The Seattle Seahawks brought back a familiar face on Saturday, signing veteran defensive back DeShawn Shead to a one-year contract.
Shead played with the Seahawks from 2012-2017, starting 15 games in 2016 as the team’s primary right cornerback.
However, Shead has plenty of experience playing safety as well, and that could be where the Seahawks plan to utilize him early on.
A hip injury to Lano Hill has forced him onto the PUP list to start training camp, and a lingering hamstring injury has held rookie Marquise Blair out as well, leaving the Seahawks short two safeties already.
Bradley McDougald and Tedric Thompson are projected to be the starting safety tandem, but Blair and fellow rookie Ugo Amadi will challenge for playing time there as well – along with Shead.
If Hill and Blair prove to be healthy, the team could shift Shead into a cornerback role, which is one of the team’s biggest areas of need. Outside of starters Tre Flowers and Shaquill Griffin, the team is relying on veteran Jamar Taylor and returners Neiko Thorpe, Akeem King and Jeremy Boykins to handle reserve duties.
Shead would immediately slot into that competition, and his experience around the gridiron and on the special teams make him a very likely candidate to make the roster – although his primary position remains to be seen.
