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# Seahawks Fill Last Major Need, Ink Dante Fowler Jr. to One-Year Deal
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-seahawks-fill-last-major-need-dante-fowler-jr-one-year-deal/
- Published: 2026-05-05T18:53:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:11:45.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Dante Fowler Jr.

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="6593"\]

![  Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. (13) sacks Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) in the second half at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/usatsi_27499328-format-original.jpg)

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. (13) sacks Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) in the second half at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

Despite doubling their draft picks from four to eight during the 2026 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks surprisingly didn’t use a single one of those selections on an EDGE defender, which many pundits viewed as one of their most significant needs coming out of free agency. Now, they’ve rectified that concern with an anticipated post-draft free agent signing that should be a win for team and player.

After visiting with the team last month weeks before the draft, the Seahawks have reportedly agreed to terms with veteran pass rusher Dante Fowler Jr. on a one-year deal. Per multiple sources, the deal could earn the former top-five pick up to $5 million in 2026 and since the signing occurred after the first Monday following the draft, it will not impact the compensatory pick formula.

Starring at Florida, Fowler emerged as one of the top prospects in the 2015 NFL Draft, and the Jaguars selected him third overall with hopes of him emerging as a superstar quarterback hunter, only for him to miss his entire rookie season with a torn ACL suffered in rookie minicamp. After two and a half inconsistent seasons following the injury, Jacksonville traded him to the Los Angeles Rams at the deadline for a pair of draft picks, and he enjoyed a long-awaited breakout season in 2019 with a career-high 11.5 sacks, turning that production into a three-year, $45 million deal with Atlanta.

As has been the case for most of Fowler’s career, his sack numbers have been wildly inconsistent from season to season, and he only yielded seven sacks in two years with the Falcons before the team released him. He bounced back to an extent with the Cowboys in 2022 with six sacks, benefiting from joining a talented cast that included Micah Parsons and current Seahawks star Demarcus Lawrence by chipping in six sacks as the team won 12 games.

Most recently, Fowler hit the double-digit sacks mark with the Commanders in 2024 and helped guide the team to a surprising NFC Championship Game run, only to return to the Cowboys as a free agent last year and see a significant dip in production again with just three sacks while starting 11 of 17 games played.

Set to turn 32 years old in August, Fowler’s best days likely sit behind him at this point, and he’s always been lauded more for his pass rushing acumen than being a sterling run defender. However, context matters, and there’s reason to believe he still has plenty to offer as a rotational rusher with more than meets the eye beyond his sack totals last season as the Seahawks seek to replace the production lost with Boye Mafe signing with the Bengals in March.

According to Pro Football Focus charting, Fowler posted a 14.3% Pass Rush Win Rate for Dallas in 2025, which ranked 28th among qualified EDGE defenders with at least 200 pass rushing attempts in the regular season and playoffs. That percentage ranked ahead of Uchenna Nwosu, Mafe, and Lawrence, with only Derrick Hall generating a higher win rate for Seattle last season. That percentage vaulted to 20.2% on True Pass Sets, jumping up to the top 20 out of 94 qualified rushers, demonstrating far more bite chasing quarterbacks than his pedestrian sack total would hint by itself.

Only one season prior, Fowler ranked 62nd in Pass Rush Win Rate, but he turned 50 pressures into 11.5 sacks for Washington, showcasing the erratic nature of relying on sack numbers alone when it comes to evaluating pass rushers. Either way, he stood out as a competent quarterback harasser in both seasons, albeit by different metrics without consistency in the sacks department, providing enough juice in both seasons to suggest a rebound may be in order with a better supporting cast around him, especially considering his ties to a few key members of the organization.

In his first stint with Dallas in 2022 and 2023, Fowler played for current Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who served as the Cowboys’ defensive line coach those two seasons, generating 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, and five swatted passes in that span. He produced at least 36 pressures as a reserve in both of those campaigns, eclipsing a 14% Pass Rush Win Rate in 2023\. He also played a ton of snaps alongside Lawrence, who earned himself a Super Bowl ring last year as a catalyst in the trenches for the No. 1 ranked scoring defense, and the two players developed a strong bond on and off the field during that time.

Reuniting with Durde, who should know how to maximize on his strengths within coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme and neutralize his weaknesses after having success coaching him earlier in his career, the Seahawks won’t need Fowler to come on board and rack up 10 or more sacks to justify his addition as the alternative to selecting a defensive end or outside linebacker with limited picks in the recent draft. He will joining an already talented ensemble, allowing him to be utilized as more of a complementary weapon off the EDGE whose style as a quick-twitch speed rusher differs from that of Nwosu, Hall, Lawrence, and others on the roster.

Without breaking the bank to sign him at this stage of the offseason, Fowler just needs to play his notes and fulfill his role as a productive, change-of-pace rush option to make the deal worthwhile. If the team can squeeze four or five sacks out of him with a forced fumble or two as a specialty rusher, the move has a chance to be a shrewd one, especially if they can manage to get positive contributions from the likes of Jared Ivey or Connor O’Toole in their second seasons to round out the EDGE stable.

Such a strategy would not be the best business for every team in the NFL, but the Seahawks have the vast majority of their defense returning from last year’s Super Bowl-winning squad, with Mafe, cornerback Riq Woolen, and safety Coby Bryant being the only noteworthy departures. They’re clearly in the middle of their title window and Fowler remains a productive player who fits the scheme well for his role. They didn’t need to sign or trade for a superstar, instead needing a reliable rotational piece to help plug a hole in the short term while still having the financial flexibility to extend players such as Devon Witherspoon this summer without a hitch.