Offensive lineman Garry Gilliam, the Seahawks' starter at right tackle the past two seasons, has signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers, the team announced Tuesday.
Gilliam, a restricted free agent this offseason, originally joined the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of Penn State. After playing tight end for a majority of his college career, Gilliam converted to offensive line at the pro level, serving as a backup during his rookie season, when he caught a touchdown pass from punter Jon Ryan on a fake field goal that helped ignite a comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game.
Gilliam won the right tackle job in 2015, starting all 16 regular-season games plus two postseason games in his second NFL season. He started 13 of the 14 regular-season games he played in 2016, including both of the Seahawks' playoff contests.
As Seahawks.com digital media reporter John Boyle discussed Monday in his initial 2017 NFL Draft preview, outside of Gilliam the Seahawks have all of last year's starting offensive line under contract in 2017. However, the team's starting line in 2017 could look different than it did a year ago, with Seattle adding former first-round draft pick Luke Joeckel in free agency to compete for the starting job at left tackle or left guard, Oday Aboushi signing a free-agent deal to compete for a starting job at right guard, and last year's first-round pick Germain Ifedi possibly moving from right guard to right tackle, something head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider have mentioned this offseason.
Gilliam joins kicker Steven Huaschka (Buffalo Bills), linebacker Brock Coyle (49ers), defensive end Damontre Moore (Dallas Cowboys), defensive tackle John Jenkins (Chicago Bears), and tight end Brandon Williams (Indianapolis Colts) as former Seattle players to sign elsewhere on the NFL's open market this offseason.
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