football experience beyond youth years.
Seattle’s starting right tackle Abe Lucas was sidelined for much of last season with chronic knee pain. Lucas had surgery this offseason in hopes of fixing that pain.
Restricted free agent deals
Seattle tendered offers to restricted free agents cornerback Michael Jackson and linebacker Jon Rhattigan. Jackson is a 5th-round tender. That means if Seattle doesn’t match any offer he might get elsewhere the team gets a fifth-round pick as compensation. Rhattigan is right-of-first-refusal tender, without draft-pick compensation if he signs elsewhere.
Draft-round tenders carry more expensive salaries for the upcoming season that the bottom-tier right-of-first-refusal tender.
A league source told The News Tribune the Seahawks re-signed linebacker Darrell Taylor to a new contract before the deadline for restricted free agency of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Taylor, the team’s second round pick in 2020, will return for 2024 on a new deal.
Seattle did not tender an offer to qualifying restricted free agent Jake Curhan. The offensive lineman thus became an unrestricted free agent, available to sign with any team.
As of Wednesday morning, Harris and Brown were Seattle’s only two agreements on contracts with free agents from other teams.
Harris’ offensive line coach at UW was Scott Huff.
Harris’ offensive line coach on the Seahawks will be...Scott Huff. Last month Seattle hired Huff, the Huskies’ O-line coach from 2017 through January, to be the Seahawks’ offensive line coach for new head man Mike Macdonald.
The Cleveland Browns drafted Harris in the fifth round in 2020. He made four starts in three seasons for Cleveland. Interestingly for Seattle, two of those starts for the Browns were at right guard.
John Schneider has valued versatility in interior offensive linemen throughout his 15 years as the Seahawks’ general manager. The more positions a lineman can play, the more Schneider wants him on Seattle’s roster.
The Seahawks drafted Olu Oluwatimi last year to, they hope, eventually become their starting center. He made one start as a rookie last season, in October when injuries made starting center Evan Brown move over to guard for one game.
Brown’s one-year contract expired at the end of last season.
The Seahawks have needs at both guard positions for 2024. Damien Lewis, the team’s starting left guard in recent seasons, agreed this week with the Carolina Panthers on a four-year, $53 million contract. Phil Haynes, Seattle’s starter at right guard in 2023, remained unsigned in free agency Wednesday.
The Seahawks have had nine players start a game at center in the nine years since they traded Pro Bowl center Max Unger to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham.
The Seahawks and all other NFL teams will begin announcing the contracts they have agreed to this week after 1 p.m. Seattle time Wednesday. That’s when the new league year begins, and after which time free-agent signings can become official.
The Seahawks’ big spend of their $50 million in salary-cap space this free-agent period was on signing defensive tackle Leonard Williams to a three-year deal worth up to $64.5 million to keep him from leaving in free agency. Williams flew from Japan to Seattle to sign his new deal at team headquarters on Tuesday.
Seahawks free agency tracker
Seattle’s unrestricted free agents for 2024 (in alphabetical order):
LB Jordyn Brooks: To Miami
C Evan Brown
CB Artie Burns: Re-signing with Seahawks
LB Devin Bush
RB DeeJay Dallas: To Arizona
DE Mario Edwards
TE Noah Fant: Re-signing with Seahawks
G Phil Haynes
G Damien Lewis: To Carolina
QB Drew Lock: To New York Giants
TE Colby Parkinson: To Los Angeles Rams
OT Jason Peters
LB Bobby Wagner: To Washington
DT Leonard Williams: Re-signing with Seahawks
This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 7:55 AM.
