Seahawks Place Julian Love, Eric Saubert On IR
In advance of their meeting with the Commanders on Sunday, the Seahawks have placed safety Julian Love and tight end Eric Saubert on IR, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Love is dealing with a hamstring injury, while a calf issue will shelve Saubert. Both players will miss a minimum of four games.
Love hasn’t played since Week 4, but the 5-2 Seahawks held off on putting him on IR throughout October. With the team coming off its bye, Love suffered a setback this week, head coach Mike Macdonald said (per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic). He’ll be out until at least Week 13 as a result.
After earning his lone Pro Bowl nod in 2023 and signing a three-year extension, Love was a 17-game starter for the first time in his career last season. He racked up 109 tackles, 12 passes defensed, and three interceptions along the way. Love recorded 18 tackles and a sack in three starts this year before the injury derailed his season.
The Love-less Seahawks have deployed Coby Bryant and Ty Okada as their top two safeties for most of 2025. Their pass defense, which will get two-time Pro Bowl corner Devon Witherspoon back from a three-game absence this week, ranks a strong 10th in the NFL.
After a season with the NFC West rival 49ers, Seubert signed a one-year pact with the Seahawks last offseason. He ranks third among Seahawks tight ends in snaps, trailing starter AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo, and has caught his only target for 12 yards.
Along with the IR placements of Love and Saubert, the Seahawks made a handful of other moves Saturday, Dugar reports. The team activated fullback Robbie Ouzts, who had been on IR since Sept. 24, and signed safety Jerrick Reed II from the practice squad to the active roster. Additionally, wideouts Cody White and Ricky White III received standard elevations from the practice squad. As Dugar notes, calling up the Whites may bode poorly for receiver Cooper Kupp, who’s questionable for Week 9 with heel and hamstring injuries.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/30/25
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: WR Jalen Brooks, TE Messiah Swinson
- Released: CB Jaden Davis
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: LB Liam Anderson, LB Brian Asamoah
- Released: DE Myles Cole
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB Myles Gaskin
- Released: WR Velus Jones
A day after adding Velus Jones and releasing Myles Gaskin, the Seahawks have reversed course. Gaskin had more than 600 rushing yards with the Dolphins back in 2021, but he’s been limited to 26 rushing yards in seven total games since that season. Jones got into five games with the Saints earlier this year, with the majority of his snaps coming on special teams.
CB Tariq Woolen “More Likely Than Not” To Stick With Seahawks
Once described as a “strong trade candidate,” it sounds like Tariq Woolen may actually be sticking in Seattle after all. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the cornerback is “more likely than not” to stay with the Seahawks through the trade deadline.
[RELATED: Seahawks CB Riq Woolen ‘Strong Trade Candidate’]
As an impending free agent, Woolen was an assumed trade target for teams seeking a rental in their secondary. With the Seahawks firmly in the playoff picture, the team doesn’t necessarily have much incentive to deal off veteran parts. Plus, Garafolo notes that the organization has still “not given up hope” that Woolen will be a long-term piece, an indication that they could pursue a new contract with the player after this season.
A former fifth-round pick, it didn’t take long for Woolen to burst onto the scene. He led the NFL with six interceptions as a rookie en route to a PFWA All-Rookie Team selection and a Pro Bowl nod. Pro Football Focus also ranked the UTSA product 34th among 118 qualifying cornerbacks during that 2022 season.
That rookie campaign still represents the player’s best NFL campaign. He hauled in another five interceptions between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with Pro Football Focus ranking him towards the middle of the pack during those two years. He’s also taken a bit of a step back in 2025. The 26-year-old has yet to haul in an interception this season, with PFF currently ranking him 94th at his position.
Even after missing Week 6, Woolen is still second among Seahawks cornerbacks in snaps played this season, so the coaching staff is plenty dependent on the veteran. Devon Witherspoon is expected to return to the lineup this weekend, and with Josh Jobe leading the position grouping through the first half of the season, Woolen could be eyeing a reduced role down the stretch. Still, the organization seems to value the depth he’ll provide as they look to make a push towards the postseason.
Seahawks Searching For O-Line Help
For the second time in four years, the Seahawks moved off a successful starting quarterback and did not retool via the draft. Like Geno Smith in 2022, Sam Darnold has worked out early in his Seattle starter debut.
