The Denver Broncos have seen one of their former tight ends land with an NFC team for the second straight day. This time, veteran Nick Vannett is joining the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
On Thursday, former undrafted free agent Caden Prieskorn signed with the Carolina Panthers.
Vannett was a third-round pick by the Seahawks in 2018. He returns to his first NFL home nearly 10 years later for the 2026 season.
Former Broncos TE Nick Vannett Signs With Seahawks
GettyFormer Broncos tight end Nick Vannett has signed with the Seattle Seahawks.
Vannett spent the 2020 season with the Broncos, catching 14 passes for 95 yards and 1 touchdown during his stint.
He started 11 of the 15 games he played in that season.
“The Seahawks signed Nick Vannett on Friday, bringing back the veteran tight end who spent the first three-plus seasons of his career in Seattle,” Seahawks.com’s John Boyle wrote in the official announcement on July 24.
“A third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2016, Vannett appeared in 42 games with 16 starts for the Seahawks prior to being traded to Pittsburgh early in the 2019 season. Since that trade, Vannett has spent time with the Steelers, Broncos, Saints, Giants, Chargers, Titans, Vikings and Rams, recording 108 receptions for 1,012 yards and nine touchdowns in his career.”
The Seahawks cut ties with cornerback Tyrone Broden, a 6-foot-5 former wide receiver, to make room for Vannett, per Boyle.
In Seattle, Vannett joins five other tight ends, including top options AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo.
He faces an uphill battle to make it into the regular season as part of the roster, but fittingly gets to return to the Pacific Northwest for what could be his final season in the NFL. Vannett turned 33 in March.
The Broncos have their own TE options to sort through in training camp as the 2026 regular season approaches.
Broncos’ TE Room Loaded With Uncertainty
GettyAdam Trautman is the steadiest member of the Denver Broncos’ TE room.
The Broncos have shuffled through veterans since Vannett’s tenure, and they have not invested heavily in the position in the draft in recent years. That has left them facing a lot of questions about the group, save for starter Adam Trautman.
Trautman, like Vannett, played for Broncos head coach Sean Payton on the Saints, where they were teammates in 2021.
He is a steady blocker and a reliable, if unspectacular, receiving threat.
Co-starter Evan Engram is a two-time Pro Bowler and led the Broncos’ tight ends in receptions and receiving yards, and he tied for the lead in touchdowns. However, the group produced three total touchdowns, and Engram played fewer than 50% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps.
He also missed one game and split snaps with two other tight ends–Nate Adkins, who can also play fullback, and Lucas Krull–last season.
This season, Engram is in the final year of his two-year, $23 million contract. The Broncos have also bolstered their group with rookies Dallen Bentley and Justin Joly, adding them to second-year former seventh-round pick Caleb Lohner.
The group was underwhelming in 2025.
Expecting them to be much better with largely the same personnel could be too lofty an ask for the blended group of veterans and young prospects.
Ex-Broncos Starter Lands With Super Bowl Champion Seahawks