Five takeaways from Seahawks rookie camp, including Jadarian Price’s hands

About 70 players -- drafted picks, signed undrafted free agents and (mostly) tryout guys -- gather around coach Mike Macdonald at the end of practice at Seattle Seahawks NFL rookie minicamp, Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton.

(Gregg Bell/The News Tribune)

1. Yes, Jadarian Price catches passes

New running backs coach Thomas Hammock took a break from his pre- and post-draft razzing of Price. Hammock mentored Price on nuances of the position in drills through cones and pads on the ground. And on ball security.

Price fumbled three times in his last two Notre Dame seasons. Not a ton, but enough to have Hammock’s and the Seahawks’ attention to improve.

Hammock was the head coach at Northern Illinois before Macdonald hired him this offseason. Northern Illinois upset Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, during Price’s 2024 season for the Fighting Irish. And he won’t stop reminding Price and his new Seahawks.

“You guys beat Notre Dame. All right. We get it,” Schneider has told his new running backs coach.

From check-down passes to called primary routes, and in drills before scrimmaging, Price was conspicuously catching the ball from quarterbacks Blake Shapen from Mississippi State, one-time BYU then Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff and recent University of Washington backup Kai Horton.

It was conspicuous because Price was a high-efficiency running back (6-plus yards per carry) with 21 rushing touchdowns and national-leading kickoff returner in three seasons for Notre Dame. He caught only 15 passes in those three years.

Price said upon Schneider and Macdonald making him Seattle’s fourth running back drafted in the first round April 23 his goal was to become a better receiver and pass blocker.

It’s been an emphasis for him since his last college game Nov. 29.

“That was the biggest thing to show at the (NFL scouting) combine and (Notre Dame) Pro Day was my ability to catch the ball out of the backfield,” Price said, “because I didn’t show that as much on film.”

Macdonald said it is more a matter of Seahawks coaches keeping their replacement for departed (to Kansas City) Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker out of any potential leg tie-ups with other guys in this first minicamp.

“It’s not like an extra point of emphasis,” Macdonald said. “I think because of camp, probably more space plays rather than keeping him in traffic. Just trying to be smart on how we utilize him in this camp. Getting off, but getting off to the right start.

“Did a good job. It’s definitely part of our offense.”

Coach Mike Macdonald (left), rookie running back and NFL draft first-round pick Jadarian Price (center) and general manager John Schneider (right) on Price’s first day with the Seahawks Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the team’s Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton.

2. Guard Beau Stephens’ side

Schneider and Macdonald didn’t reach into the Seahawks’ stash of 12 expected picks in a stronger 2027 draft to trade and get Beau Stephens. The All-American guard for Iowa was still available in the fifth round of this draft - no need to have Stephens sit and watch Grey Zabel continue to be a stud at left guard for years.

Stephens makes sense as Seattle’s right guard of the future. If not the now.

Stephens already gets that.

“They obviously have a really good left guard,” he said Friday of Zabel, Seattle’s first-round pick last year. “So I’m assuming.”

Assuming that Stephens being at right guard during this rookie camp means that’s where he will begin when starting right guard Anthony Bradford and the veteran Seahawks join the new guys in offseason practices the next few weeks.

Bradford, maligned by fans and people outside the team facility, will be entering the final season of his contract this fall. Stephens started the last two seasons at Iowa at left guard. He was the Hawkeyes’ starting right guard as a sophomore in 2023.

Macdonald smiled following the rookie practice Saturday and said he knew I would ask him about the longer-term significance of Stephens being at right guard this first weekend. The coach wasn’t about to put Bradford on notice the first days of May, four-plus months before the Seahawks’ first game.

“Beau is on the right side,” Macdonald said, “but we’re going to train him at both spots. We’ll see how it goes inside. You need flexibility across, on the interior part of your line.

“He’s played both in his career. Right now he’s playing right guard. But we’ll be training him right and left.”

Fifth-round NFL draft choice Beau Stephens, an All-American at Iowa, was at right guard in the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie minicamp the weekend of May 1-2, 2026, at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton.

3. Air Force officer in camp

Cade Harris was running routes and catching passes this weekend — while on permissive temporary duty (TDY) from the U.S. Air Force.

