Idaho’s Hayden Hatten among three Vandals to sign NFL contracts

Hayden Hatten won’t be traveling far to begin his professional football career.

Idaho’s all-time touchdown receptions leader (33) signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks as one of three Vandals to ink a contract after the NFL draft on Saturday.

The Phoenix native recorded 3,449 career receiving yards during his tenure in Moscow, which is good enough for second-best in program history.

Hatten was a consensus All-American in 2022 after notching 1,209 receiving yards and 16 touchdown receptions, which is also a program record.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder is a two-time All-American and was a finalist for the Walter Payton award, which is given to the best offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision in 2023. Hatten’s running mate the last two seasons, receiver Jermaine Jackson, signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent.

The pair of pass catchers accounted for 62.8% of the Vandals’ receiving yards over the last two years and more than half of their touchdown receptions.

Jackson was a speedy option opposite Hatten and had 1,642 yards receiving the last two seasons.

The Oakland native was a special teams ace, tallying 33 punt returns for 540 yards and three scores.

He had two return TDs this season, including an 86-yard dash in Idaho’s 20-17 win over Southern Illinois in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Dec. 2.

The Hatten family had an exciting day on Saturday as Hayden’s twin brother, Hogan Hatten, also inked a professional contract.

The long snapper was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent.

Hogan Hatten appeared in all 13 games for the Vandals in 2023 and recorded three tackles in punt coverage.

The 6-2, 220-pounder made the move to full-time long snapper in 2022 and appeared in all 12 games for Idaho.

He went the entire season without a bad snap, blocked a punt against Drake and recorded a safety against Montana.