Huard: Seahawks should be ‘highly interested’ in potential free agent Taysom Hill

During Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s introductory press conference last week, he was asked about his success in short-yardage situations as the New Orleans Saints’ OC this past season.

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Kubiak immediately pointed to the one-of-a-kind Taysom Hill.

“We had a guy that comes to mind in Taysom Hill that was a weapon that I was able to get creative with,” Kubiak said.

Hill, a former standout quarterback at BYU, is unlike any other player in the NFL. He’s officially listed as a tight end, but in reality he’s a 6-foot-2, 211-pound Swiss Army knife who does a little bit of everything – taking snaps at quarterback, tight end, wide receiver, fullback, running back and even on special teams.

Rost: Could versatile Saints player be a fit for the Seahawks?

Over his eight-year NFL career with the Saints, Hill has racked up 2,437 rushing yards, 2,369 passing yards, 943 receiving yards and 55 total touchdowns. According to Stathead, he’s the only player since the 1970 NFL merger with at least 2,000 career rushing yards, 2,000 career passing yards and 900 career receiving yards.

And he very well could be on the free agent market this offseason.

In honor of his birthday, the Taysom Hill Experience.

✅ Rushing TD
✅ Passing TD
✅ Receiving TD
✅ Punt block
✅ Kick return
✅ Punt return
✅ Tackle pic.twitter.com/yjJP5Jcldo

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 23, 2023

Hill still has one year left on his four-year, $40 million contract with New Orleans, but he’s projected to carry a nearly $18 million salary cap hit for 2025, according to Over The Cap. And the Saints have by far the worst salary cap situation in the league, sitting a projected $47.2 million in the red.

That makes the 34-year-old Hill a strong cap casualty candidate. If the Saints were to release him with a post-June 1 designation, they could clear $10 million in cap space.

“If he does get released, he’d be a name I’d be highly, highly interested in Seattle,” former NFL quarterback Brock Huard said during Friday’s Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

‘There are not many Taysom Hills’

Hill, a native of Pocatello, Idaho, was limited to just eight games this past season due to a torn ACL.

But before getting hurt, Hill rushed for 278 yards and six TDs at an average of 7.1 yards per carry, and hauled in 23 receptions for 187 yards. According to Pro Football Focus, he took 91 snaps at wide receiver, 43 at tight end, 41 at fullback, 26 at quarterback and 24 at running back. He also had 73 snaps on special teams.

In his last two full seasons, he totaled 652 yards from scrimmage in 2022 and 692 yards from scrimmage in 2023.

And as Kubiak alluded to, Hill is particularly valuable in short-yardage situations and in helping an offense stay on schedule. Hill has a 60.2% career rushing success rate, which ranks second among all players between 2018 and 2024 who have at least 400 carries over that span, per Stathead. (A successful rush is defined as gaining 40% of the necessary yardage on first down, 60% on second down and 100% on third and fourth downs.)

“To have a guy with that versatility – that joker position that can do so many things and do them well,” Huard said, marveling at Hill’s skill set.

Make that 3 TDs for Taysom Hill! An unbelievable day for the TE 👏

📺: #CLEvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/MeAX5RcJ3H

— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024

If Hill does get released, Huard thinks there will be ample competition for the do-it-all offensive weapon. One of those teams could be the Denver Broncos and their head coach Sean Payton, who was Hill’s head coach for his first five seasons in New Orleans.

“I’ll tell you, it’s not gonna just be in the Seattle market,” Huard said. “It’s in the Denver market, because Sean Payton coached him down in New Orleans.

“There are not many Taysom Hills.”

Listen to the full Blue 88 segment at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage

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• John Schneider clarifies past comments on guard position
• Bump: A new Seattle Seahawks O-line draft target to watch
• Huard: How Seattle Seahawks are already emphasizing the run game
• Analyst: How ‘wild card’ Seattle Seahawks could surprise in first round

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