Claypool Makes Free Agent Visit

The former Miami Dolphins wide receiver is an unrestricted free agent after a disappointing 2023 season

Chase Claypool moved closed to finding a new NFL team Tuesday when he made a free agent visit with the Seattle Seahawks.

Claypool became an unrestricted free agent in March when his contract ended after a disappointing 2023 season that featured a forgettable stint with the Miami Dolphins.

The visit with Seattle, reported by NFL writer Howard Balzer, came after news surfaced that the Saskatchewan Roughriders had placed the Canada native on their exclusive negotiation list.

As we indicated at the time, though, that move never meant that Claypool automatically would be playing for the Canadian Football League team, who also at one time employed former Dolphins linebacker Sam Eguavoen, only that Claypool would have an option if no NFL team steps up with an offer he wants to accept.

The Sports Network in Canada reported at the time of the Saskatchewa news that a couple of NFL teams were interested in Claypool, though there was no reason to believe the Dolphins were in a hurry to bring him back, particularly after already re-signing two other unrestricted free agent wide receivers, Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft.

If he were to join Seattle, Claypool would be going to a team that already featured one of the top wide receiver trios in the NFL with D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

CLAYPOOL'S DISAPPOINTING DOLPHINS DAYS

Claypool's short time in Miami after he was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bears that involved a swap of late-round 2025 picks marked a low point in an NFL career that began with Claypool being selected in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Notre Dame by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The same player who gained more than 850 receiving yards in each of his first two NFL seasons and scored nine touchdowns as a rookie barely made a ripple in his nine games with Miami.

Never mind the idea who could bring size and physicality to the Dolphins' ultra-fast wide receiver corps, Claypool struggled just to get on the field.

He appeared in nine games for Miami last season, catching only four passes for 26 yards and being on the wrong end of the interception that clinched the AFC East title for the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 18. Maybe even more telling than that was Claypool's snap count: He played a total of 51 offensive snaps in those nine games, never more than 14 in any game.

Considering he's also been traded twice — halfway through each of the last two seasons — there didn't figure to be a robust market for his services in free agency.

A move to the CFL still would have to rank as a surprise at this point, but just the fact it's become a possibility at all says everything when it comes to where his NFL career stands.