While Seahawks fans have been waiting to see if there might be a reunion coming with Bobby Wagner, the team was reportedly on the verge of bringing back another defensive player from its past Tuesday — tackle Jarran Reed.
A league source confirmed to The Seattle Times that the Seahawks are expected to sign Reed, who will return to the city where he began his career as a second-round pick out of Alabama in 2016.
The NFL Network reported the two-year contract has a maximum value of $10.8 million.
The move comes the same day Seattle released defensive linemen Shelby Harris and Quinton Jefferson in moves that saved roughly $13.4 million against the cap, and comes the day after Seattle agreed to terms with free agent lineman Dre’Mont Jones on a three-year deal that carries a cap hit of almost $10.1 million in 2023.
Reed spent five years with the Seahawks, playing in 72 games, with a career-high 10.5 sacks in 2018.
But he was released in 2021 after he and the team could not agree on a new contract.
Reed had a $13.9 million cap hit for that season that the team wanted to bring down some. That was the last season of a two-year deal worth $23 million that he signed in 2020.
Reed didn’t want to take a new deal, and after Seattle tried to trade him, ended up releasing him to save $8.9 million against the cap.
He then signed a one-year deal with Kansas City that paid $5.5 million and started all 17 games for the Chiefs in 2021 and spent last season in Green Bay on a one-year deal that paid $3.25 million, playing all 17 games with 14 starts for the Packers.
But any hard feelings are apparently in the past with the Seahawks hoping Reed, who turned 30 in December, can help the team get back to the kind of run defense it played before the 2022 season, when the Seahawks ranked 30th against the rush.
One thought is that the team believes Reed will thrive in the 3-4 defense that the team moved to a year ago under new defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.
Reed’s signing may also further signal that Seattle is moving on from Poona Ford, who was one of the team’s starters at tackle last year. Ford is now a free agent after a disappointing season in which coaches several times mentioned that he was struggling some with the adjustment to not simply playing nose tackle every snap.
Seattle also still has veteran defensive tackle Al Woods under contract for 2023, due to make $3.25 million, and according to OvertheCap.com has also tendered exclusive rights free agent defensive tackle Myles Adams.
One attraction to Reed is his durability — he missed six games in 2019 while suspended for violating the league’s code of conduct policy, but otherwise has played in all but two games in his career.
Reed played 705 snaps for the Packers last year, or 68% of the team’s total defensive snaps, and had 52 tackles and 2.5 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus Reed also had 33 total pressures on 395 pass-rush snaps with the Packers.