The Seahawks made their first veteran addition to the offensive line of the offseason on Monday, signing well-traveled free agent tackle Bobby Hart.
The Seahawks released rookie undrafted free agent receiver Levi Wentz to make room on the 90-man roster.
The 31-year-old Hart has played in 104 NFL games in a career that dates to 2015, including 75 starts in which he’s been on the roster of eight different teams.
Hart spent last year with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he played in 10 games with eight starts with 514 snaps.
The Seahawks return every offensive lineman who played in a game for them last season and also added guard Beau Stephens in the fifth round of the NFL draft out of Iowa.
The Seahawks re-signed veteran Josh Jones, who served as a gameday backup at both guard and tackle and started the final three games of the regular season at left tackle in place of the injured Charles Cross, to a one-year deal worth $4 million to again be the primary backup at both sides.
Jones did not practice in OTAs open to the media the last two weeks.
It was unclear why, but he battled knee and ankle injuries last season and his absence the last few weeks could factor into the Seahawks adding Hart
Along with Cross, right tackle Abraham Lucas and Jones, the other tackles listed on the Seahawks’ roster are second-year players Amari Kight and Logan Brown, and second-year player Mason Richman, who is listed as a guard and tackle and has been getting snaps at center in OTAs. Kight saw four snaps last season and Richman one while Brown did not play.
Hart’s games with the Chargers last season were his first action since the 2022 season. He did not play in 2023 after being released in camp by Detroit and spent much of the 2024 season on the practice squad of the Washington Commanders without playing before being cut in training camp and then signing with the Chargers practice squad. He eventually made the active roster and started at left tackle late last season for the Chargers when injuries hit their offensive line. He did not play in the team’s wild card playoff loss to the Patriots.
Hart has been primarily a right tackle in his career, including 46 games with the Bengals from 2018-20. He first entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Giants in 2015 out of Florida State and he started 21 games with New York from 2015-17. He’s also spent time with Buffalo, Miami and Tennessee.
Terms of his contract were not announced, but it’s likely a one-year deal.
Hart earned a 50.2 grade from Pro Football Focus last season, 82nd out of 89 qualified tackles. His pass-blocking grade ranked 71st and his run-blocking grade 85th.
Seahawks bring in safety for visit
The Seahawks appear to have plenty of competition to fill out their safety position for 2026 in the wake of the loss in free agency of Coby Bryant to the Bears.
But true to their mantra of always exploring everything, the Seahawks appear to at least be thinking of adding another safety to their roster — veteran Ifeatu Melifonwu.
Melifonwu, who has 22 starts in five NFL seasons including eight last year with Miami, worked out for the Seahawks on Monday, according to the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Garafolo stated that “no signing (is) imminent,” but that “he could be in play for Seattle down the line.’’
That likely means a decision coming at some point before or right as training camp begins in July.
The Seahawks are officially scheduled for three practices this week — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — as part of mandatory minicamp before players are off for the summer.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Melifonwu was a third-round pick of the Lions in 2021 out of Syracuse but battled injuries in four seasons with Detroit, playing in 37 games with 19 starts, seeing time at safety and cornerback. He started all three playoff games for the Lions in 2023 when Detroit advanced to the NFC conference title game, making two sacks and 16 tackles.
He spent last season on a one-year deal with Miami, playing in 16 games, and 51% of snaps, with eight starts, making a career-high 53 tackles.
Most Read Sports Stories
The Dolphins used Melifonwu at multiple spots in the secondary as he got 260 snaps as a free safety, 199 snaps as a box safety and 68 playing a slot cornerback position, according to Pro Football Focus.
The 27-year-old also saw ample time on special teams with the Dolphins.
The Seahawks have eight players listed as safeties on their roster — Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori, Ty Okada, Rodney Thomas III, Bud Clark, A.J. Finley, D’Anthony Bell and Maxen Hook.
Thomas signed as a free agent after four years with the Colts — where he started 26 games — while Clark was selected in the second round with the 64th overall pick out of TCU.
Okada has typically been working alongside Love as the starting safeties in the base defense during OTAs with Emmanwori in his hybrid third-safety role.
Clark and Thomas have been expected to be the prime competitors to Okada to replace Bryant as the other starter. Okada started 11 games last season at safety when either Love or Bryant were sidelined with injuries.
Melifonwu may just be an intriguing likely low-cost veteran to add to the mix and see what happens.
Pro Football Focus gave Melifonwu a 62.9 overall grade last season, 56th of 98 qualified safeties, and recorded him with a 120.2 passer rating allowed when targeted.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.