Seahawks notes: TE Luke Willson released, WR Phillip Dorsett has surgery
Nov 3, 2020, 1:02 PM | Updated: 7:25 pm
Luke Willson has played five games but been targeted no time this season. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks opened up a needed roster spot by looking to their crowed tight end position.
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Veteran tight end Luke Willson was released by Seattle on Tuesday. The news was first reported Tuesday morning by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The move shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The Seahawks recently added rookie tight end Colby Parkinson to the active roster, giving them five players at the spot: Willson, Parkinson, Greg Olsen, Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister. Seattle also promoted rookie Stephen Sullivan from the practice squad, though he made his NFL debut Sunday as a defensive end despite being drafted as a wide receiver/tight end.
The Seahawks will need roster space with defensive ends Carlos Dunlap and Rasheem Green expected to join the team for their Week 9 game against the Buffalo Bills. Dunlap was acquired last week in a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals but wasn’t eligible to play against San Francisco due to the league’s protocols for coronavirus testing, while Green is coming off injured reserve following his recovery from a stinger suffered in Seattle’s season opener.
Willson, 30, has played sparingly in 2020 for the Seahawks, appearing in five games and receiving no targets on offense. A 2013 fifth-round pick by Seattle, he spent his first five seasons with the team before going to Detroit as a free agent in 2018. He was released by the Lions the following offseason, cut by the Raiders after spending 2019 training camp with them, and returned to the Seahawks around midseason 2019. He re-signed with Seattle on a one-year deal ahead of 2020.
Dorsett’s Seahawks debut further delayed
Phillip Dorsett, one of Seattle’s key additions in free agency, has yet to suit up for the team, and it’s going to be a while longer yet until he gets the opportunity to do so. The speedy wide receiver has been held out due to a foot injury, and he posted on his Instagram account Tuesday that he has undergone surgery. According to ESPN’s Brady Henderson, Dorsett had the surgery to deal with bone spurs in the foot.
A 2015 first-round pick, Dorsett came to Seattle after stints with Indianapolis and New England. He had five touchdowns and 397 yards on 29 receptions for the Patriots in 2019.
The Seahawks haven’t necessarily missed Dorsett thus far. They rank third in the NFL with both 414.4 yards of total offense per game, and quarterback Russell Wilson is third in the league at 307.3 passing yards per game. David Moore has also stepped up into the No. 3 receiver role behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf that Dorsett was expected to fill, making 16 catches on 20 targets for 245 yards and three touchdowns in seven games.
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