Box checked: Why the Seahawks are signing veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr.
That process their coach has been talking about to refill their roster continues for the Super Bowl champions.
The Seahawks have an agreement on a one-year contract with veteran pass rusher Dante Fowler Jr. Tom Pelissero of the league-owned NFL Network was the first to report the deal in a later stage of free agency Tuesday morning.
It could be worth up to $5 million, including performance-incentive bonuses, per Peliserro. This is a reason the Seahawks were saving some of their $30 million-plus in salary-cap space for 2026.
The edge rusher who turns 32 in August is coming off a 2025 in which he had three sacks in 17 games with the Dallas Cowboys. His second-best NFL season came the year before. In 2024, his age-30 season, the 6-foot-3, 261-pound Fowler had 10 1/2 sacks and 14 tackles for loss on coach Dan Quinn’s Washington Commanders.
Fowler and Seahawks 2025 Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence were teammates for two seasons in Dallas. Lawrence likely had an endorsement of Fowler that contributed to coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider’s decision to pursue and now sign the veteran pass rusher.
Fowlers also has a relationship working over three previous seasons with Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde. Durde was Fowler’s defensive line coach with Cowboys for the 2022 and ‘23 seasons. Durde also was Atlanta’s outside linebackers coach in 2020, when Fowler was a Falcons edge rusher.
The third pick in the 2015 draft by Jacksonville out of Florida has also played the Rams and Falcons in his 10 NFL seasons. The Seahawks waited until now to sign Fowler to protect the four compensatory choices they are expecting the league to award them in the stronger 2027 draft. That’s for the free agents Seattle has lost this offseason from its roster that won Super Bowl 60.
Monday began a period through the end of the 2026 season in which unrestricted free agents teams sign do not count toward the formula of signings and losses the league uses to determine comp picks for the following year’s draft.
Edge rusher was the one place Seattle had yet to address significantly from roster losses since the team won the Super Bowl in February. Boye Mafe left the Seahawks in March to sign a $20 million-per-year contract in free agency with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Seahawks sought a pass rusher in the draft a couple weeks ago. But none they coveted were available when they picked. None of their eight selections in the draft were edge rushers.
The Seahawks otherwise have restocked their free-agency losses. They addressed losing cornerback Riq Woolen to Philadelphia by choosing to re-sign Josh Jobe to be their starter opposite three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon instead. Then Seattle drafted three cornerbacks: Julian Neal from Arkansas in the third round plus Toledo’s Andre Fuller and Michael Dansby from Arizona in the seventh round.
The Seahawks selected Jadarian Price from Notre Dame in the first round to replace lead running back Kenneth Walker. That was a month after the Super Bowl MVP signed with Kansas City.
And Seattle responded to starting safety Coby Bryant signing with Chicago in March by choosing Bud Clark from TCU with its second-round pick in April.
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 7:08 AM with the headline "Box checked: Why the Seahawks are signing veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr.."
