Seahawks host veteran pass rusher Mario Addison

We’re t-minus one week until the 2022 NFL Draft, and perhaps not coincidentally we’re seeing news of free agent visits experience an uptick around the league.

For the Seattle Seahawks, pass rush improvements are hugely important towards rediscovering an elite defense, and on Wednesday they hosted Mario Addison, who may not have any Pro Bowl appearances to his name but is a known commodity at defensive end.

Oh yeah you get some Rasheem Green news, too!

Seattle should be very familiar with Addison given they played the Carolina Panthers every season from 2012-2016, as well as the 2018 and 2019 seasons. The undrafted free agent bounced around the league before settling in with Carolina, where he went from a rotational piece to one of their better pass rushers on the defensive line. His career best year was 2017, when he racked up 11 sacks. In his final two seasons with the Panthers he accumulated a combined 18.5 sacks before joining Sean McDermott in Buffalo.

Addison recorded five sacks in his first year with the Bills, then improved to a team-leading seven sacks in 2021. His snap counts noticeably reduced last season to just 45% of the team’s defensive plays despite not missing a game.

At 34 years old (he’ll turn 35 in September), Addison would presumably be cheap rotational depth if he’s signed. There’s still something left in the tank in theory, but those performance levels could always drop off sharply at that age.