The Seattle Seahawks found pass-rush aid.
The Seahawks are acquiring veteran defensive end Carlos Dunlap from the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick and offensive lineman B.J. Finney, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday. Cincinnati later announced the trade.
Dunlap was hell-bent on getting out of Cincinnati as his playtime dwindled and he became disgruntled with his usage. The Bengals have been looking to acquiesce the trade request.
They found a taker for the veteran pass rusher who has spent his entire 11-year-career in Cincinnati. It should be noted, however, Dunlap likely will be unavailable this week as he makes his way through the league's COVID-19 protocol, so his Seahawks debut will be Week 9 at the Bills.
In Week 7, Dunlap played a season-low 11 defensive snaps. In the past three games, he's seen just 66 total plays, which is dramatically down from 71 snaps in Week 3.
The 31-year-old edge rusher took exception to his reduced role in the Bengals defense under coordinator Lou Anarumo. Last weekend, Dunlap posted a since-deleted picture on Instagram showing himself third on the depth chart. In Sunday's loss to Cleveland, Dunlap was seen squabbling on the sideline with assistant coaches.
Dunlap further attempted to force his way out of Cincy by posting on Twitter that his home in the area was for sale. Dunlap has since deleted that post, but he'll now be looking for real estate in Seattle.
Dunlap has one more year on his contract and is set to earn $10.1 million in base salary.
In his 11 seasons in Cincinnati, Dunlap generated 82.5 sacks and 490 total tackles and earned two Pro Bowls. In seven games in 2020, he has one sack and 18 tackles.
The Seahawks desperately need to upgrade their defensive line. Adding Dunlap is a good start.
Seattle is on pace to have the worst total defense (479.2 YPG) and pass defense (368.7) in the Super Bowl era. No team has made the playoffs in a season it allowed 415-plus total YPG or 300-plus pass YPG.
Through six games, the Seahawks as a team have combined for just nine QB sacks, 27th in the NFL.
With no pass rush to speak of, the Seahawks have played four games this season in which they allowed opposing QBs 400-plus combined passing and rushing yards, tied for the most by any team in a full season in the Super Bowl era.
Even as his production waned in Cincinnati, Dunlap represents an upgrade in Seattle. The Seahawks still shouldn't be done searching for defensive upgrades ahead of the Nov. 3 trade deadline.
Dunlap wasn't the only move in the works for the Bengals. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported they are expected to sign former Bills guard Quinton Spain, who is currently going through COVID-19 protocols with the team. Spain was released by Buffalo last week after starting the first two games of the season.