The Seahawks have done a decent job protecting their free agency addition, marking an improvement from Smith’s third and final season at the helm. But the team is believed to be on the lookout for O-line help ahead of the trade deadline, veteran insider Jordan Schultz notes.
Seattle has turned to the trade market to help fortify its front in previous years of John Schneider‘s GM regime, having traded for Duane Brown (2017) and Gabe Jackson (2021). Seattle’s current front five is entirely homegrown, with four draft choices and UDFA Jalen Sundell in place as starters. Sundell won the team’s center competition this offseason, and right guard Anthony Bradford won the battle to retain that gig.
This retooled (via Sundell and ex-North Dakota State teammate Grey Zabel) O-line has drawn mixed reviews. ESPN’s pass and run block win rate metrics respectively rank Seattle’s front 11th and 10th, while Pro Football Focus slots it 19th overall. Bradford has emerged as a potential trouble spot, with PFF slotting the Seahawks’ RG 74th among guard regulars (out of 82 qualified options). He has also surrendered the third-highest pressure rate among guards with at least 200 snaps, per The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar. The former fourth-round pick has made 28 career starts, being Seattle’s primary RG for three seasons.
The Seahawks have versatile backup Josh Jones as a swing option, while reserve center Olu Oluwatimi resides as an interior option. (Ex-third-round pick Christian Haynes is in the IR-return window.) When Sundell won the center job out of training camp, Oluwatimi — Seattle’s initial Connor Williams replacement last season — was announced as the center option in the event Bradford went down. In that scenario, Sundell would have slid to right guard. The Seahawks have kept Sundell at center during the season’s first half. PFF has graded Sundell 27th among center regulars thus far.
Mike Macdonald said the Seahawks did not consider O-line changes during the bye week, but a trade would stand to demote either Bradford or Sundell. For guard options, Dugar lists veterans Kevin Zeitler, Wyatt Teller and Joel Bitonio. Both 30-somethings are in contract years. The Browns and Titans blockers are currently protecting rookie QBs, which could make their teams hesitant to deal. It would surprise if Cleveland entertained trading both its guards, but with Bitonio in perhaps his final season, it could make sense for the team to see if the career-long northeast Ohio resident would want to be dealt to a contender. Teller, three years younger than Bitonio, also came up as an extension candidate earlier this year.
Jets LG John Simpson is also in a contract year and is playing for a regime that did not acquire him. Evan Neal is believed to be available, but at this point, the disappointing top-10 Giants pick — who has not played in a game this season — would profile more as a backup than a player who would usurp a starting guard. Dugar points to a low-profile trade being the buyer’s move the Seahawks could make, as the roster is in fairly good shape. A final decision will be due at 3pm CT November 4.
Seahawks Unlikely To Retain Boye Mafe
After a quiet start to the season from Boye Mafe, the Seahawks fourth-year edge rusher seems likely to leave Seattle this offseason.
Mafe was the No. 40 overall pick in the 2022 draft and started three games as a rookie. He took over a full-time role in 2023 and recorded 15.0 sacks across his next two seasons. This year, however, he has just two quarterback hits, one tackle for loss, and zero sacks in seven games and a 62% defensive snap share.
As a result, Mafe is “not trending toward a lucrative second contract,” according to Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. Obviously, his performance this year would preclude an in-season extension, but Dugar’s words suggest that he is not likely to be re-signed by the Seahawks this offseason, either.
Seattle has a few reasons to move on from Mafe. He was drafted in 2022 when Pete Carroll was still the team’s head coach. Now, Mike Macdonald is in charge, and teams typically turn over their rosters in the first few years of a new regime.
The Seahawks also have depth at edge rusher into next year. DeMarcus Lawrence signed a multi-year deal this offseason, and both Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall are under contract in 2026 as well. Lawrence and Nwosu have outproduced Mafe this season, but Hall has taken a step back after his eight-sack breakout last year. It still seems likely that Seattle will keep Hall for the final year of his rookie deal, and Nwosu’s five sacks in six games this year could save him from being a cap casualty next spring.
