Seahawks sign veteran Jamar Taylor for depth at cornerback

The Seahawks signed cornerback Jamar Taylor on Thursday in hopes he will create quality depth at cornerback. What does Taylor add to Seattle?

The Seahawks are beginning to make free agent moves. On Wednesday, Seattle signed edge rusher Ziggy Ansah. Thursday Seattle signed Jamar Taylor. Taylor isn’t nearly the splash signing that Ansah was. In fact, Taylor may not even make the 2019 Seattle roster. But clearly Seattle is looking for depth at cornerback so Taylor’s signing may be more about a lack of confidence in Seattle’s current corners that hope Taylor will be good.

Taylor ideally might fill the need that the Seahawks have at nickel corner as Justin Coleman left in free agency. Coleman was great over the last couple of seasons with Seattle. His loss this offseason may be underrated. If Seattle cannot find Coleman’s replacement before the season, other teams will exploit this weakness.

Taylor has good size for a nickel corner. He is an inch short of being six feet tall. Nickel corners can’t be too tall as they normally cover smaller and shiftier receivers. Akeem King, who Seattle might see as taking over for Coleman, is bigger than Taylor. King did a decent job at nickel in limited time in 2018 but no one can say he is a long-term answer at the position. Taylor could be.

Or it could be that Seattle might slide Delano Hill down into the slot. Possibly 2019 draftee Ugo Amadi will take over. Taylor was cut by the Cardinals in 2018 and he played for a couple of seasons on terrible Cleveland Browns teams. Maybe he isn’t good enough to play for a playoff-contending team. No matter, Taylor’s signing shows that Seattle is still trying to find Coleman’s replacement and that could be a problem in 2019.