Seahawks 90-Man Rundown: Gritty Veteran Eric Saubert Set to Battle on Offense, Special Teams
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After playing in a Shanahan-style offense in San Francisco last season, Eric Saubert should be well-versed in many of the concepts deployed by Klint Kubiak with the Seahawks. Credit: Eric Saubert/Instagram [/caption]
With their offseason program all wrapped up, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC on July 23, meaning the start of the upcoming season will be here before fans have a chance to blink.
In preparation for year number two under coach Mike Macdonald, I’ll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, dishing out fun facts, exploring best and worst case scenarios, and predicting what to expect from each player entering the 2025 campaign.
A respected veteran who arrives in the Pacific Northwest with an impressive special teams resume, will Eric Saubert be able to provide enough on offense to maintain a spot on the Seahawks’ 53?
Eric Saubert
Height/Weight: 6-5, 253 pounds
2024 Stats: 11 receptions, 97 yards, touchdown
Originally a fifth-round pick by the Falcons back in the 2017 NFL Draft after playing collegiately at FCS program Drake, Saubert has bounced around during the course of his eight-year NFL career, playing for seven teams in eight seasons. He played his first two years in Atlanta, catching five passes for 48 yards with one start in 30 games played, before being traded to New England for a conditional seventh-round pick in August 2019. He lasted just three weeks with the Patriots before being waived and signing with the Raiders practice squad.
By November, Saubert had been signed off of Las Vegas’ practice squad by Chicago, appearing in two games with two catches for 21 yards. After one season in Jacksonville, he enjoyed his best professional success in Denver, including catching a career-high 15 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown in 2022. He played in 10 games for Dallas and Houston in 2023 before seeing action in all 17 games in San Francisco last season, reeling in 11 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Signing with the Seahawks in March, he has four seasons with at least 296 special teams snaps on his resume and he played a career-high 303 snaps in the third phase for San Francisco last season, producing a pair of tackles on kick and punt coverage.
Fun Fact: While Saubert has not been a frequent target in the passing game with any of his previous NFL teams, he does have a respectable career 70 percent catch rate and has turned 17 of his 47 career catches into first downs or touchdowns.
Best Case Scenario: Bringing a hard-nosed, blue collar mentality to Seattle’s tight end group, Saubert plays an integral role in reviving the team’s run game as a rotational inline blocker and also makes several plays on special teams, earning a fourth spot on the 53-man roster and suiting up for more than a dozen regular season games in 2025.
Worst Case Scenario: Not offering enough contributions to justify a roster spot in a deep tight end group with a limited skill set away from his blocking, Saubert winds up losing snaps to undrafted rookie Nick Kallerup over the course of the preseason and winds up being released during final roster cuts before latching on with another team’s practice squad.
What to Expect in 2025: A gritty veteran who has managed to carve out a long NFL career with numerous pitstops along the way, Saubert presents an interesting case for the Seahawks to warrant keeping four tight ends. He’s well-versed in the Shanahan-style offense deployed by offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, having played in it with the 49ers last year while also working with Kubiak briefly with the Broncos in 2022. He’s also generally been viewed as an above-average blocker with more than 1,100 career inline snaps, which adds value in a scheme that features extensive two-tight end personnel groupings, to go with his extensive special teams experience.
All of those positives will give Saubert a chance to stick around, but at the same time, the 31-year old is a finished product with clear limitations, particularly as a pass catching option. The investment of a second round pick in Elijah Arroyo to pair with Noah Fant and AJ Barner gives Seattle an exciting trio to unleash in Kubiak’s offense with all three players being substantially more impactful in the passing game and offering positional flexibility. If the veteran journeyman proves to be one of the team’s core special teams players, then retaining a fourth player at the position won’t be an issue. But the competition for a bottom of the roster spot will be an intense one and with many other gifted special teamers in the mix, it’s far from a guarantee he will be more than a practice squad insurance policy come September.
