Tariq Woolen’s seal of approval has been given to the Seattle Seahawks’ first free agent signing.

Following Bobby Wagner’s departure to the Washington Commanders, the Seattle Seahawks needed to add a linebacker, and they moved forward by signing free agent Tyrel Dodson.

The Buffalo Bills have been Dodson’s home team for the first five years of his NFL career. His finest season to date was in 2023, when he played in 17 regular-season games (10 starts) and finished with 74 total tackles (57 solo), eight of which were for a loss, 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hits, two passes deflected, and one fumble return.

Before signing Tyrel Dodson, the Seattle Seahawks had seen their top inside linebacker targets sign to different teams, as Jordyn Brooks went to the Miami Dolphins and Devin Bush went to the Cleveland Browns.

Now that they have Dodson, the undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M in 2019 is going to take on a starting role. The Seattle Seahawks have picked up a diamond in the rough since Tyrel Dodson was the highest-graded linebacker by the PFF when he started regularly for the Buffalo Bills in 2023.

The Miami Dolphins signed Jordyn Brooks and the Cleveland Browns signed Devin Bush, the Seattle Seahawks’ primary targets for an inside linebacker, prior to signing Tyrel Dodson. “Dodson carries some risk as a linebacker with only 1,066 career snaps, and one who was not a starter for the Bills until Matt Milano got injured in Week 5 of the 2023 season,” wrote PFF.

But what he did with the chance and his performance as a starter after that makes him one of the most interesting unrestricted free agents this season. In the end, Dodson had the highest linebacker grade (90.2) from PFF in 2023. They said, “He was the only NFL linebacker to receive a grade higher than 83.0 for his work in coverage and run defense.