Another veteran member of the Pete Carrol-era Seahawks will not be in place for 2024. Seattle and special teamer Nick Bellore will part ways on Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

One year remained on Bellore’s latest Seahawks contract; he was due to count $4MM against the cap. Seattle will see $2.85MM in cap savings by releasing him just ahead of free agency. Monday marks the beginning of the legal tampering window, and the 34-year-old will be free to discuss a new deal with teams before signing one as early as Wednesday.

The former UDFA served as a starting linebacker with the 49ers in 2016, but throughout the rest of his career he has seen most of his playing time on special teams. Bellore has notably seen usage both at linebacker and fullback, although he only had six offensive touches during his five seasons in the Emerald City. He earned a second career Pro Bowl nod in 2023 after logging an 83% snap share on special teams. In spite of that, the team will move on.

Bellore joins a long list of veterans which have been (or will be) released as part of a financial reset this offseason. Safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, along with tight end Will Dissly and defensive tackle Bryan Mone will not return in 2024. Bellore’s absence will not be acutely felt on offense or defense, but his third phase contributions on a Seahawks team which ranked eight in special teams DVOA last season will be missed.

The Central Michigan product has experience with the Jets, 49ers and Lions in addition to his time as a Seahawk. Bellore has played in 200 regular season games (as well as four in the postseason), and Pelissero notes he intends to continue his career. It will be interesting to see how much of a market develops for him in the near future.

The Seahawks are confident Nick Bellore will remain a reliable contributor into his mid-30s. The team announced a two-year extension for the veteran special-teamer Wednesday.

Bellore, who will turn 34 in May, re-signed with Seattle for $6.6MM, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. This marks a raise from Bellore’s previous Seahawks pact — a two-year, $4.45MM accord agreed to in March 2021.

A former Jets, Lions and 49ers role player, Bellore has enjoyed an interesting NFL career. Excepting the 2016 season, in which a 2-14 49ers team turned to him as a regular starter at linebacker, Bellore has seen action mostly on special teams. The Seahawks have barely lined him up on defense at all during his four-season run in the Pacific Northwest, though he did log nine defensive snaps last season. But the team has used the Central Michigan product at fullback on occasion. Bellore played 17 offensive snaps last season.

“I feel as good as I’ve ever felt, and I’m ready to play as long as my body and a team will allow me to,” Bellore said. “If I felt like things were starting to go, I wouldn’t do it, because I don’t want to go out there just to go out there. I want to stay at the level I’ve been playing at the last couple of years and continue to improve, which I think I can still do. Obviously on paper I’m quite old — and in reality, probably — but it was never a question that I was done.”

Bellore earned Pro Bowl recognition in 2020 and saw an 81% snap share on special teams last season, a 15-tackle slate. The Seahawks ranked second in veteran NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams assessment in 2022; they have ranked in the top three in each of the past three years.

Nick Bellore has agreed to a brand new deal with the Seahawks, as Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus tweets. The signing has also been confirmed by NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). 

Bellore, 32 in May, has spent the last two seasons in Seattle. Even as teams around the league have de-prioritized the position, Bellore’s blocking has been highly valued in the Seahawks offense. His return should go a long way towards appeasing Russell Wilson, who is reportedly dissatisfied with the team’s efforts to protect him in the pocket.

Bellore spent much of his career at linebacker and saw significant playing time for the 49ers in 2016. That year, he made ten starts in their 3-4 scheme and registered 83 stops and one sack in total. Then, in Detroit, he went to the other side of the ball, where he had a knack for clearing lanes. Seattle used a fullback on just 8% of its plays in 2018. That changed in 2019 when Pete Carroll signed Bellore to a two-year, $2.23MM deal.