Seahawks make another big change on special teams going into Week 14 | Sporting News

The Seattle Seahawks ' special teams unit has been a liability all season long.

In Sunday's improbable comeback win over the New York Jets, things finally hit rock bottom.

On top of allowing a kickoff return touchdown they lost two fumbles on returns of their own, one by Laviska Shenault Jr.

- who was cut on Tuesday - and another by rookie Dee Williams , who has now also been waived , per the team.

As we wrote when Shenault was shown the exit, it would have been absurd to waive him but not Williams, who's had a far worse season when it comes to bad decision-making and worse ball security on his return attempts.

When it comes to who will be taking their places in the lineup right now it's anybody's guess.

For what it's worth the team's new number one wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was spotted on the sidelines lobbying special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh for a chance to return punts, and backup running back Zach Charbonnet has been in the mix at practice.

However, the Seahawks also have a new face to work with in this department.

Taking Williams' spot on the 53-man roster will be wide receiver/returner Jaelon Darden , who Seattle has claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Browns.

Darden (5-foot-8, 175 pounds) was a fourth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2021 NFL draft after playing his college ball at North Texas.

While he was a pass-catching star at that level, most of his efforts as a pro have understandably come on special teams given his size.

Darden has worked as both a punt returner and kickoff returner each of the last four seasons.

He's averaged an impressive 9.7 yards per punt return and a less-impressive 20.9 yards on kickoffs.

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