The new league year is now officially official, and with it comes a flurry of transactions and personnel news.
A couple notes for Seattle just dropped via Tom Pelissero at NFL Network. The Seahawks have tendered two of their restricted free agents this year. They have used a fifth-round tender on cornerback Mike Jackson and a right of first refusal tender for linebacker Jon Rhattigan.
Only 7 restricted free agents received tenders:
2nd round#Rams LT Alaric Jackson#49ers WR Jauan Jennings
Original (5th) round#Seahawks DB Michael Jackson
Right of first refusal#Lions TE Brock Wright#Rams LB Michael Hoecht#Giants DB Nick McCloud#Seahawks LB Jon Rhattigan
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 13, 2024
Jackson was expected to maintain a regular starting role in 2023 after a strong preseason showing. However, once Devon Witherspoon debuted Jackson quickly got lost in the shuffle in what’s become one of the deepest cornerback rooms in the NFL. Tre Brown and Artie Burns also both ended up passing him up on the depth chart.
Jackson wound up playing all 17 games but only earned four starts. He totaled 34 tackles and allowed zero touchdowns and a 95.1 passer rating in coverage. In the end, Jackson was on the field for 40% of the team’s defensive snaps and 51% on special teams.
Rhattigan also appeared in every game this past season for Seattle, but was relegated to an almost exclusive special teams role. He only played 19 defensive snaps on the year, or 2% of the team’s total. On special teams he was out there for 303 snaps, or 66%.
Looking ahead, both should at least continue to see significant playing time on special teams in 2024. Aside from that, it’s difficult to envision serious snaps on defense for either barring a string of injuries.
More Seahawks Wire stories
30 of the best remaining free agent options for the Seahawks
2024 free agency: 4 takeaways from the first wave of signings
Free agency tracker: Who’s signing, who’s leaving Seahawks
Twitter reacts to Leonard Williams’ massive deal with Seattle