Mafe could also be somewhat expensive. His pressure rate is slightly down relative to his last two years, but his pass rush win rate is about the same, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He could be due for some positive regression later this season, which would boost his stock heading into free agency. His 2023 and 2024 production won’t be forgotten by teams in need of pass-rush help, either.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/29/25
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves around the NFL:
Dallas Cowboys
- Designated for return from IR: DT Perrion Winfrey
Houston Texans
- Designated for return from IR: FB Jakob Johnson
New England Patriots
- Signed from practice squad: RB Terrell Jennings
New York Giants
- Designated for return from IR: CB Rico Payton
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Opened practice window: DB Cory Trice
San Francisco 49ers
- Waived: OL Drew Moss
Seattle Seahawks
- Opened practice window: G Christian Haynes
Winfrey, Johnson and Payton have each started their 21-day activation periods. Bringing them back into the fold will use up one of their respective teams’ eight IR activations. By contrast, Trice and Haynes were given the designated for return label during roster cuts in August. As a result, their activations have already been accounted for.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/29/25
Here are today’s taxi squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Activated from practice squad IR: WR Gabe Davis
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DE Jonathan Garvin, OL Royce Newman
Denver Broncos
- Signed: QB Sam Ehlinger
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: S Dante Barnett, CB Tyron Herring
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE Dalton Keene
- Released: RB Jawhar Jordan
New England Patriots
- Signed: RB D’Ernest Johnson
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: RB Evan Hull
- Released: DT Coziah Izzard
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OL Jack Driscoll, WR John Rhys Plumlee
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: KR Velus Jones
- Released: RB Myles Gaskin
Washington Commanders
- Signed: WR Robbie Chosen
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/27/25
Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: RB Michael Carter, CB Darren Hall
Cleveland Browns
- Claimed off waivers (from Texans): TE Brenden Bates
- Waived: CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: OL C.J. Hanson, DT Marlon Tuipulotu
Las Vegas Raiders
- Practice window opened: S Lonnie Johnson
- Waived: WR Justin Shorter
Minnesota Vikings
- Claimed off waivers (from Packers): TE Ben Sims
Philadelphia Eagles
- Released: DB Parry Nickerson
Seattle Seahawks
- Designated for return: FB Robbie Ouzts
With James Conner done for the year after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 3 and Trey Benson on IR with a knee malady since Oct. 1, Carter leads the Cardinals with 35 carries. He has rushed for an inefficient 97 yards (2.8 per attempt), though, and could only muster 11 on seven carries in a Week 7 loss to the Packers.
The Cardinals, who will come off their bye in Week 9 to face the Cowboys, are now down to two RBs in Emari Demercado and Zonovan Knight. They also have D’Ernest Johnson and Jermar Jefferson on their practice squad. Benson will be eligible to return in Week 10.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/24/25
Here are today’s minor moves as we head into the eighth weekend of the regular season:
New Orleans Saints
- Claimed off waivers (from Ravens): TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden
- Waived: RB Velus Jones
New York Jets
- Claimed off waivers (from Vikings): LB Kobe King
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE Eric Saubert
Tennessee Titans
- Signed from practice squad: WR Mason Kinsey
Mitchell-Paden, an undrafted free agent back in 2022, saw the first regular season snaps of his NFL career earlier this year as the Ravens dealt with the absence of a then-injured Isaiah Likely. Mitchell-Paden was waived yesterday in order to make room for practice squad quarterback Tyler Huntley, and New Orleans took the initiative to bring him on, cutting Jones, who had been promoted from the practice squad on Tuesday, to make room on the 53-man roster.
King was waived so that Minnesota could make room for running back Aaron Jones to come off of injured reserve, and Kinsey is getting promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster in Tennessee after appearing as an elevation is last week’s game. Saubert’s brief stint on the free agent market appears to have had some procedural purpose. Seattle released the veteran on Wednesday, and no other roster spot juggling was done before the team signed him back today.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/24/25
Here are Friday’s only practice squad transactions:
Dallas Cowboys
- Released (with injury settlement): WR Jalen Brooks
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR Tyrone Broden
- Released: WR Tyler Scott
The Seahawks made the opposite transaction last Wednesday, cutting the undrafted rookie out of Arkansas to bring in Scott. This time, Broden will displace Scott as the two trade places.