Pro Football Rumors
Nick Vannett has seen game action with nine NFL teams over a 10-year career. He was briefly with a 10th team (the Texans) as well. The nomadic tight end, however, is returning to the place his career began.
The Seahawks agreed to terms with Vannett on Friday, bringing him back nearly seven years after trading him to the Steelers. Seattle waived cornerback Tyrone Broden to make room on its 90-man roster. Broden landed on the team’s active/PUP list this week.
Drafted in Round 3 by the Seahawks in 2016, Vannett played three full seasons with the franchise before being dealt to the Steelers in September 2019. Vannett finished out his rookie contract in Pittsburgh and joined the running for this NFL era’s top non-Josh Johnson journeyman. Since his Steelers stopover, Vannett has played for the Broncos, Saints, Giants, Chargers, Titans, Vikings and Rams. His Texans stay came in August 2023.
Plenty has changed in Seattle since the team drafted him 10 years ago, though GM John Schneider remains in place. The 17th-year GM has a tight end room including AJ Barner, Eric Saubert and 2025 second-round pick Elijah Arroyo. Vannett will vie for a roster spot, though he could be a practice squad insurance candidate as well. He has spent time on a few practice squads, including Minnesota’s last season. The Seahawks have two other TEs — rookie UDFA Lance Mason and second-year UDFA Nick Kallerup — on their 90-man roster.
Vannett, 33, played only 55 offensive snaps during his time with the Vikings and Rams last year. However, he logged 399 with the Titans in 2024. The Seahawks used Vannett as a Jimmy Graham backup early in his career, but after the accomplished pass catcher’s 2018 departure, Vannett led Seattle tight ends in receiving yardage (a career-high 269) that year. Vannett had logged part-time offensive duty each season until last year, when he saw more action on special teams. The Rams signed him off the Vikings’ practice squad in late November.
Only punter Michael Dickson, kicker Jason Myers and D-lineman Jarran Reed — the latter two also in their second Seahawks stints — remain from Vannett’s first run in Seattle. The Ohio State product will attempt to secure a 53-man roster spot on a defending Super Bowl champion. If that does not occur, a place on the team’s 16-man P-squad could await.
