Seahawks Lose 2020 Seventh-Round Pick Stephen Sullivan to Panthers

In an expected move, former Seahawks tight end Stephen Sullivan has found himself a new home for the 2021 season.

As reported by Will Bryan, Sullivan has agreed to terms with the Panthers on a future/reserve contract. The team hosted the former LSU standout for a free agent visit last month, but did not immediately sign him.

Sullivan, 24, joined the Seahawks after general manager John Schneider traded a future sixth-round pick to the Dolphins to move back into the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. It marked the second straight season he had made such a move to add a late pick, as the Seattle also traded a sixth-round pick to Jacksonville in 2019 to eventually draft receiver John Ursua.

Overcoming much adversity to make it to the league, Sullivan's family dealt with extreme poverty and he experienced homelessness at points in his childhood, including spending several nights sleeping under a bridge. Both of his parents were incarcerated and he moved in with his aunt before his freshman year of high school.

With his situation not improving, Sullivan moved in with his best friend Tyler Brown and he stayed with the family throughout the rest of his time in high school before enrolling at LSU. Last year, he became the first person in his family to graduate from college before eventually receiving the call from Schneider on draft weekend.

Unfortunately, as Schneider noted immediately after the draft, Sullivan broke into the league as a "developmental prospect" and the Seahawks opened training camp with several veterans in front of him on the depth chart, including Greg Olsen, Will Dissly, and Jacob Hollister. In addition, Seattle used a fourth-round pick on Colby Parkinson and re-signed popular veteran Luke Willson.

Though Sullivan had a strong camp overall, he dealt with an injury at the end of camp and the Seahawks waived him, eventually re-signing him to the practice squad. In part due to his 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame and elite athletic traits, the team moved him to defensive end early in the season with hopes of developing him into a pass rusher.

With only a few weeks of practice under his belt, Seattle elevated him from the practice squad to play against San Francisco in Week 8. Despite his lack of experience, he surprisingly recorded a tackle on the game's opening drive and the team improved to 6-1 with a victory.

Three weeks later, after reverting back to the practice squad, Sullivan underwent surgery on his hip and landed on injured reserve, ending his season. At the time, coach Pete Carroll sounded enthusiastic about his chances of making a big leap in his sophomore season and indicated he would move back to tight end full-time.

Once the season concluded with the Seahawks losing to the Rams in the wild card round, however, the practice squad dissolved and the team either didn't offer Sullivan a new deal or he decided not to re-sign. Such details haven't been disclosed, but he became an unrestricted free agent as a result.

Though it remains unseen whether or not Sullivan will develop into a viable NFL tight end down the road, with only four picks in April's upcoming draft, the Seahawks might be kicking themselves for their choice to trade a future sixth for a player who wound up spending just one season with the organization.

Instead of competing for snaps in Seattle, Sullivan will join a rebuilding Panthers squad that may present more opportunities for him to see the field in the immediate future while also reuniting with new general manager Scott Fitterer, who served as the Seahawks VP of Football Operations.