The reigning Super Bowl champs filled their last remaining need on the roster with Dante Fowler heading to Seattle.
The Seattle Seahawks had one glaring hole heading into next season, and they made sure to fill it. The Seahawks are signing veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr., according to NFL Network, to a one-year deal that is worth up to $5 million. That addition immediately addresses the roster need for Seattle after losing Boye Mafe to free agency and failing to find an edge rusher in April’s NFL draft.
The Seahawks were looking to replace 550-plus snaps by Mafe last season in their four-man rotation at outside linebacker with DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall. Despite that massive absence, they declined to select a replacement with any of their eight picks in the draft. While Fowler visited with the team before the draft, they waited to sign him until the Monday after it, which will preserve their projected four compensatory picks in 2027.
Fowler was drafted No. 3 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015 but missed the entirety of his rookie season due to a torn ACL. He has 58.5 career sacks in 10 seasons, with a career-high 11.5 for the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 and still an impressive 10.5 with the Washington Commanders back in 2021. Since missing his rookie year, Fowler has been durable, not missing a game since 2021 with a career 74 tackles for loss, 97 quarterback hits, and 15 forced fumbles in 159 games.
To read more about the major addition to the pass rush, here is the full story from Seahawks Roundtable writer Mike Fisher.
Fowler was most recently with the Dallas Cowboys last season, where he spent time in 2022 and 2023 under current Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who was the Cowboys’ defensive line coach in his first stint with the team. He did play a diminished role for Dallas, and will now look to fill a more key need for Seattle while they were able to preserve their comp pick positioning for future building.