Greg Olsen is heading to the Pacific Northwest.
The three-time Pro Bowl tight end has signed a one-year, $7 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday night. The team later announced the signing.
ESPN first reported the news.
Olsen’s free-agent tour, which included stops in Washington, D.C., Washington state (Seattle), Buffalo and the broadcast booth at MetLife Stadium for XFL television coverage, came to an end after his visit with the Seahawks. Pete Carroll’s team ultimately landed the tight end on a deal that includes $5.5 million in guarantees, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
Olsen foreshadowed a potential pairing back on Feb. 1 during NFL Honors, when a photo of Cam Newton whispering in Russell Wilson‘s ear spread across the interwebs and Olsen quote tweeted it with what he imagined Newton was telling Wilson:
Olsen can still play �� https://t.co/u7YROpwq4u
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Greg Olsen (@gregolsen88)
February 2, 2020
Olsen had to overcome injuries in 2017 and 2018 to play in 14 games in 2019, catching 52 passes for 597 yards and two touchdowns. These passes didn’t come from Newton, but Kyle Allen and later, Will Grier, offering some possible reinforcement to the idea that Olsen’s lower statistical output wasn’t a product of his age, but those throwing it to him.
The two-time second-team All-Pro will play with arguably the best quarterback of his career in Russell Wilson, who was on track to win the NFL’s MVP before Lamar Jackson set the league on fire. Newton won an MVP in 2015 while racking up 1,104 passing yards on connections with Olsen alone, but the tight end hasn’t taken the field with a signal-caller of the caliber of Wilson.
He’ll get a chance to prove his tweet correct in 2020 in a new corner of the country with a team that should be near the top of the NFC again and with the hopes the Seahawks can stay healthier than they were late in 2019.