Sidney Jones, Marquise Goodwin standing out at other OTAs

How former Seahawks are doing with their new teams: Seaside Joe 1579

As noted in Tuesday’s free episode of Seaside Joe, Cody Barton is expected to have a significant role in Washington’s defense next season, according to defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. Barton will either complement or replace recent first round pick Jamin Davis, which is more of an indictment on Davis than an endorsement of Barton.

Not that it is a total surprise for Barton to have a role, he’s proven more than say, Kevin Pierre-Louis, a Seahawks fourth round pick in 2014 who was expected to develop into a Seattle starter but instead his more prominant NFL season was 2020 when he made 11 starts…for Jack Del Rio in Washington.

Pierre-Louis has no team right now after making two appearances for the Houston Texans in 2022. Here are a few updates on some other former Seahawks but with an emphasis on those who played in Seattle more recently than KPL.

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WR Marquise Goodwin, Browns

Goodwin was named a “surprise offseason standout” by ESPN’s beat writer for the Browns recently. Jake Trotter said that Goodwin “dominated” camp.

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Goodwin caught 27 passes for 387 yards with Seattle last season and the 33-year-old is working so hard, it’s almost as if he doesn’t want Cleveland to give into rumors about DeAndre Hopkins. The receivers expected to be ahead of him include Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, and Donovan Peoples-Jones, but the Browns also drafted Cedric Tillman in round three and have a couple of other recent third round picks.

DT Poona Ford, Bills

Nose tackle is considered the “weak spot” on the Seahawks for now—months before we know their true strengths and weaknesses probably—but they just had no room for Ford under the cap or in Clint Hurtt’s scheme. That’s also what drove Ford to Buffalo, says Ford.

At the time of his signing, it was reported that Ford had turned down more money elsewhere to go to Western New York. Aside from being familiar with the area—he has family in Buffalo—there is a football component to his decision. I don’t think anyone will be too surprised with his answer.

“The scheme on defense is really what made me come here,” he said (via The Buffalo News).

Seattle has been operating out of a 3-4 hybrid for a few seasons now, but in 2022 Ford’s snap count was reduced and he was essentially playing out of position as an end. Even Pete Carroll admitted as such at the end of last season.

Ford is competing to get in a rotation with Ed Oliver, Daquan Jones, Tim Settle, and Jordan Phillips.

RB Travis Homer, Bears

I watched a Bears podcast on Wednesday and they spent a bit of time (queued up here) talking about the thought process behind adding Homer in free agency. The general idea was to be prepared in case Chicago didn’t get a running back in the draft who they really wanted, but then the Bears picked Roschon Johnson in the fourth round.

The team is very high on Khalil Herbert, they added Homer and D’Onta Foreman in free agency, and drafted Johnson, so it could end up being that there’s no role in the offense for Seattle’s former third down back/special teamer. The podcasters weren’t ready to guarantee that Homer is home. He could be battling Trestan Ebner, a 2022 sixth round pick, for the final roster spot.

Homer did get $1.75 million guaranteed and he’s sure to be valuable on special teams, I’m just saying we’ll see how this one plays out.

DE L.J. Collier, Cardinals

At this point, we don’t know much about Collier’s future other than he signed with Arizona and Arizona’s roster sucks. Collier played in just 367 snaps over the last two seasons combined, so if he can’t make it on the Cardinals, he can’t make it anywhere.

WR Penny Hart, Falcons

Hart is from the Atlanta area, so he sounds excited to be getting an opportunity to continue his career with his home team.

"I like that it's really fast paced. It's about getting it in and grinding," Hart said of the offense in Atlanta. "I think that it's an extremely versatile offense as well, and you can be in at any position at any given time and I think we do a really good job of doing that. It's exciting because that's what I love best. I say all the time that I am most comfortable when I am uncomfortable. I work in the uncomfort of being in different positions, having to know a lot of different things, having to know what the quarterback might know, just to be able to help my team with whatever they may need from me. If that is the case, to just be anywhere and everywhere. So, I appreciate that a lot about this offense."

Hart won’t take snaps from Drake London or Mack Hollins, but he can return punts and Atlanta’s receiver room lacks depth so he might not be out of the NFL quite yet.

S Johnathan Abram, Saints

There’s optimism that Abram can make the Saints roster and he’ll be competing against Ugo Amadi, among others.

DE Quinton Jefferson, Jets

A Bleacher Report writer cited Jefferson as someone who “could wind up being the most productive” new free agent on the Jets. He could start or get a lot of reps next to Quinnen Williams and he signed for just over $3 million and they also signed Al Woods.

CB Sidney Jones, Bengals

Cincinnati has done a lot to resurrect the careers of cornerbacks like Eli Apple and Chidobe Awuzie, and they’re hoping Jones is next. ESPN’s Ben Baby (still coming to terms that you can have that last name) says Jones was a star at minicamp and OTAs.

Jones finished the team's offseason workouts with a nice minicamp showing. Most notably, he was in position to intercept a pass intended for wideout Tee Higgins during a 7-on-7 period. It's a great sign for a Bengals secondary that signed Jones for veteran depth behind cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie, Cam Taylor-Britt and Mike Hilton. 

LB Tanner Muse, Steelers

Classic swaparoo: Seattle signs Devin Bush, Pittsburgh signs Tanner Muse. At least one Steelers blog is predicting that Muse makes the final roster. But another said his stock went down after the team signed Nick Kwiatkoski.

SS Ryan Neal, Bucs

Though the Seahawks are overloaded at safety if Jamal Adams is healthy, Neal was certainly one of the biggest losses of the offseason and he’s expected to start at strong safety in Week 1 for Tampa Bay.

RB Rashaad Penny, Eagles

Inside the Iggles called him a potental “one and done” contract but that is much is expected of Penny. The team added D’Andre Swift after signing Penny to a one-year deal, so it’s looking like Philadelphia wants to go by committee, which is no surprise.

WR Laquon Treadwell, Ravens

He was reportedly “impressing” recently, but Treadwell needs guys like Odell Beckham and Rashod Bateman to get hurt before he moves up the depth chart. Luckily for him, they seem to do that a lot.

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