Seahawks Activate Deon Butler

The Seahawks activated Deon Butler Tuesday off the physically unable to preform (PUP) list.

Bulter has been mostly a disappointment since being chosen in the third round coming out of Penn St. Butler has tremendous straight line speed, but little lateral quickness and thus has a difficult time getting open. He rarely saw the field his rookie season under coach Jim Mora Jr.

Butler did make great stride last season, ending the season with 36 receptions for 385 yards and 4 touchdowns. Butler’s season ended when he was tackled in the endzone after catching a touch down week 14 against the 49ers. Butler suffered a badly broken leg, what doctors call a compound fracture. The injury also did significant damage tot he surrounding tissues, which is why it’s taken almost a full year before he’s been able to return the field.

To make room on the roster to add Butler, the Seahawks placed WR Kris Durham on IR. That move was a bit surprising, as the Seahawks hadn’t announced that Durham had been hurt. Durham was not listed on the injury report last week, and did not play in Sunday’s game. Initial reports are the Durham has a labrum injury in his shoulder, but it is unclear when he suffered the injury.

Durham was a controversial pick in the 4th round this past April. Durham is a tall and quick receiver, but was not invited to the NFL combine and reportedly wasn’t on most team’s draft boards above being a possible 7th round pick. Durham played well in the pre-season and during training camp, but has not seen much of the field so far this season..

To be eligible for the PUP list, a player must be injured before the start of training camp (either a lingering injury from the previous season or an off-season injury) and must be have been unable to participate in any workouts or practices before final rosters are trimmed to 53 players before week 1. Players on the PUP list are automatically out 6 weeks. After that, teams have 3 weeks to either activate the player, place the player on Injured reserve (ending their season), or cut them.

The other to players that started the year on the PUP list, TE Cammeron Morrah and DB Roy Lewis, have already been activated, and both have already appeared in games for the Seahawks.