The Seattle Seahawks’ first major move of the offseason was to sign veteran tight end Greg Olsen to the roster before the new league year even began. Seattle next brought back a couple tight ends on one-year deals then selected two more in this year’s NFL Draft.
The Seahawks added former Stanford standout Colby Parkinson in the fourth round to give quarterback Russell Wilson a hulking target this season. At six-foot-seven, Parkinson also brings versatility as far as blocking is concerned.
“The frame,” Seahawks general manager John Schneider said during an interview on 710 ESPN Seattle on Friday. “He still has a huge upside and his hands are ridiculous. We think he has a chance to develop into a better blocker. He has the frame to develop.”
Seattle also traded back into the draft in the seventh round to pick LSU tight end, Stephen Sullivan, who the Seahawks have listed as a wide receiver.
“Sullivan was a guy who basically he’d agreed with another team, so we were able to get back into the draft and put him on our team,” Schneider explained. “He was caught off guard. He’s just a great kid and has obviously been through a ton, but there was a little bit of a scramble going on there right at the end and I was just really excited for the kid. It was really fun.”
So why all the tight ends? Coach Pete Carroll has an easy answer.
“We’re loading up, we’re loading up,” Carroll said after the draft. “We’re really excited. You’re going to hear me every time go right back to competition. It can’t be better than this one. The guys are different too. We have unique players . . . They’re just different style players. And, again, we always like that. Let the games begin, we’ll see what happens and we’ll see how it goes and really make it a great spot for us.”
The Seahawks head into their virtual offseason with six tight ends all set to compete to make the 2020 53-man roster.
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