Seahawks Make First External Signing, Add Rodney Thomas to Safety Group
Indianapolis Colts safety Rodney Thomas II (25) celebrates his interception with teammates in the second half against the Cleveland Browns at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Finally making their first outside signing four days into free agency, the Seattle Seahawks have bolstered depth at the safety position in the aftermath of Coby Bryant’s departure for Chicago.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Seahawks have agreed to terms with former Colts safety Rodney Thomas II on a contract. No details have been made available yet, including years, salary, or guaranteed money, making it unclear whether his signing will count against the NFL compensatory formula.
The Seahawks have had Thomas on their radar for quite some time, as they brought him in for a top-30 pre-draft visit back in 2022 after a stellar collegiate career at Yale. He had previously impressed at his pro day workout, running the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds and posting a fantastic 41-inch vertical jump along with a 7.02-second 3-cone drill time, which caught the attention of NFL teams.
The Colts wound up drafting Thomas in the seventh round and he quickly made his way into the starting lineup in their secondary at the free safety spot, intercepting four passes and yielding a 52.6% completion rate in coverage as a rookie, showing signs of potential as a long-term starter in Indianapolis.
However, while Thomas did add two more interceptions and a pair of pass breakups in 2023, his play took a significant step back across the board. He allowed north of 21 yards per reception, regularly giving up explosive plays in coverage both on deep balls and after the catch, missing an ugly 23% of his tackle attempts. These struggles led to Nick Cross replacing him in the starting lineup the following season and a far reduced role with under 150 defensive snaps in 2024 and 2025.
On the plus side, Thomas emerged as one of the Colts best special teams players over the past two seasons, including racking up nine combined tackles on kick and punt coverage without any missed tackles last year. When he has been called upon on defense, his tackling has been much better the past two seasons as well with only one miss and under an 8% missed tackle rate.
Coming to Seattle for a new chapter in his career, Thomas won’t be in the running to start on defense with Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori, and Ty Okada all returning as part of a talented, versatile safety group. But coach Mike Macdonald has utilized four safety sets quite often in dime and robber packages featuring six or more defensive backs on the field at the same time, which could open the door for him to compete for snaps in that regard on obvious passing downs while also being a key cog on special teams.
