Seahawks sign tight end Greg Olsen which means changes will happen

Tight end Greg Olsen decided to sign with the Seahawks on Tuesday. This could be very good. It also means some roster changes are likely forthcoming.

Russell Wilson has a new target at tight end. Greg Olsen, former Carolina Panther and possibly a future Hall of Famer, chose to sign with the Seahawks on Tuesday over the Redskins and Bills. And heck, if you were Greg Olsen, wouldn’t you have made the same decision? Let’s see, you could catch passes from the greatness that is Russell Wilson or lesser mortals like the Bills’ Josh Allen or whoever happens to be the Redskins quarterback. (I’m too lazy to look that up, to be honest.) Easy choice.

Seattle signed Mr. Greg Olsen to a one-year contract worth $7 million with $5.5 million guaranteed. This is a nice contract for Seattle. Why? Because Olsen is still good and he is not expected to be great. Seattle doesn’t need him to be their number one or number target. Heck, they don’t even need him to be their number one tight end.

But signing Olsen means 12s can say goodbye to Ed Dickson and probably Tedric Thompson and most likely other players who could be roster cuts before the 2020 season. Cutting Thompson and Dickson alone, players who weren’t even on the active roster at the end of 2019, saves Seattle almost as much money as they need to pay for Olsen next season. Easy choice.

But I also have a feeling that Seattle wants to use Olsen and young and good but injury-prone tight end Will Dissly in tandem. This would allow the Seahawks to run as much as they did in 2018 as both Dissly and Olsen are big and strong and can beat a defender down. Plus, if the Seahawks want to throw to their tight ends, both Dissly and Greg Olsen can catch the ball and do something with it once they have the pass.

I also think this might mean the end of right tackle Germain Ifedi in Seattle. The Seahawks used George Fant as a blocking tight end next to Ifedi the last couple of seasons. I think that Fant re-signs, takes the place of Ifedi, and that Seattle uses Olsen or Dissly or both in the Fant extra-tight end position. Doing so gives Seattle a good blocker but one that can catch the ball where Fant could not.

Sure, Olsen is aging. But this is a one-year deal where Olsen will play his butt off. He did play in 14 games last season and caught 52 passes on a bad offensive football team. If he can play 14 games in 2020 for Seattle, Greg Olsen will be worth the money paid to him.