Seahawks latest roster moves do not give much hope to a position of need
By Lee Vowell
12s can assume that the Seattle Seahawks are going to have three tight ends on the roster to begin the 2024 season. Seahawks fans might also hope that those three tight ends are Noah Fant, Pharaoh Brown, and rookie AJ Barner. The problem currently seems to be that Brown might be out for a while with a foot injury. Fant hasn't practiced recently either.
Seattle has three weeks left before they begin their 2024 regular season against the Denver Broncos. That is a lot of time for players to come back from injury. Brown's foot issue looked bad when he was carted off the field after getting hurt during a joint practice with the Tennessee Titans ahead of Seattle's preseason Week 2 game. He could be in jeopardy of missing a lot of time, including the beginning of the season.
To at least help get through the one remaining game of the preseason, the Seahawks announced they were signing tight ends Michael Ezeike and Devon Garrison. Ezeike has never played a down in a real NFL game after being undrafted out of UCLA in 2023. Garrison was decently productive at Pittsburgh State the last four seasons - 97 catches, 1,581 receiving yards, and 16 touchdowns - but hasn't managed to find an NFL team yet.
Seattle Seahawks sign two tight ends for depth heading into preseason Week 3
The truth is that neither Ezeike nor Garrison will be expected to make the 2024 roster. Still, the fact that Seattle is bringing them in implies there are concerns about the overall health of the tight end room. Hopefully, Fant returns soon. Brown might be out for a while. Neither Fant or Brown are going to play in preseason Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns.
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If Brown is out into the regular season (and Fant should be back before the Week 1 game), then Seattle might begin its season with only Fant and Barner as healthy tight ends. Maybe the team keeps Brady Russell, who has had an excellent camp and preseason so far, but Russell is certainly no guarantee to be productive in real games.
Of course, the worst-case scenario is that Fant cannot play against the Broncos either leaving Barner to start and Russell to fill in. Or maybe the Seahawks are so desperate that Garrison or Ezeike actually make the team.
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