Tag: Freddie Swain

Seahawks agree to terms with 1st-round pick linebacker Jordyn Brooks

Seahawks first-round pick, linebackerJordyn Brooks, reached an agreement with the team on Monday morning regarding his rookie contract.

 

The Seattle Seahawks have finally agreed to terms with the top player in their 2020 draft class, just one day before the players are set to report to training camp.

According to Field Yates of ESPN and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Seahawks and linebacker Jordyn Brooks have agreed to terms on his rookie deal, just over three months after the 2020 NFL Draft.

The most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement dictates that Brooks’ fifth-year option would become fully guaranteed should the Seahawks choose to exercise it after his third year.

Brooks now joins fourth-round tight end Colby Parkinson and sixth-round receiver Freddie Swain as the only Seahawks draft picks to sign with the team thus far. Edge rusher Darrell Taylor, guard Damien Lewis, running back DeeJay Dallas, defensive end Alton Robinson, and tight end Stephen Sullivan all remain unsigned.

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Seattle Seahawks sign receiver Freddie Swain to rookie deal

The Seattle Seahawks have now inked two of their eight 2020 draft picks to their rookie contracts following the signing of Freddie Swain.

The Seattle Seahawks have officially signed 2020 sixth round pick, wide receiver Freddie Swain, to his rookie contract.

Swain becomes the second of Seattle’s eight-man draft class to sign his rookie deal, following tight end Colby Parkinson.

All rookie contracts are four-year deals and the amount tendered is based on where they were selected in the draft. For Swain, who was selected 214st overall, he will receive a four-year deal worth $3.42 million, which includes $129,412 in signing bonuses spread out over four years.

While these deals are predetermined, the signing does have an impact on the salary cap. Swain will be a $642,353 hit against the team’s cap space in 2020, a figure that will rise incrementally each year through the 2023 season, as long as he remains on the roster.

Of course, Swain has to prove he will even make the roster first, a tall order with Seattle’s crowded wide receiver room. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are both locks to be the top two options for Russell Wilson, and Phillip Dorsett, David Moore and John Ursua are going to challenge for additional spots as well.

Add in a pair of undrafted free agents, Aaron Fuller and Seth Dawkins, and the possibility that Parkinson and/or fellow tight end Stephen Sullivan line up out wide this season, and Swain will have a lot of ground to cover if he wants to make the active roster in camp.

Even if he doesn’t, Swain will likely be a practice squad player, and he has the speed and special teams acumen to eventually be a playmaker for this Seattle offense.

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Wide Receiver David Moore could be cap casualty for Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks could cut David Moore this offseason and save $2.13 million in cap space to put toward a new defensive lineman.

Despite beginning the offseason with a plethora of cap space, the Seattle Seahawks have seen their available money dwindle through a series of small signings, including the recent additions of Carlos Hyde and Geno Smith.

However, they still have yet to make a big splash on the defensive line market, where Jadeveon Clowney remains alongside other impact pieces like Everson Griffen, Clay Matthews, Mike Daniels and Damon Harrison.

For the Seahawks to make more moves and still retain some cap space heading into the season, something general manager John Schneider has always prioritized, they may have to make more cuts.

There are a handful of ways they could go about clearing out cap space, and one includes letting go of receiver David Moore.

Moore was a seventh round pick in the 2017 NFL draft who signed an original round tender to remain with the Seahawks. The tender will pay him $2.13 million in 2020. While that’s not going to massively change Seattle’s financial outlook, it is enough to help them make an addition to the defensive line, while leaving some room to spare.

Moore is likely competing for the No. 4 receiver spot, behind Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Phillip Dorsett. John Ursua, Freddie Swain, Seth Dawkins and Aaron Fuller are all in the mix as well, and Seattle’s plethora of tight ends could push them to keep one less wide receiver than usual.

All that points to a murky future for Moore in the Emerald City, and with a bigger cap hit than any of the other receivers (outside the top three) he could find himself looking for new employment before the 2020 season begins.

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Why Washington’s Aaron Fuller could make Seahawks roster

The Seattle Seahawks love their undersized, UDFA receivers, and Aaron Fuller has a little Jermaine Kearse and a lot of Doug Baldwin in him.

The Seattle Seahawks brought in a whopping 17 undrafted free agents from the 2020 class to compete for spots on the active roster.

Most years, teams are lucky to get one UDFA to make the squad, as they are primarily brought in to give the team extra bodies during training camp.

However, the Seahawks have had plenty of luck in the past, going all the way back to Dave Krieg, and including Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin and more recently, defensive tackle Poona Ford.

