The Seattle Seahawks had a pressing need to fill out their linebacker room after Bobby Wagner went to the Washington Commanders, and they took a step forward by reaching an agreement with free agent Tyrel Dodson.
Dodson has spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Buffalo Bills. He is coming off his best campaign in 2023, recording 74 combined tackles (57 solo), eight of which were for a loss, 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hits, two passes defended, and one fumble return in 17 regular-season games (10 starts).
Upon announcing Dodson’s signing, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen took to social media to voice his approval.
“Yessir🔥🔥 fam player on madden go crazy, welcome😂” posted Woolen on his X (formerly known as Twitter).
“😂😂😂 let’s run it up Brodie! Excited to meet you Brodie! You know what we on this season! See you soon 🤝🏾” replied Dodson.
Why Tyrel Dodson is a good acquisition for the Seattle Seahawks
Before signing Tyrel Dodson, the Seattle Seahawks had seen their top inside linebacker targets sign to different teams, as Jordyn Brooks went to the Miami Dolphins and Devin Bush went to the Cleveland Browns.
Now that they have Dodson, the undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M in 2019 is going to take on a starting role. The Seattle Seahawks have picked up a diamond in the rough since Tyrel Dodson was the highest-graded linebacker by the PFF when he started regularly for the Buffalo Bills in 2023.
“Dodson carries some risk as a linebacker with only 1,066 career snaps, and one who was not a starter for the Bills until Matt Milano got injured in Week 5 of the 2023 season,” wrote PFF.
“However, what he did with the opportunity and how he played once he became a starter makes him one of the more intriguing free agents this year. Dodson ended up as PFF’s highest-graded linebacker in 2023 (90.2). He was the only linebacker in the NFL to earn a grade above 83.0 for his work in run defense and coverage,” they added.
