After earlier getting deals done with three defensive players the Seahawks on Monday retained one of their key impending offensive free agents — tight end Will Dissly.
Dissly agreed to a new three-year deal worth up to $24 million, according to NFL Media. An exact breakdown of the contract was not immediately available.
Dissly confirmed the news via Twitter shortly after it was reported with a tweet stating: “SEA!!!!”
The salary marks a whopping raise for Dissly, who had just finished his four-year rookie contract that paid him $3.1 million overall.
At an average base salary of $8 million a year it also makes Dissly the 14th-highest paid tight end in the NFL, according to Spotrac.com.
According to multiple reports, the deal includes a $9.3 million signing bonus and $15.98 million in total guarantees and up to $510,000 in annual roster bonuses. It also has salaries of $5.6 and $6.49 million in 2023 and 2024. The 2023 salary is guaranteed only for injury at signing and becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2023 league year. The 2024 salary is not guaranteed, making this in essence a two-year deal with Seattle able to get out of it heading into the final season if it wants. And it carries cap hits of $4.5 million, $9.2 million and $10.1 million from 2022-24.
But if the average salary may have seemed at first glance for a player who will be part of a rotation, Dissly appeared to be a priority for Seattle to re-sign due to his role as a blocker with a Seahawks offense that emerged to have one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL, averaging just over 5 yards per game, second-best in team history and third-best in the NFL. Dissly was rated 14th out of 74 NFL tight ends in run blocking last year by Pro Football Focus.
Dissly now appears set to join Noah Fant, acquired in the Russell Wilson trade from Denver, in Seattle’s tight end rotation along with third-year player Colby Parkinson.
Dissly started 14 games last season making 21 catches for 231 yards and a touchdown but was used more as a blocker than he had been the previous year. Of his 682 snaps last season, 366 came as an in-line blocker, according to Pro Football Focus.
Fant is regarded as more of a receiving tight end, making 68 receptions for 670 yards and four touchdowns in 2021.
The re-signing of Dissly and trade for Fant almost certainly means Seattle will not re-sign its other free agent tight end, Gerald Everett.
Everett was Seattle’s primary receiving tight end in 2021 with 48 receptions for 478 yards and four touchdowns, playing on a one-year deal worth $6 million.
Dissly played just 10 games his first two seasons after suffering knee and Achilles tendon injuries.
But he bounced back from those to play all but two games the last two seasons including 26 official starts.
Dissly was the 120th pick in the 2018 draft after having switched to tight end his final two seasons at the University of Washington, having originally begun his college career as a defensive end.
