Former Seahawks TE Colby Parkinson Signs With Rams
Suffering their first free agent loss of the 2024 offseason, the Seattle Seahawks will now face one of their former tight ends twice a year in the NFC West.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Colby Parkinson and the Rams reached an agreement on a three-year contract worth $15.5 million, returning to his home state. He played high school ball at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California before attending Stanford for college.
After catching 25 passes in each of the past two seasons for Seattle, Colby Parkinson will change zip codes in the NFC West joining the Los Angeles Rams.
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Selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Parkinson battled through foot injuries in his first two seasons, limiting him to seven receptions in 20 games. Finally able to get healthy over the past two seasons, he contributed 50 receptions, 569 yards, and four touchdowns while seeing an increase in snaps playing alongside Will Dissly and Noah Fant.
After primarily being a glorified receiver at the tight end position in college, Parkinson made his greatest growth as a run blocker, finishing 10th out of 91 qualified tight ends in run blocking grade (64.1). He also did a fine job in limited pass blocking reps, yielding three pressures, no quarterback hits, and no sacks on 41 pass protection snaps.
Ultimately, Parkinson's previous production doesn't warrant a contract worth more than $5 million per year. But the Rams clearly see a lot of untapped potential in the 25-year old tight end, as evidenced by the investment made in him to add another target for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
With Parkinson heading to Los Angeles and set to sign his contract on Wednesday, all eyes will shift to Fant, who also will become an unrestricted free agent this week. Seattle recently released Dissly as a cap casualty, creating a significant need at the position with no starters currently on the roster, which could make re-signing Fant a higher priority.
