The Seattle Seahawks are hoping to recapture some of their Super Bowl-winning ways while adding depth on the defensive line.
The team announced Friday it had reached a contract agreement with 13-year veteran Chris Clemons. He was a defensive end for the Super Bowl 48-winning Seahawks of the 2013 season.
The move is for depth behind Pro Bowl end Michael Bennett, disruptive Cliff Avril plus Frank Clark, Seattle’s top draft choice in 2015. Clemons’ signing adds a veteran familiar with Seattle’s defensive system for specific pass-rush and situational roles.
It is also Seattle’s low-cost, low-risk attempt to revive the 34-year-old’s career.
Clemons had eight sacks in 2014 for Jacksonville but just three last season for the Jaguars. His three sacks in 2015 was his lowest total in six years. He was playing for former Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, now the Jaguars’ head coach. Clemons made only one start with five tackles and one sack in the final eight games last season. The Jaguars released him instead of paying him a $4 million salary in 2016. He had two years left on his deal with Jacksonville when he got cut last month.
While terms weren’t immediately known, the Seahawks will be paying a lot less than $4 million for Clemons this year. The team was believed to have less than $8 million in salary-cap space before this agreement, 25th in the 32-team NFL according to overthecap.com. That’s with a few million still to spend on draft choices and rookie free agents, and the likelihood of extending No. 1 wide receiver Doug Baldwin before the regular season.
Clemons had 4 1/2 sacks in 2013 as part of the deepest and most effective defensive front in Seahawks’ history. Seattle released him in March 2014 as his contract was about to balloon, a move that saved the Seahawks $7.5 million against that year’s cap.
Seattle had acquired him from Philadelphia in 2010 by trading fellow defensive end Darryl Tapp to the Eagles. Clemons had 11, 11 and his career high of 11 1/2 sacks in 2010-12 to begin his first go-round in Seattle.
His second one will begin this month.
OTAs, minicamp dates announced
The Seahawks announced Friday their nine weeks of official offseason workouts begin April 18 and will include organized team activites and minicamps across May and June.
The team’s voluntary (but strongly encouraged) OTAs at Seahawks headquarters in Renton will be May 23-24, May 26, June 1, 3, 6-7 and 9. The one mandatory mincamp of the offseason is June 14-16. Seattle’s rookie minicamp is likely to be May 6-8 or 13-15, one or two weekends after the draft April 28-30.
Training camp will begin at the end of July, with an exact date still to be announced.
Unlike training camp, none of the OTAs or minicamp practices are open to the public.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
