Seahawks rumors: Jonathan Stewart visiting Seattle
Veteran running back Jonathan Stewart’s career isn’t over after his release by the Carolina Panthers. His first free agency stop: The Seattle Seahawks.
The Carolina Panthers closed out February by releasing running back Jonathan Stewart after 10 years with the team. Stewart, who turns 31 years old later in March, was both a cap casualty and an unfortunate victim of the vagaries of time. But the veteran, who has amassed 7,318 rushing yards and 51 rushing touchdowns while averaging 4.3 yards per carry, is not ready to call it a career.
Stewart is already taking meetings with interested teams ahead of next week’s start of free agency, and his first stop is with a franchise who could certainly use his help: The Seattle Seahawks. The NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo reported on Thursday that Stewart will spend the day visiting the Seahawks, which could prove to be a fruitful landing spot for the running back and a low-risk, low-cost signing to boost Seattle’s offense.
In 2016 and ’17, the Seahawks’ once-prolific run game slipped in the absence of Marshawn Lynch. Though injuries to C.J. Prosise (both years) and Thomas Rawls (ankle and leg fractures dating back to 2015) were partially to blame, it was also the issue of personnel that became a problem.
Their one-year deal with former Green Bay Packers back Eddie Lacy did not pan out, with Lacy rushing only 179 yards on his 69 carries. Rawls never got back to form, with 157 yards on his 58 carries. Prosise landed on injured reserve with an ankle ailment.
While the group was rounded out by Mike Davis and Chris Carson, who remain under contract in Seattle, neither earned even 300 yards rushing last year. Three of Seattle’s four rushing touchdowns in 2017 belonged to quarterback Russell Wilson, who was also the team’s leading rusher, with 586 yards on his 95 carries.
The Seahawks and Stewart could easily have a mutual attraction. The presence of younger backs like Carson and Davis, paired with Wilson’s mobility, would mean Stewart would not be thrust into a feature-back role. But his years spent splitting carries with DeAngelo Williams (and with Carolina quarterback Cam Newton) has kept him relatively fresh.
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It’s not unreasonable to assume that Stewart could contribute much in the way Williams himself did with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015 and 2016, when he had 1,250 yards and 15 rushing scores in his early 30s. And even if Stewart’s meeting with the Seahawks does not result in a contract signing, that teams are already interested means that the back won’t likely have to wait until injuries force teams to come calling during training camp like is so often the case with veterans at his position.