The Seattle Seahawks have completed the business side of their 2018 draft, five weeks before training camp begins.
The Seahawks announced Wednesday they signed third-round pick Rasheem Green to a four-year contract. So all nine of Seattle’s draft choices are under contract well before the preseason begins.
In late April the Seahawks traded down three spots in round three, from 76th to 79th overall, to draft Green. Since then, coaches have been using rookie minicamp, organized team activities and last week’s mandatory minicamp to groom the 20-year-old defensive lineman from USC for a Michael Bennett-type role as an inside and outside pass-rusher.
Green is 6-feet-4, 275 pounds, with 4.73-second speed in the 40-yard dash. He was a defensive tackle for USC last season who often played outside opposing guards.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has said Green will be a five-technique defensive end outside opposing tackles and then moving inside as a tackle on passing downs for speed against guard and centers. That’s what Bennett did while playing in two Super Bowls, winning one, and making three Pro Bowls with the Seahawks until they traded him to Philadelphia in March. And that’s what Green did plenty of at USC, Carroll said.
Finding pass rushers remains the Seahawks’ biggest need entering the preseason.
“We need a little help there,” Carroll said. “So (Green is) a good get for us.”
The Seahawks are due to report to training camp July 25, with preseason practices beginning the next day at team headquarters in Renton.
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