RENTON — Fans understandably were disappointed when the Seahawks lost undrafted rookie free-agent rush end Jamie Sheriff on Wednesday after he was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers.
Sheriff quickly emerged as one of the more intriguing stories of training camp, going from a player not even on the roster until Aug. 6 to leading the Seahawks in the preseason with three sacks.
The Seahawks were equally disappointed they lost Sheriff.
They’d hoped he’d sneak through waivers, so he could be re-signed to the practice squad.
Instead, a Carolina team filled with former Seahawks on its coaching staff and in its personnel department snatched him up, undoubtedly thinking that if the Seahawks liked him, they will as well.
“Any time you let someone go you have to assume the risk of someone else picking them up,’’ coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday. “So that was something we had to roll the dice on.’’
One reason Sheriff was not kept on the 53-man roster was a trade the Seahawks made the day before with Jacksonville to acquire veteran outside linebacker Trevis Gipson.
Had they not traded for Gipson, maybe the Seahawks would have kept Sheriff.
The Seahawks wanted some experienced depth on the edge — Gipson has played in 48 games with 19 starts in four seasons — especially with it unclear how long Uchenna Nwosu may be out with a sprained knee suffered in the preseason finale Saturday.
Gipson hopes that as quickly as Seahawks fans became enamored with Sheriff is how quickly he may be able to win them over, as well.
“Looking forward to getting my career back on track,’’ Gipson told reporters earlier this week only a few hours after he had arrived in town and taken part in his first practice. “Looking forward to playing with these guys. Looking forward to the city. It’s a new chapter that I’m excited about.’’
He’s hoping that new chapter contains at least some elements of an old one — his 2021 season in Chicago when he had seven sacks and appeared a budding star.
At the end of his second season in the NFL, Gipson was voted as the Bears’ Most Improved Player by the team’s website.
“No Bears player made greater strides in 2021 than Trevis Gipson, a healthy scratch in Week 2 who blossomed into a top playmaker on defense,’’ wrote ChicagoBears.com.
That late-season flurry of four sacks in the final five games included getting credit for a half sack on Russell Wilson in Chicago’s upset 25-24 win over the Seahawks at Lumen Field on Dec. 26.
It’s been a struggle for Gipson since.
A switch from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under new Bears coach Matt Eberflus in 2022 appeared to be a bad fit, and he had just three sacks that season despite playing 152 more snaps than he had the year before.
Gipson, who had arrived in Chicago as a fifth-round pick in 2020 out of Tulsa, was waived by the Bears last August at the cutdown to 53.
“It was more of a fit thing, scheme fit,” Bears GM Ryan Poles told reporters later. “I think his success came in a different scheme.’’
He signed with Tennessee but found the going rough there, too, playing in eight games as a reserve and special teamer with one sack.
That led to signing with Jacksonville in March.
He was on the bubble with the Jaguars as Tuesday’s cuts loomed, and after the Seahawks learned that Nwosu might be out for a few weeks, they leapt to take him off the Jags’ hands for a 2025 sixth-round pick.
That means he’s been a part of four organizations in a calendar year.
Gipson said he’s embracing the chance for another fresh start.
“You’ve got to roll with the punches,’’ said the 6-foot-4, 263-pounder. “I think my outlook on life is ‘What would life be if it was all candy and nuts?’ So you look for the positive and the negative. And not saying this is negative, but it’s a change and I’m looking forward to it.”
GM John Schneider noted after the trade the Seahawks had approached Gipson a few times in recent years when he was a free agent.
“We tried signing him a couple times, so I was giving (him) grief,’’ Schneider said. “I was like, ‘Hey, man, you can’t make a choice to go somewhere else now because we actually traded for you this time.’’’
They list Gipson as a strongside linebacker, the same spot Nwosu plays, and where Derick Hall also lines up.
On the surface, the scheme could be a good fit for him as the Seahawks will play what Macdonald refers to as a base 4-3 under front, with the “under’’ designating which players line up over the tight end side or the non-tight end side.
“From practice today (Tuesday), being on the edge and seeing the way that we run things and how we rush, I think I’m going to mold in perfectly to this team,’’ Gipson said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited.’’
Gipson also has made a good first impression on Macdonald.
“He’s catching on fast,’’ Macdonald said Thursday. “We’ll see how it shakes out next week, but he’s doing a great job.’’
The Seahawks didn’t put Nwosu on IR, so he will be eligible to play as soon as he’s healthy. It seems likely he’ll miss a game or two and that Gipson’s services will be needed.
The Seahawks also still don’t know what they’ll get out of rush end Dre’Mont Jones, who did not play in the preseason while dealing with a nagging hamstring injury.
Gipson could add depth at that spot as well.
Either way, the 27-year-old said he’s ready to show that the player he was in 2021 is who can still be.
“That looks like getting a double-digit sack season,’’ he said of what he can be when he’s at his best. “I know I’m capable of it. I got the seven and five forced fumbles on playing half of the year (in 2021). I’m not going to let anybody put a ceiling on me. The sky’s the limit, I believe.”
