Getty Former Seattle Seahawks corner Tre Flowers is headed to the Atlanta Falcons.
Former Seattle Seahawks starting cornerback Tre Flowers is heading back to the NFC after a brief stint with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Falcons announced on May 8, 2023 that the team signed Flowers while adding that the veteran took a free-agent visit to Atlanta in March.
Flowers spent his first four NFL seasons with the Seahawks before the team opted to release the defender at the mid-season mark in 2021. The veteran corner started 40 games for the Seahawks during this timespan. Seattle selected Flowers in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL draft, and the corner signed a four-year, $2.7 million rookie deal with the Seahawks.
Flowers now marks the second former Seattle player who has signed with Atlanta in less than one week as receiver Penny Hart also joined the Falcons. Atlanta is an intriguing landing spot for Flowers with the veteran likely competing for one of the starting corner spots alongside A.J. Terrell. Newly acquired Jeff Okudah, Mike Hughes, Clark Phillips, Dee Alford and Flowers could all be fighting for the other two corner roles.
Seahawks News: Seattle Appears to Have 2 Future Star Corners in Tariq Woolen & Devon Witherspoon
Meanwhile, the Seahawks are shaping up to potentially field their best secondary since the Legion of Boom era. Seattle general manager John Schneider pulled a surprise by selecting former Illinois standout Devon Witherspoon with the No. 5 pick.
Witherspoon is expected to play alongside Pro Bowler Tariq Woolen which could be the best Seahawks cornerback duo since Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner helped form the identity of Pete Carroll’s secondary. After the team snagged Witherspoon, Carroll compared the team’s newest corner to Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.
“Devon Witherspoon, he’s a rare player,” Carroll told reporters on April 28. “We’ve been through the draft since the years we’ve been here, we haven’t seen a guy like this. We have not drafted corners high just because we haven’t come across a guy of this makeup. It’s really his athletic ability. It’s his speed. It’s his playmaking. It’s his mentality.”
Seahawks Rumors: Coby Bryant & Mike Jackson Are Likely Competing to Be the Team’s Nickel Corner
Former Oklahoma State safety turned Seahawks standout rookie CB Tre Flowers. Impressive transition and acceleration for 6-3, 203 pounds & 33 7/8” arms.
Latest example of Seattle’s remarkable ability to find, develop their model of CBs throughout the Carroll-Schneider era.
The addition of Witherspoon means Seattle is likely headed for an intense training camp competition for the nickel corner spot. Coby Bryant is the early favorite to land the third corner role, but the second-year defender will receive competition from Michael Jackson and Tre Brown. Even before the Seahawks landed Witherspoon, Carroll expressed confidence in the direction the secondary is headed.
“I think with coming back off of this first year of seeing Tariq and Michael play together, we feel pretty good about that and knowing that Tre didn’t have a chance to really contribute much,” Carroll explained during an April 19 press conference. “Coby’s addition as well, we’re in pretty good shape right there and they’re going to get way better.
“They’re going to improve a great deal, and they played pretty good this past year in the first real go around, so I feel pretty good about that spot. We’re always looking to add, but at least we know what we got coming back.”