Seahawks sign LB Khairi Fortt, waive rookie Christian French
May 16, 2016, 2:36 PM | Updated: 3:24 pm
The Seahawks shuffled the back end of their outside linebacking corps on Monday by waiving injured rookie Christian French and signing veteran free agent Khairi Fortt.
Fortt, 24, was a fourth-round pick by New Orleans in 2014, but never played a down for the Saints after suffering a preseason leg injury. He was signed and released by the Bengals later that season and played three games – recording one tackle – for the Jaguars. Jacksonville waived the 6 foot 2, 240-pounder before the start of the next season and he hasn’t played since.
In one season at the University of California after transferring from Penn State, Fortt tallied 64 tackles in nine games, and added 3.5 tackles for loss.
Fortt replaces French, an undrafted rookie free agent from Oregon who was waived with an injury designation and could remain on the team’s Injured Reserve list if he clears waivers.
The strongside linebacker spot appears to be up for grabs after last year’s starter, Bruce Irvin left for the Raiders in free agency, and the team didn’t address the spot during the draft. Seattle may be looking at a mix-and-match replacement approach, using players like Mike Morgan and recently re-signed defensive ends Cassius Marsh and Chris Clemons to fill the void.
