Why would teams be calling the Seattle Seahawks about Jarran Reed before the trade deadline? On football terms, it doesn’t make any sense, but ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler followed up after the deadline that the Seahawks turned down “several teams” inquiring about Reed. Which falls in line with a report by The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones a week earlier that Reed was a trade candidate—but…why?
Now Reed has missed the last two Seattle practices with a “personal matter”, which has yet to fuel any speculation (from what I’ve seen) that there is a rift forming between the player and the organization.
Of course this is speculative on my part, but if that’s not the case then this is a very unfortunate coincidence that couldn’t paint any other picture until Mike Macdonald addresses the DNPs this week to the media, which should happen later on Friday.
Why would Seahawks trade Reed?
There are only two reasons that would make sense:
The Seahawks think Reed is actually doing more harm than good despite Seattle’s elite defense
Reed doesn’t want to play for the Seahawks anymore
These are the two explanations we’d have to explore first to make it make sense. Because the Seahawks aren’t 2-7. They haven’t benched Reed. They haven’t seen another player emerge as someone who is forcing Seattle to end the Jarran Reed era.
These would all explain a football decision. However, the Seahawks are 5-4 and they’re just a game out of a wild card spot. Their defense is arguably better than it was in 2025. And Reed played 32 snaps against the Cardinals last week. His 48% snaps this season is higher than the 46% he had last season.
Furthermore, injuries to Leonard Williams and Brandon Pili make Reed even more important to Seattle’s defense right now, plus Rylie Mills’ first healthy season has been disappointing.
Reed is 34 and his cap situation next year has probably given John Schneider thoughts about releasing him if he doesn’t retire: $9.5 million cap hit with $8 million saved if he’s released.
But at this rate would the Seahawks release him if he wanted to continue playing at 35? He hasn’t seemed to lose a step since 2025 and Seattle doesn’t have an obvious successor.
And yet, while one rumor from The Athletic two weeks ago could be called a mistake or an exaggeration, can we ignore it after a second outlet (and Fowler is a trustworthy source as far as I know) follows up — unprompted — to say that indeed multiple teams were trying to trade for Reed? Then after the deadline passes, Reed stops practicing for an undisclosed personal matter?
Nobody was calling the Seahawks about Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Ernest Jones or even Uchenna Nwosu. Nobody was calling the Seahawks about A.J. Barner, Michael Dickson, or even Anthony Bradford. You don’t call Super Bowl-competing teams up and ask about their starters. But Jarran Reed? What did they know? What were they told?
Is this contractual?
Speculation can be tricky. What if Reed’s personal matter is simply … personal?
However, let me talk about a situation that could be like this instead of making it directly about Reed:
A player has a contract the ends after next year
The player assumes he will be a cap casualty next year
The player wants to be extended or have next year’s salary guaranteed
The GM says that the team won’t do it
The player requests a trade
These situations are common. The Seahawks also don’t negotiate with players who are not in the last year of their contract and Reed is signed through 2027. A player turning 34 in a month may be especially concerned about his ability to make $8 million next season, whether it’s with Seattle or as a free agent.
Now consider this hypothetical:
The player’s agent lets other teams know the player has these concerns. The teams that need defensive line help say they’d be happy to guarantee his 2027 salary. Those GMs call the player’s current team. The current team says that they’re happy with the player and they need him for the rest of the season.
The player conducts a rare midseason holdout.
This scenario may not be what’s happening with Reed. Would a situation like this explain trade rumors (from multiple unrelated sources) where trade rumors make no sense? Yes. Would a situation like this explain absences that immediately follow a non-trade? Yes.
People were wondering why the Seahawks would trade Reed as if the Seahawks were trying to get rid of Reed. Instead of asking the question far more likely to be relevant: Why would Jarran Reed be trying to get out of the Seahawks?
There’s no reason for Seattle to trade Reed, unless Reed wanted to be traded.
Is that what happened? We might never know. Or we could find out Friday. If Reed doesn’t play against the Raiders on Sunday and we never get an explanation as to why, speculation will only continue to move in that direction. What do you think happened?
Seahawks sign DT Deven Eastern
The Seahawks signed rookie seventh-round pick Deven Eastern to the 53-man roster before last week’s game against the Cardinals. Could this be related to the team preparing for an opening at defensive tackle?
Of course, the team is also dealing with injuries to Leonard Williams and Brandon Pili, so Eastern’s presence is warranted for that reason. However, Eastern did not play against Arizona and the team would have been able to elevate him from the practice squad at least three times before needing to put him on the 53-man roster.
What was the rush to sign him? Unless the Seahawks feel Eastern will be of use for the rest of the season and wanted to guarantee another team won’t pick him up.
There are actually only a handful of players on the 53-man roster today who weren’t on the 53-man roster at the start of the season, and Eastern is the only one who has been a call up from the practice squad:
WR Irv Charles (IR)
RB Zach Charbonnet (PUP)
G Quenton Nelson (trade)
DT Deven Eastern (PS)
Seattle had two players start the season on reserve lists who are now on the 53-man roster, while Nelson was added via trade. The Seahawks have briefly signed others to the 53-man roster and since departed, but not many. It’s a significant move to sign Eastern to the 53-man roster—although plenty of forgotten names have gotten that distinction in the recent past.
For what it’s worth, here are players on the practice squad right now who weren’t on the practice squad at the beginning of the season:
CB Trevon Diggs
DT Cole Brevard
QB Adrian Martinez
G Cordell Volson
TE Ben Sims
Terrion Arnold was added to the team during training camp but is on the commissioner’s exempt list. Jamie Sheriff was on the practice squad, picked up by the Rams, and is now back on Seattle’s practice squad.
The Seahawks signed Volson this week, an offensive lineman with 48 career starts with the Bengals. He may be called up sooner than later.
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I’ll continue to be more transparent about the scoring system so you know what to go for and can strategize. The 2026 season will be more of a testing ground for this game, with the playoffs and the 2027 season serving as a much bigger and better battlefield. I think the winner should receive a Seahawks jersey of their choice.
Two-Minute Drill
A couple weeks ago I dropped a link in the comments to the daily 2-Minute Drill game. I have no affiliation or sponsorship with them, I just think it’s a fun game and I’m actually learning a lot about play calling from doing it. Today’s game is 2024 Seahawks-Falcons end of the first half so that’s why I’m sharing it with you today.
How’d you do?
I think it is fairly simple. He wants one more deal. I don’t think the Seahawks can afford to give him what he wants. We have to assume they are planning on resigning Darnold and they have Murphy as well.
He is still very effective
My guess is that it’s truly a personal matter. I won’t speculate. Just consider personal things that might be important enough for you to request time off work.