Seahawks trade for a defensive tackle!

Seahawks make the first trade during the NFL season, adding run defense help: Seaside Joe 2052

The Seattle Seahawks traded a 2026 sixth round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday in exchange for defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris. It’s the first trade in the NFL during this season and signals that despite how poorly things have gone in the past three games, the Seahawks are not throwing in the towel on improving their defense for the rest of 2024.

A former undrafted free agent, Robertson-Harris debuted with the Chicago Bears in 2017 and played four seasons there prior to signing with the Jaguars as a free agent in 2021. He has started for most the last 3.25 years in Jacksonville, but the Jaguars have been seeking replacements at defensive tackle over the past few offseaosns and he saw a decrease in his snaps this season.

Robertson-Harris played 26 snaps against his former team in London on Sunday and had a sack of Caleb Williams, his second of the season.

In response, the Seahawks will need to clear out a roster spot and certainly it appears that a subtraction could come on the defensive line.

Byron Murphy II hasn’t played in the last two games and we would hope this doesn’t indicate a stint on IR. Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Mike Morris, Johnathan Hankins, Myles Adams, and the return of Cameron Young off of PUP would be the rest of the defensive line. If I had to guess, Adams would make the most sense as he could clear waivers and revert back to the practice squad.

This is definitely a move—and the second trade with the Jaguars following the pre-season addition of Trevis Gipson—to fortify positions that are losing players due to injury. Is it one that will help the Seahawks stop being the worst run defense in the NFL? We’ll see in six days against the Atlanta Falcons.