Speaking of Kearse, the Seahawks are hoping another undrafted receiver out of the University of Washington, Aaron Fuller, will do enough during training camp to earn a spot on the team’s roster in 2020.

While Kearse is the obvious comparison thanks to their alma mater, Fuller actually drew a lot of comparisons to Baldwin, Seattle’s other prominent undrafted free agent receiver.

Baldwin was an unassuming, undersized slot receiver out ot Stanford who Seattle signed in 2011. He went on to haul in 493 receptions for 6,563 yards and 49 touchdowns in eight seasons with the Seahawks, retiring after the 2018 season after suffering a shoulder injury the previous year.

Fuller has some big shoes to fill that role, but at five-foot-ten and 190 pounds, and with excellent production in college and some of the best route-running skills in the NCAA coming out of UW, there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

Seattle already has their own mini-Baldwin on the roster, however, after using a seventh round pick to select John Ursua in 2019.

Ursua and Fuller are two of a handful of receivers competing for one of the final spots on Seattle’s 53-man roster, a list that includes David Moore, Penny Hart, Cody Thompson, Freddie Swain, and Seth Dawkins.

With Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Phillip Dorsett all seemingly locked into the top three receiving roles, there’s little room for error if Fuller wants to make the roster.

However, Moore is a potential cap casualty, and no one else has proven anything in the NFL – so if Fuller makes a strong impression in camp, there’s reason to believe he will be wearing the green and blue next year, and still donning the No. 2 he wore while with the Huskies.

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Will John Ursua get his chance for Seahawks in 2020?

The Seattle Seahawks traded back into the 2019 NFL draft to select John Ursua, but after a lost first season will he be a factor in 2020?

A seventh round pick in the 2019 NFL draft, receiver John Ursua caught the eye of many Seattle Seahawks fans last summer with a strong showing in training camp and in the preseason, leading many to label him (prematurely) as the next Doug Baldwin.

While Ursua does possess the craftiness that Baldwin showed, and his size and speed are similar, he still has a long ways to go to even come close to the accolades Baldwin earned in his career, and may have to fight very hard to even find himself on the game day roster in 2020.

It’s no secret that Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are the top two receiving options in Seattle, but the competition for the final few spots is plentiful: David Moore is back and he’s joined by free agent Phillip Dorsett, sixth round pick Freddie Swain and a pair of undrafted free agents in Aaron Fuller and Seth Dawkins.

Additionally, Seattle used two selections on tight ends, Colby Parkinson and Stephen Sullivan, and both could compete for roles in the slot as well.

So, where does that leave Ursua? After all, he only saw 11 snaps during the regular season last year, hauling in just one pass which fell a yard short of a touchdown against the 49ers in Week 17.

The report is that he struggled to learn the playbook, which is what kept him listed as a healthy inactive for the majority of the season. Now that he’s up to speed, coach Pete Carroll showed some optimism surrounding the NCAA’s leader in touchdowns from 2018.

“Johnny Ursua coming up, we’re excited to see where he fits into it,” Carroll told reporters at the NFL combine back in February. “He could definitely be a factor. He was the other end of the spectrum when we’re talking about young receivers. Johnny had a long way to go and had a lot to learn, and it took him longer to assimilate. But he’s getting there now and he finished out the season with us being active and all that, so there’s a lot of exciting parts to put together here.”

Of course, those quotes were before Seattle selected three pass-catchers during the draft, and before the Dorsett signing, so his path to playing time is considerably murkier.

Ursua not only has to prove he mastered the playbook, which will give him a big leg up over the rookies who could face a condensed training camp with less chances to work in front of coaches, he also needs to prove that, at age 26, he still has room to grow and develop.

His skills as a slot receiver are definitely there, but with Seattle loading up at that spot, it looks like it will be a tough sell for Ursua to find himself a part of the offense on a weekly basis in 2020.

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Freddie Swain will compete to return punts for Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks sixth rounder Freddie Swain could earn his spot on the active roster as a punt returner, a skill he thrived at in college.

The Seattle Seahawks, for the second year in a row, used the NFL draft to select three pass catchers to compete for targets from Russell Wilson.

Last year the Seahawks brought in three unique wide receivers, with two of them – DK Metcalf and John Ursua – expected to be in the mix for 2020.

This year, the team brought in two tight ends – Colby Parkinson and Stephen Sullivan – as well as speedy slot receiver Freddie Swain.

Swain has a lot of traits the Seahawks love (instincts, grit, toughness, maturity) but in a receiving room that features Tyler Lockett, Phillip Dorsett, David Moore as well as Metcalf and Ursua – Swain will have to find a way to make himself stand out if he wants to make the 53-man roster out of camp.

