Former Seahawks RB DeeJay Dallas Signing With Cardinals
Staying in the NFC West with a division rival, former Seattle Seahawks running back DeeJay Dallas will be taking his versatile talents to the desert as a new member of the Arizona Cardinals.
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, Dallas intends to sign with Arizona when the new league year officially opens on Wednesday. Terms of the contract have yet to be disclosed.
Though he saw action early in his career due to injuries, DeeJay Dallas only played sparingly on offense in Seattle and will seek more opportunities in Arizona's backfield.
Selected out of Miami in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Dallas started a pair of games as a rookie subbing in for an injured Chris Carson, rushing for 108 yards and scoring three combined touchdowns. Over the past three seasons, he primarily has seen the field on offense as a third down back, logging fewer than 200 offensive snaps each season behind Rashaad Penny, Ken Walker III, and Zach Charbonnet.
Receiving 112 carries in four seasons in Seattle, Dallas tallied 468 rushing yards and four touchdowns while adding 61 receptions and a touchdown as a pass catcher out of the backfield.
While the hard-running Dallas didn't get many opportunities to impress out of the backfield in the run game, however, he developed into a solid return specialist for the Seahawks. Last season, he finished in the top-10 in the NFL in kick return yardage (440) and yards per return (25.9) while also ranking in the top-10 in yards per punt return (10.6), receiving an All-Pro vote for his efforts at the end of the season.
With Walker and Charbonnet under contract for the next two seasons and 2023 seventh-round pick Kenny McIntosh ready for an expanded role after being injured for most of his rookie year, while he offered significant value on special teams, Dallas wasn't a top priority to re-sign. Living in Arizona during the offseason, the 25-year old back will now be able to play closer to home and should have a chance to see more action on offense behind starter James Conner.
Barely 24 hours into the legal tampering period, the Seahawks still have yet to sign an outside free agent and now have lost five unrestricted free agents, leaving plenty of holes for general manager John Schneider to fill as quality players fly off the board signing with other teams.
