The Seattle Seahawks have lost another starter from last season.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on May 2 that the Houston Texans are signing Rasheem Green to a one-year deal. Green had been a member of the Seahawks since Seattle drafted him in the third round of the 2018 draft.
“Sources: The #Texans are signing #Seahawks FA pass-rusher Rasheem Green to a 1-year deal,” Rapoport tweeted. “Coming off a career year with 6.5 sacks, Green gives Houston a big post-draft boost off the edge.”
The four-year veteran had previously visited with the Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers earlier in free agency.
Green Posted Banner Year in 2021 With Seahawks
Green, 24, had a banner year in 2021 after emerging as a starter during training camp. He not only posted 6.5 sacks, but he also accumulated 48 tackles and six tackles for loss.
According to Pro Football Focus, Green logged a career-high 847 defensive snaps in 2021, earning a 51.3 pass-rushing grade and posting a 50.2 defensive grade, which ranked 179th among NFL defenders.
Following his signing with the Texans, Green projects as the starting right defensive end opposite of Jonathan Greenard.
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Seahawks Continue Rebuild Along Front Seven
While the Seahawks will be losing one of their defensive starters from last season, it appears to all be a part of head coach Pete Carroll’s plan to rebuild the defensive front.
Green was just the latest 2021 starter to leave the team. Earlier this offseason, Seattle released Carlos Dunlap and veteran Benson Mayowa, both of whom remain unsigned free agents.
Seattle addressed its lack of personnel at edge rusher by using two draft picks — a second-round and a fifth-round pick — during the 2022 NFL draft. The Seahawks drafted edge rusher Boye Mafe out of the University of Minnesota in the second round and fellow edge rusher Tyreke Smith out of Ohio State in the fifth round.
Mafe posted seven sacks last season and 15 over his four seasons with the Gophers.
I like him, particularly, coming forward and getting after the quarterback, which we would like to emphasize as we get started,” he told reporters April 29 after the second and third rounds of the draft had completed, “but he’ll be an outside backer in the system and an outside rusher in the 4-3 stuff, so he will get a really good chance to see where he fits in with that.”
After the Seahawks finished as one of the worst pass-rushing units last season, Carroll stressed the importance to improve the team’s front seven during his end-of-season press conference back in January.
“The numbers of the lack of turnovers that we were able to create,” Carroll said at the time. “Usually those come when you’re getting ahead in games; and if you’re well ahead, the ball gets more exposed and you get more turnovers and that feeds off itself. But also you’ve got to create them, and you create them with the pass rush. And pass rush, the quarterback is the number one critical aspect of turning the football over.”
It appears the Seahawks are on their way to doing so by injecting young blood into the unit.
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