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Camp Opens With a Homecoming and a Goodbye
Training camp opens today at the VMAC, and the Seahawks marked the occasion Friday by signing tight end Nick Vannett, the guy they drafted in the third round back in 2016. He is 33 now and has worn eight other uniforms since Seattle traded him to Pittsburgh in September 2019. He has come home.
Schneider keeps a Rolodex the way some people keep a childhood home. Everybody comes back eventually. Vannett has bounced through Denver, New Orleans, the Giants, the Chargers, Tennessee, Minnesota and the Rams, and his most productive year was still that 2018 season here when he caught three touchdowns. His best trait is blocking, which matters more than ever under Brian Fleury, who wants tight ends everywhere.
10
NFL seasons for Vannett, across nine different franchises before this reunion.
To open a roster spot, Seattle waived Tyrone Broden. That name should ring a bell: he is the 6-foot-5 wide receiver who ran a 4.37 and was being converted to cornerback this spring, the kind of unicorn experiment Mike Macdonald’s defense was built to indulge. It was fun while it lasted. It lasted until the morning camp opened.
The TE room needed help after Harrison Bryant was waived, and Vannett is exactly the veteran floor you sign when you would rather not hand real snaps to an undrafted rookie. He is not going to break DK Metcalf’s record. He is going to catch the ball when it is thrown to him and block the man in front of him, and on a team with a settled quarterback, that is a perfectly good reason to keep a locker warm.
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It was fun while it lasted. It lasted until the morning camp opened.
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Contract
The Witherspoon Deal Has a Weekend and a Reason to Use It
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Per Field Gulls, Witherspoon’s fully guaranteed 2026 roster bonus does not become due and payable until the third day after veterans report, which lands on Monday. Getting an extension done before then would let Seattle restructure that bonus into the new deal and shave the cash outlay and 2026 cap hit. In plain terms: signing by Sunday is cheaper for the accountants than signing Tuesday.
The size of the extension itself does not change either way. Rapoport has reported the Seahawks are working to make him the highest-paid cornerback in the league, north of the $31 million a year Trent McDuffie is getting in Los Angeles. What changes is how the front office structures the first year of it, and there is a real, calendar-driven incentive to beat the clock.
$31M/yr
Trent McDuffie’s deal in Los Angeles — the number Witherspoon is expected to clear.
So watch the weekend. Not because anyone is drawing a line in the sand, but because for once the math actually rewards moving fast. If nothing happens by Monday, it is not a crisis. It just means the accountants lost a small argument to the calendar.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
The PUP list is up to five as camp opens, with Zach Charbonnet officially placed there after tearing his ACL in the divisional round. Everything’s on track for a return, just not for Week 1, and definitely not for the drills happening this morning while he watches. Seahawks.com
Cooper Kupp told the Pat McAfee Show that Seattle does things differently than his old Rams building: “we’re just going to play harder than you.” He said it like a compliment. Somewhere in Los Angeles, someone is drafting a rebuttal nobody asked for. Heavy
If you were hoping to walk up to today’s opening practice, you’re out of luck. The first of ten public sessions sold out well in advance. HBO cameras get in for free; you needed a ticket. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
NINERS
San Francisco’s veterans reported Thursday, and the injury board reads like a hospital ward. Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams are both rehabbing torn ACLs, Fred Warner is easing back from a fractured ankle, and Christian McCaffrey is a year removed from a 413-touch season. The whole plan hinges on a rehab room cooperating. Their first fan practice is Sunday, assuming everyone can walk to it.
CARDINALS
Jacoby Brissett reported to Cardinals camp on schedule, which is notable mostly because he did it without the new contract he’s been quietly angling for. He wants more guarantees on the final year of his deal; Arizona has not budged. So their projected Week 1 starter is in the building, taking snaps, and mildly annoyed. In the desert, that qualifies as stability.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
In 1991 the Seahawks used the 16th overall pick on a 6-foot-8 quarterback, passing on a future Hall of Famer who wouldn’t come off the board until the second round. Who was the towering QB Seattle drafted?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Dan McGwire, the brother of slugger Mark McGwire. He threw just two touchdown passes in four seasons in Seattle. The quarterback the Seahawks passed on that day was Brett Favre.
Got a Question for the Mailbag?
Camp is finally live, which means the takes are about to get very loud and very confident. Send me your questions about the roster, the Witherspoon math, or which long-shot you’re irrationally attached to. I read all of them and answer the best ones.
The pads go on today. Everything we've argued about all summer finally gets a scoreboard. — The Rooster