2023 Seahawks Free Agents: L.J. Collier signs with Arizona Cardinals

The 2019 first-round draft pick agreed to a one-year contract with Arizona.

In a move that surprises absolutely no one, the Seattle Seahawks opted not to retain former first-round pick L.J. Collier. Instead, the defensive lineman will stay in the NFC West and play for the Arizona Cardinals next season. Collier agreed to a one-year contract, financial terms not yet disclosed.

I don’t think we really need to rehash Collier’s tenure in Seattle in great detail. There were a lot of healthy scratches, injury scratches, and few impact plays that justified what was already a curious selection of the ex-TCU standout. Collier’s departure is a continuation of Seattle’s house cleaning along the defensive line, which includes the release of Al Woods, Quinton Jefferson, and Shelby Harris. Poona Ford remains unsigned and there hasn’t been as much as a report on him visiting other teams.

Only DK Metcalf and Phil Haynes remain from the 2019 draft class, having seen Cody Barton and Travis Homer also leave for other teams in this free agent period.

Incredibly, Earl Thomas also remains the only first-round pick under Pete Carroll and John Schneider to receive a contract extension and never even test free agency. If you added in second-round picks who were Seattle’s first selections in the draft—Christine Michael, Paul Richardson, Malik McDowell, and Frank Clark—then the Seahawks still pretty much never get anything long-term out of their number one draft choices.