Seahawks Fill Massive Hole By Re-Signing Reliable DT Johnathan Hankins

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Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins celebrates a sack against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Credit: Johnathan Hankins/Instagram [/caption]

Anchored by the return of Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, and 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy II, the defensive line was poised to remain a major area of strength for the Seattle Seahawks rolling into the 2025 season.

But even with Williams, Reed, and Murphy on the roster, that didn’t mean the Seahawks still didn’t have questions in the trenches on defense. Following the departure of Roy Robertson-Harris in free agency and the surprising release of former fourth-round pick Cameron Young days before the 2025 NFL Draft, the team lacked depth and size behind their disruptive threesome, and in the short-term, selecting Notre Dame defensive end Rylie Mills won’t help with that issue due to his ongoing recovery from a torn ACL suffered in January.

Coming out of the draft, after not selecting a defensive tackle with any of their 11 picks, Seattle only had two nose tackles on the roster weighing north of 306 pounds - Quinton Bohanna and Brandon Pili - and those two players spent most of last season on the practice squad after bouncing around with other teams. Their undrafted free agent crop also lacked a big-bodied nose, with Demeco Roland from Southern Miss being the only signee weighing over 310 pounds.

Fortunately, the Seahawks had a plan in place in the event that the draft board didn’t fall their way to add reinforcements to the interior of their defensive line, maintaining contact with Johnathan Hankins throughout the offseason. Nearly two weeks after the draft wrapped up in Green Bay, the 13th year veteran officially will be back in blue and green for a second season, a massive move for the team both figuratively and literally.

“I just feel comfortable here," Hankins told Seahawks.com reporter John Boyle after signing on Wednesday. "I like it here. Everything made sense. To be able to still be playing in Year 13, and obviously the organization wanted me back, so it just made sense."

At this stage of his career, there’s nothing flashy about the 33-year old Hankins’ game, as he has settled into a role as an early down nose tackle who occasionally can still slide out to the 3-tech role. Though he tallied quite a few sacks earlier in his career with the Giants, his production hunting quarterbacks has tailed off in recent years. He did have three sacks in 2023 with the Cowboys, showing he still has some punch as an interior rusher.

But while Hankins only had eight pressures and a sack for the Seahawks last season, his overall stat line underscores his true value to the team. Holding serve in the middle while eating up double teams, he helped keep linebackers Ernest Jones and Tyrice Knight clean in the final eight games where they cut their rushing yards against average by nearly 50 yards per contest. Even though his 15 percent missed tackle rate was higher than desired, he also made his share of plays, tying for fifth on the team with 15 run stops and adding five tackles for loss for good measure.

With continuity valued by coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who worked with Hankins for two seasons as a defensive line coach in Dallas before being hired by Seattle in 2024, bringing back the reliable, durable veteran seemed to be all but guaranteed after the team didn’t select a defensive tackle in the draft. His experience and leadership will once again be welcomed up front, as he will be counted on to play significant snaps while also mentoring young players such as Murphy and Mills.

Making his return all the more exciting for the player, Hankins will get to reunite with former Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, who joined the team as a free agent in March. Adding the multi-time Pro Bowler to a defense that will have eight starters returning who started 10 or more games last season along with ascending young players in Murphy, Knight, and Josh Jobe, he sees the sky as the limit for the Seahawks in year two running Macdonald’s scheme.

"I think we can be one of the best [defenses]," Hankins told Boyle. "I think we were close to being the best last year… I think we're going to have a much better season than we did last year, even though last season was pretty good."

After turning 33 in March, Hankins understands he’s at the point of his career where he has to play things “year to year,” evidenced by the fact that he has signed later in the process each of the last two offseasons. With over 6,300 snaps on his resume, there’s plenty of wear on his tires, and it will be crucial for the Seahawks to find other quality nose options to help manage his workload throughout the season to ensure he plays at his best down the stretch.

Among those who could be in the mix for snaps rotating inside behind Hankins, Reed has played quite a bit of nose tackle over the course of his career, though he only had 18 snaps in that role a year ago. In an ideal world, Murphy will play most of his snaps at the 3-tech spot to help him produce as a pass rusher, but he has the flexibility to play nose and logged 66 snaps there as a rookie, while Bohanna and Pili could be options with little to offer as rushers and it’s not out of the realm of possibility Seattle could add another veteran before training camp opens in July.

Regardless, if the Seahawks are to build off their strong finish defensively last season, Hankins will be a key cog in that success handling the dirty work with an occasional splash play shading the A-gap and down the road, re-signing him could be viewed as an under-the-radar move to plug a huge hole. Grateful for the opportunity to be part of it again after a dozen seasons in the league, he’s looking forward to doing everything he can to help guide the team back to the postseason with eyes on doing damage in January.

"It's exciting. To be healthy enough to still go out there, but also passionate enough that I can still go out there and play, it's a blessing.”