Seahawks bringing Branden Jackson back

A little over a week ago the Seattle Seahawks trimmed their roster from 90 players down to 81 in anticipation of a lowered roster capacity for training camp than usual because of the ongoing pandemic. In doing so, one of the players released was defensive end Branden Jackson, who had spot started a handful of games in 2019 as the Hawks defensive line battled through injuries to Quinton Jefferson, Ziggy Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney, while also dealing with the suspension of Jarran Reed.

Now, with Chance Warmack having opted out, the team waiving Emmanuel Ellerbe on Saturday and Quinton Dunbar landing on the Commissioner’s Exempt list, the team had two open roster spots. Monday reports came out that the team is set to fill one of those spots by bringing back the recently released Jackson.

Bringing Jackson back under a different deal likely means a lower cap hit for Jackson than he would have carried had he stayed with the team on the original round RFA tender to which he had been signed. Depending on the terms of Jackson’s new contract, his cap hit is likely to be more than a million dollars lower than his RFA tender. With four credited seasons, Jackson’s minimum salary under the new CBA would be $910,000 for 2020.

It is probably that Jackson’s new contract qualified for the veteran minimum salary benefit, which likely means it is a contract for $910,000 with a $137,500 signing bonus. If that is indeed the case, Jackson’s cap hit for 2020 would be $887,500, but confirmation of the terms of Jackson’s deal are needed before the exact cap number will be known.