Cornerback Artie Burns became a free agent in March and the Seattle Seahawks did not immediately re-sign him.
Seattle then picked cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the first round of April’s draft and gave him jersey No. 21, which was previously worn by Burns in 2022.
Burns re-signed with the Seahawks this week and with his old number unavailable, he picked jersey No. 3, which was worn by quarterback Russell Wilson from 2012-2021.
The Seahawks have retired five numbers — 12, 45, 71, 80 and 96 — but they clearly have no plans to retire the number of Wilson, who quarterbacked the club to their only Super Bowl win in franchise history.
It is worth noting that teams have limited numbers available on a 90-man offseason roster, especially when some players are limited to position-specific numbers. Many players across the league also end up changing their numbers after 53-man rosters have been set each summer.
So it’s possible that Burns might end up only wearing No. 3 during the offseason, but that’s the number he has on the team’s roster at the moment. Quarterback Drew Lock opted not to wear No. 3 when he joined Seattle last year as a “sign of respect” to Wilson.
The Denver Broncos, meanwhile, have three retired numbers — 7, 18 and 44 — and they rarely give out Nos. 24 or 88, but those numbers aren’t officially retired. Champ Bailey did give his blessing to Adam Jones to wear No. 24 in 2018, but it hasn’t been worn in Denver since then.
The Seahawks clearly aren’t retiring No. 3, officially or unofficially.
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