Seahawks news: Devon Witherspoon, PUP list, Jarran Reed and Jonah Tavai
By Lee Vowell
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Day 1 of Seattle Seahawks training camp was completed and it gave us several glimpses of what head coach Pete Carroll and his coaching staff might be thinking of things. This includes already fixing what many thought would be a problem heading into Week 1. And several key Seahawks started camp on the PUP list.
Of course, we already knew that the 2023 NFL draft fifth overall pick Devon Witherspoon wasn't participating. It appears Seattle and Witherspoon's people are still trying to work out the details of exactly how much of his bonus money will be frontloaded. Meaning, how much of the guaranteed $21 million in bonus money he gets for being the fifth pick will be paid now versus later.
Carroll did say after practice that he "can't imagine (Witherspoon) won't be here soon." Hopefully, that is the case, however, when Witherspoon gets to camp, there is a good chance he's competing for the slot corner spot and not the outside corner. This might surprise some, but Witherspoon was also working at nickelback some in minicamp in June as well.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll doesn't seem worried about Devon Witherspoon's absence
It is also interesting because Carrol specifically said "nickel" instead of playing outside where 2022 Pro Bowler Tariq Woolen would be. Woolen is one of several players that started on the PUP list (more on that in a second). So if Woolen isn't currently practicing and Witherspoon still finally shows up and is playing nickel, then Carroll was just giving us hyperbole.
... Coby Bryant was back after missing minicamp and worked with starting defense at nickel. Carroll said he'll compete there with Witherspoon once Witherspoon arrives. Jackson and Tre Brown were the starting RCB and LCB, respectively....
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) July 26, 2023
As you can see in the tweet (X?) above, the Seahawks also weren't messing around with giving rookies first-team reps along the offensive line. This could change, of course, over the course of camp, but it might also indicate that at least to begin the season Seattle wants to go with a more experienced group in front of Geno Smith. Now about that PUP list...