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Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks re-sign LB Dekoda Watson to take Josh Gordon’s roster spot

San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, center, celebrates with running back Raheem Mostert, partially obscured, and linebacker Dekoda Watson (97) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. (John Hefti / AP)
By Bob Condotta Seattle Times

RENTON, Wash. – When the Seahawks needed to create a roster spot in November after claiming receiver Josh Gordon, they cut linebacker Dekoda Watson, who had been with the team for only two days.

Wednesday, with Gordon suspended and another roster spot open, the Seahawks brought back Watson to fill it.

The Seahawks announced Watson’s signing Wednesday morning, bringing back a nine-year NFL veteran who has not played this season but saw action in four games last year with the 49ers, making two sacks. He has seven starts in his career but has played in 107 games and earning a reputation as an especially good special teams player.

Seattle lists the 31-year-old Watson at 6 feet, 2 inches and 245 pounds, and likely sees him both as depth in an emergency at the inside spots (with Bobby Wagner coming off a sprained ankle) and also as a possible edge rusher (where Ziggy Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney continue to battle injuries) maybe a strongside linebacker candidate (with Mychal Kendricks still dealing with a hamstring issue).

“We’re gonna give him a chance to give us some rush on the edge,” Carroll said when Watson was signed Oct. 30. “He’s been a really accomplished (special) teams guy, too. We’re hoping he can give us some additional boost there. We’ll see.”

The Seahawks reportedly brought in veteran tailbacks Robert Turbin and Alfred Blue for workouts Tuesday. It made sense that Seattle would add a tailback after it lost Rashaad Penny for the season with an ACL injury, which leaves it with just four tailbacks on its roster.

But, for now, Seattle is going with adding another linebacker/rush end, spots that have been hit hard by injuries of late.

The Seahawks also signed rookie linebacker Sutton Smith, a sixth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Northern Illinois, to its practice squad. Smith, who has spent time on the practice squads of Pittsburgh and Jacksonville this season, was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American in 2017 after leading the nation in tackles for loss with 29.5 to go along with 14 sacks. He takes the place on the practice squad of linebacker Jermaine Grace, who was cut Tuesday.