Field Gulls
Klint Kubiak is offensive coordinator for the Seahawks. Could he push for any former Saints players to join him?
As I always say, it is common to bring in some players who have already worked with the coaches. That was not the case with Mike Macdonald, since the Seattle Seahawks did not draft anyone from Michigan’s defense, nor did it bring in anyone from the Baltimore Ravens’ defense (only Josh Ross, a LB but who played mostly as a special teamer during his career and continued to do so in Seattle). On the offensive side, no one from Washington’s explosive offense was drafted (only Jack Westover was among the UDFAs, but he did not make the roster or the practice squad).
Having these familiar faces can help the coaches implement a new scheme. With the arrival of offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and offensive line coachJohn Benton, Seattle should go from being one of the teams that used the least play action to being one of the teams that uses it the most. Therefore, it is interesting to have players who have already run similar schemes.
Having played on the Saints offense shouldn’t be a requirement to be brought in as a FA, but it could put some names on Seattle’s radar for 2025.
Let’s take a look at who they are.
Johnson was the Saints’ TE1 and TE2 during the times Foster Moreau was injured. He was a WR in college (Penn State/Oregon) and joined the Saints as an UDFA. Because of this, his PFF blocking grades have never been very high. In 2020, playing 99 snaps, he had an 88.7, but after that things changed. In 2021, he received 63.5, in 2022 54.1, in 2023 40.4 and 52.4 in 2024.
Last season, he had his highest number of snaps, with 696. He achieved his best numbers in receiving yards (548), receptions (50) and reception percentage (78.1%). On the other hand, he had only 3 receiving TDs, his worst number since his rookie season.
He has excellent athletic ability and finds good spaces between zones. However, his best characteristic is the ability to make contested receptions. He was 12th among TEs in contested reception percentage. This makes him a weapon in the red zone, in fact, he led the Saints in targets in that area of the field in 2023.
Seattle could continue with AJ Barner and Noah Fant (if the team does not decide to cut him for cap reasons) in the Tight Ends sector. Johnson would be an upgrade over Pharaoh Brown, who has been a huge disappointment. However, Johnson is coming off a $6 million per year contract, while Brown cost Seattle just over $3 million.
If I had to bet on one name from the ones listed in this article to sign with Seattle, it would be OL Patrick. The veteran has played nearly 4,500 snaps, bringing a lot of experience to the unit. He started his career...