Perhaps the best way for him to do that is on the special teams. Swain was an elite punt returner in college, returning 39 punts for 308 yards and a touchdown at Florida.

“He’s a very good punt returner,” general manager John Schneider commented after the draft. “I would say from a special teams standpoint, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to be in the mix right away.”

The Seahawks had two players – Lockett and Moore – return punts last year, with defensive back Ugo Amadi handling a lot of returns in preseason as well.

Seattle has long hoped to transition Lockett out of a return role, wanting to protect his health, and Swain could be the guy to do it.

As for everything else, his attitude and intelligence on the football field will help him compete with Ursua and Moore for one of the final spots on the active roster.

“He’s got some swag about him, he’s a smart football player, he’s a competitor,” Schneider continued. “He’s going to be a fun guy to watch and we’re very excited. He’s one of those guys that studies his tail off. As I told you before or as I talked about last night, it’s been important for us to try and acquire players that seem to be a little bit ahead of the curve from a learning standpoint in this current environment that we’re in.”

Now that the draft is complete, the Seahawks will hold a virtual rookie minicamp before next steps are determined, as this unprecedented NFL offseason charges on.

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2020 Seahawks draft class: Meet all 8 of Seattle’s selections

A look at all eight of the Seattle Seahawks selections in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Seattle Seahawks selected eight new players to the roster throughout the seven rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft. Here’s a look at the complete 2020 Seahawks draft class with links to bios, analysis and more.

Round 1, No. 27 overall: Jordyn Brooks, Linebacker, Texas Tech

Links:

Seahawks pick Texas Tech LB Jordyn Brooks at No. 27 in 2020 NFL Draft

New Seahawks LB Jordyn Brooks draws comparisons to Bobby Wagner

Jordyn Brooks confident in pass-rush abilities

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8

Stephen Sullivan gives Seahawks another hybrid tight end/wide receiver

Stephen Sullivan is a hybrid tight end/wide receiver whom the Seattle Seahawks will hope to develop into a big slot during the 2020 season.

The Seattle Seahawks nearly saw their streak of 19 years making at least one pick in the seventh round of the NFL draft come to an end, but a last minute trade netted them the 251st overall pick in the seventh round, which they used to take LSU receiver Stephen Sullivan.

Sullivan joins Colby Parkinson and Freddie Swain as two new pass catchers on this Seattle team.

Although he is listed as a tight end by most draft analysts, the Seahawks called Sullivan a wide receiver in their draft announcement, an indication they view him as a candidate to make a position change.

At six-foot-five and 248 pounds, Sullivan truly fits the bill as.an oversized slot receiver, if that’s where Seattle wants to play him. He’s flashed potential as a physical pass catcher with speed to burn – running a 4.66 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, a mark that placed second among tight ends.

Sullivan has some work to do as a blocker, part of the reason Seattle is classifying him as a receiver, but as a developmental piece who the Seahawks can stash on the practice squad while he adjusts to the NFL – and a position change – Sullivan will be a fun player to track in 2020 and beyond.

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Seahawks get projectable slot receiver and returner in Freddie Swain

Swain is a prolific punt returner and oversized slot receiver, but concerns about his route-running could limit his performance in the NFL.

The Seattle Seahawks made their seventh, and for now final, pick in the 2020 NFL draft at the tail end of the sixth round, selecting Florida slot receiver Freddie Swain.

Swain fits what coach Pete Carroll likes in his slot receivers, with exceptional size (six-foot) and length (30 5/8 inch arms) as well as a 4.46 time in the 40-yard dash.

The athleticism is the big selling point here, as the rest of his profile is a bit shaky. Swain has not shown much discipline as a route-runner, often making predictable moves that don’t get him open. He also lacks the physicality to challenge for contested catches, something he will need to improve upon if he wants to be a target for Russell Wilson.

As is usually the case, Swain will also be considered for a role on the special teams – having returned 39 punts for 308 yards and a touchdown during his time with the Gators.

Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, Phillip Dorsett, David Moore and John Ursua represent Seattle’s receiving corps at the moment, and Swain will have to become a proficient route runner very quickly, or else make himself indispensable as a punt returner to avoid finding himself on the practice squad for the 2020 season.

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Seahawks select Florida wide receiver Freddie Swain at No. 214 overall

The Seattle Seahawks have selected Florida wide receiver Freddie Swain at No. 214 overall in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Seattle Seahawks have selected Florida wide receiver Freddie Swain at No. 214 overall in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

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