An Uchenna Nwosu injury last season wounded the Seahawks’ edge rush. It looks like Mike Macdonald will need to adjust early in his tenure, with the team’s highest-paid edge defender set to miss time once again.
Nwosu suffered a knee injury in Seattle’s preseason finale, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates he is expected to miss multiple weeks. Nwosu is an IR candidate, Rapoport adds. He would miss at least four games if placed on IR, though the Seahawks do have more flexibility here than they would have enjoyed a season ago.
The 2022 free agency addition went down on a Wyatt Teller cut block against the Browns. Nwosu suffered an MCL sprain, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, who indicates he faces a two- to six-week recovery timetable. This would make an IR stint sensible. This is a bad break for Nwosu, who missed the second half of last season with a pectoral injury. Impressing during camp in Macdonald’s scheme, Nwosu may now face a best-case scenario of returning in Week 5.
Seattle could go week-to-week with its $15M-per-year pass rusher. That would take up a roster spot and force the team to declare the seventh-year veteran out until he is ready to go. That would not be the biggest inconvenience, especially if Nwosu is deemed in range to return in September, but the NFL gave teams more flexibility this offseason. A rule tweak will allow teams to place up to two players on IR before setting their 53-man rosters Tuesday. If Nwosu is moved to IR before the 3 p.m. CT deadline, he will immediately count toward the team’s eight-activation limit.
This development stands to prevent the Seahawks from pairing their top edge rusher with a D-line that includes Leonard Williams, Dre’Mont Jones and first-round pick Byron Murphy. Nwosu did not have a chance to play with Williams last year, as the high-priced D-lineman was acquired days after he went down. The Seahawks still have promising third-year cog Boye Mafe, 2023 second-rounder Derick Hall and the recently acquired Trevis Gipson. The team, which had traded Darrell Taylor shortly before Nwosu’s injury, added Gipson in the wake of the setback.