The stay with the Seattle Seahawks for rookie tight end Mitch Van Vooren was brief.
The Seahawks announced releasing the undrafted rookie tight end Friday. His release came nine days after the team added him to the roster.
The @Seahawks released TE Mitch Van Vooren this afternoon.
Van Vooren was undrafted from St. Norbert College. After the 2025 NFL Draft, he received an invite to the Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp.
“Van Vooren, who is 6-foot-5, 242 pounds, was a first-team All-NACC selection last season, recording 33 receptions for 510 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games,” Seahawks.com’s John Boyle wrote. “The previous year, he had 32 receptions for 535 yards and three touchdowns to earn All-NACC honorable mention honors.”
The Seahawks signed Van Vooren on June 4. He replaced fellow undrafted rookie and wide receiver Nate McCollum on Seattle’s offseason roster.
The team has yet to announce add a new player for Van Vooren’s vacant roster spot.
Seahawks Release TE Mitch Van Vooren
While his stint was brief in Seattle, Van Vooren worked through the team’s final week of voluntary workouts and mandatory minicamp. Seahawks on SI’s Connor Benintendi called the undrafted tight end one of the “feel good stories” of the offseason.
While he played high school football, Van Vooren ran track at Marquette to begin his college experience. He then transferred to Division III’s St. Norbert College to pursue football again.
Van Vooren scored nearly a touchdown per game during his final season of college.
The Seahawks, though, have plenty of tight end depth, which may have led to his brief stint. Seattle has tight ends Noah Fant, AJ Barner, Eric Saubert, Elijah Arroyo, Marshall Lang and Nick Kallerup on the offseason roster.
Like Van Vooren, Lang and Kallerup were undrafted free agents this spring. The Seahawks drafted Arroyo in the second round at No. 50 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Who Could the Seahawks Sign to Fill Van Vooren’s Roster Spot?
With six other tight ends, Van Vooren was certainly expendable. Even though he only worked out a few days with the team, the Seahawks coaching staff apparently had seen enough to know the St. Norbert College tight end wasn’t going to make the practice squad.
But it is also possible the Seahawks released Van Vooren with someone in mind to add to the roster instead.
“With an outright release, the Seahawks may already have a plan on how to fill Van Vooren’s roster spot,” Benintendi wrote. “They could be in the market to add a cornerback, especially now that a player like Jaire Alexander is a free agent.
“Van Vooren was Seattle’s seventh tight end on the roster and was one of three rookies. The top three tight ends on the depth chart (Noah Fant, AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo) are essentially set, making it a tough position for Van Vooren to try and earn a roster spot.”
With that context, it will certainly be interesting to see how the Seahawks fill the vacant roster spot.
The Seahawks hosted their mandatory minicamp this past week, a week earlier than originally planned. Training camp will begin for the team on July 23.
