The Seahawks filled out their 90-man roster Tuesday by adding a former Seattle Sea Dragon, Austin Faoliu, to one of their biggest positions of need — nose tackle.
Faoliu took part in Seattle’s rookie minicamp over the weekend as a tryout player and becomes the first of the tryout players to sign with the Seahawks.
Faoliu, listed at 6-3, 287, played at Oregon and then spent his rookie year in 2021 with the Dallas Cowboys, playing in one game while mostly spending time on the practice squad. He made two tackles in 13 snaps of Dallas win over Carolina on Oct. 3, 2021.
Faoliu was named to the All-XFL Team after making 24 tackles and a sack in Seattle’s 10 games.
A graduate of Mater Dei High in southern California, he was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick at Oregon in 2020.
Faoliu becomes the sixth nose tackle on Seattle’s roster and the second signed in two days — five of whom are new to the team this year. The only holdover is Bryan Mone, who is recovering from an ACL injury in December and may not be ready for the start of the season.
Seattle also drafted Cameron Young out of Mississippi State in the fourth round and signed undrafted free agents Robert Cooper (Florida State) and Jonah Tavai (Brigham Young) as well as veteran free agent Forrest Merrill.
The five newcomers and Mone will attempt to fill the void created by the release of veteran Al Woods, who last week signed with the Jets, and Poona Ford, who became a free agent and signed with Buffalo.
On Monday, Seattle signed veteran defensive end Mario Edwards as the Seahawks continue to reshape their defensive front in the wake of last season’s disappointing defensive performance.
Seattle entered the day with one open spot on its 90-man roster, the maximum that teams can have in the offseason.
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