Report: Seahawks Seeking Trade for Tight End Help Minus Will Dissly
Though the Seahawks won 32-28 in Cleveland last Sunday, the victory didn’t come without a significant loss, as second-year tight end Will Dissly suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles and underwent surgery on Thursday.
Surprisingly, Seattle didn’t make any moves this week to help replace Dissly on the 53-man roster and will roll into Sunday’s Week 7 matchup against Baltimore with only two tight ends, Luke Willson and Jacob Hollister, available. Ed Dickson, who underwent knee surgery in August, still can’t return from injured reserve until Week 9.
Insurance tight end George Fant could also be starting a second straight game in place of Duane Brown at left tackle, further limiting the team’s options at the position.
But according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, general manager John Schneider and the Seahawks are aggressively pursuing trade options before the October 29 deadline. While they haven’t been linked to any specific names, veterans such as Delanie Walker of the Titans and Tyler Eifert of the Bengals could be on their short list.
Seattle didn’t make any deadline deals last year, but just two years ago, Schneider swung a deal to acquire Brown from the Texans in exchange for multiple draft picks. He’s never been one to leave a stone unturned when it comes to improving his roster and will surely be working the phones all the way up to the deadline.
In the meantime, Rapport reported the Seahawks experimented with reserve defensive ends such as Branden Jackson moonlighting as blocking tight ends at practice this week. Given the current lack of depth, it’s not out of the question one of those players could see a few snaps as an eligible tight end on Sunday.
While transitioning a defensive player to the offensive side of the ball isn’t ideal, Seattle has had success in the past with two-way players. Will Tukuafu played fullback and defensive tackle for the team at one point, while current fullback Nick Bellore has prior NFL starting experience at linebacker.
If playing a defensive end at the spot is a bit too outside the box, the Seahawks could also fill Fant’s role as a pseudo tight end with reserve center Joey Hunt, who played a handful of snaps as an eligible receiver in last week’s win over the Browns.
Facing off against a stout Ravens defensive front, it’ll be interesting to see how coach Pete Carroll and his staff navigate a difficult situation with depth limitations at tight end during Sunday’s game.
