The Seattle Seahawks made a post-draft free agency signing, bringing in veteran tight end Harrison Bryant to the 90-man roster. Bryant was once upon a time one of the best tight ends in college football, earning unanimous All-American honors and the John Mackey Award in 2019 as the most outstanding TE in the college game. Things haven’t quite worked out for him in the NFL, and in recent years he’s more of a blocking tight end at the bottom of the depth chart.
Unsurprisingly, the Seahawks didn’t fork
over too much money in landing Bryant. OverTheCap.com has a hold of Bryant’s contract, which breaks down as follows:
Base salary: $1,215,000
Prorated signing bonus: $50,000
Cap number: $1,125,000
The signing bonus is guaranteed, so if the Seahawks let him go then they will have to eat $50,000 in dead money. Oh, the horror.
Bryant’s contract is the good ol’ Veteran Salary Benefit in action. If you don’t remember our story from last year, here’s a refresher!
All of the base salaries correspond with the minimums based on their respective credited seasons. [Steven] Sims’ cap number being only $1,030,000 despite zero guaranteed money is the product of the Veteran Salary Benefit, which allows teams to sign players with four minimum credited seasons but only have a cap charge equivalent to two credited seasons. Any additional compensation (e.g. a signing bonus) has to max out at $167,500 to still qualify for the benefit.
For 2026, the VSB is $1,075,000. Add in the $50,000 signing bonus for Bryant and that’s how you get a cap number of $1.125 million even though his salary is $1.215 million, which is the minimum for players with six credit seasons.
Bryant will face an uphill battle to make the roster with AJ Barner, Elijah Arroyo, and Eric Saubert comprising the top three options. Whether he makes the Seahawks could depend on whether or not they want to add a fourth tight end or have competition for Saubert.
