D'Anthony Bell has had an interesting career so far. He started with the Cleveland Browns and played three seasons there, getting a handful of starts. He flamed out quickly with the Carolina Panthers at the beginning of last season, but landed with the Seattle Seahawks and saw action in 14 games. Most of his reps came on special teams.
Seattle even re-signed Bell this offseason to a one-year deal worth nearly $1.5 million. The question one might ask, though, is why? Not that the defensive back is a bad player, because no NFL player is truly "bad" or they wouldn't have a chance in the league.
The issue is that Bell's only real path to getting snaps on defense is at slot corner, and he's buried on the depth chart. Head coach Mike Macdonald likes to play with the alignments of his defense, of course, making it more difficult for opponents to figure out how to attack Seattle.
D'Anthony Bell is buried on the Seattle Seahawks depth chart
This means that the player in the slot is likely to be Devon Witherspoon or Nick Emmanwori. To make matters worse for Bell, Seattle also signed Noah Igbinoghene in free agency, and according to Our Lads, he is second on the depth chart in the slot behind Emmanwori (Witherspoon is listed as an outside corner).
D'Anthony Bell has played plenty of safety in his career, of course, but barring numerous injuries, he has an even less likely chance of playing there. One of the starters is certainly Julian Love, and next to him could be Ty Okada, who was very good last season, or rookie Bud Clark.
The Seattle Seahawks also signed free agent Rodney Thomas II, who has some previous starting experience with the Indianapolis Colts. This means that Bell is, at best, third on the depth chart at any spot he might potentially play.
The frustrating part for the 6'1" and 210-pound player is likely that when he has played with any respective team, he's been solid. In 2023 with the Browns, his quarterback rating allowed was just 24.1. In 2025, in Seattle, the number was a good 82.6. He's never been credited with giving up a touchdown pass in his career while being targeted 24 times.
He has shown that he deserves a chance to start somewhere, but that isn't going to be with the Seahawks. The roster is simply too loaded. If Bell is released when final roster cuts are made in August, he should catch on somewhere else and be a productive defensive back.
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