Seahawks Sign New Tight End After Luke Willson's Retirement

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Seattle Seahawks fans experienced quite the emotional rollercoaster this week. Less than 24 hours after returning to the team that drafted him, tight end Luke Willson announced his retirement due to some offseason health scares.

As a result of Willson's retirement, the Seahawks have signed 2018 undrafted TE Ian Bunting, The 25-year-old pass-catcher has spent the past few seasons with the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts' practice squads before being signed and released by the Arizona Cardinals this offseason.

Ian Bunting NFL

Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 252 pounds, Bunting brings a lot of size to the Seahawks. Playing in 16 games for the Michigan Wolverines and California Golden Bears from 2015 to 2018, Bunting recorded 29 receptions for 319 receiving yards without a touchdown.

Bunting's offensive statistics aren't exactly eye-opening, but he'll likely have more of a blocking job if he sees any playing time with the Seahawks. Fourth-year TE Will Dissly and the newly-signed Gerald Everett will assume see most of the targets at their position for Seattle.

After all, Dissly has over 500 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns over the past two seasons. Meanwhile, Everett has back-to-back seasons of 400-plus receiving yards, as well as 3 TDs in that span.

The Seahawks are expected to be a top-10 team throughout the 2021 NFL season. FanDuel Sportsbook has given them +2000 odds to win Super Bowl 56. Those odds place Seattle third among NFC West teams, trailing the San Francisco 49ers (+1400) and Los Angeles Rams (+1500).