Harris played four seasons for Air Force. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in December 2025. That earned him a commission on active duty as a second lieutenant, in logistics.

He told me his agent has a connection in the Seahawks’ front office. The team needed more guys for this rookie minicamp. That’s how Second Lieutenant Harris got to Renton this weekend, on TDY.

The 5-6, 182-pound Harris said he has another tryout next weekend at a rookie minicamp with the New England Patriots.

4. Undrafted rookie gets noticed

Uso Seumalo entered the weekend as one to watch, on a position where Macdonald is seeking more depth for the 2026 season

Friday, the Seahawks announced they had signed Seumalo among seven undrafted free agents.

About an hour later, moments into his first 11-on-11 scrimmage with Seattle, the nose tackle made an impression.

He jumped while getting blocked. The 6-foot-3, 330-pound Seumalo knocked down a quick, short pass by Shapen, who got most of the plays quarterbacking with Price, Stephens and what appeared to be a first-team offense, if there was such a thing this weekend.

By the end of the rookie camp, a member of the Seahawks’ public-relations staff was confirming the pronunciation of his name.

With Brandon Pili re-signed for one season and 2025 undrafted rookie Bubba Thomas back in reserve as Seattle’s only true nose tackles, there may be a reason to learn his name is pronounced EW-so SAY-u-mall-o. He played volleyball and basketball at Molokai High School in Ho’olehua, Hawaii. He didn’t played football until his senior year there. Seumalo then played two seasons at Garden City Community College in Kansas and four more for Kansas State.

Undrafted free agent Uso Seumalo (92) among tryout players Marvin Jones Jr. (59), Herbert Gums Jr. (95) and others at Seattle Seahawks NFL rookie minicamp Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton.

The Seahawks did not draft an edge rusher because the ones they wanted were selected ahead of where they were picking in later rounds. So they signed three undrafted free-agent pass rushers: Devean Deal from TCU, Aidan Hubbard from Northwestern and Marvin Jones Jr. from Oklahoma.

Also signed as rookie free agents: wide receivers Michael Briscoe from Cal Poly and Kansas’ Levi Wentz, plus tight end Lance Mason from Wisconsin.

Third-round NFL draft choice Julian Neal warming up with the cornerbacks at Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Renton.

5. A 6-5 cornerback

Tyrone Broden spent last season on the Seahawks’ practice squad after signing in the spring of 2025 as a rookie free agent. He was at the position he played in college at Bowling Green and Arkansas: wide receiver.

Seattle’s coaches have moved him to cornerback for 2026.

A 6-5 cornerback would be the tallest in NFL history. Original Legion of Boom cornerback Brandon Browner was 6-4. Richard Sherman, Browner’s teammate on those Seahawks title-winning teams of a dozen or so years ago, was 6-3. Broden was hurt in practice last season. He has been on crutches this offseason. He isn’t ready to be on the field yet when the veterans begin the second phase of the Seahawks’ offseason program Monday.

But Broden at cornerback is a unique idea.

“He’s someone that did a great job at the beginning of last year and unfortunately got hurt. We loved his movement ability, and he’s got ball skills and he competes. He’s got a great attitude,” Macdonald said. “We felt like it could translate to being a heck of a DB one day.

“He’s dealing with some health things right now in terms of his timeline on when he can get back on the field. So right now we’re not exactly sure when that’s going to happen. But he’s in meetings, and he’s got a great spirit about him.

“We’re excited about it. It’s going to take some time, but he’s a great guy for the job.”

Macdonald was asked about a guy Broden’s height never playing cornerback in an NFL regular season game.

“He can bend really well. He’s not just a straight-legged 6-foot whatever,” Macdonald said. “He can move and get in and out of breaks. His lateral quickness is really good. He’s a great special-teams player. He’s a great gunner (outside on the punt team). Those are traits that you look for in defensive players.

“So we think that’s going to translate.”

Rookie free-agent wide receiver Tyrone Broden from the University of Arkansas, Bowling Green State University and his native Detroit catches a pass in the 12th practice of Seattle Seahawks NFL training camp Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton.