SEATTLE (AP) — For veteran linebacker Dante Fowler, Jr., the chance to join the Seattle Seahawks wasn’t something he was going to pass up again.

After finishing with three sacks and 15 total tackles with Dallas last season, Fowler signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks in May worth up to $5 million.

Fowler, the No. 3 overall draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015, considered signing in Seattle last year before opting to go back to the Cowboys. But after an aggressive sales pitch from Seahawks veteran and former Cowboys teammate DeMarcus Lawrence, along with a visit to the team headquarters, he knew the time was finally right.

“You can see why they won the Super Bowl, whether it’s on or off the field,” Fowler said. “It’s actually pretty cool to see the camaraderie here from the top to the bottom, front office and the team. It’s a great group of guys. You come into this building happy, and you come in looking forward to going to work.”

Fowler is stepping into an enviable situation for a free agent signee, with the Seahawks returning the majority of last year’s dominant defense. Linebacker Boye Mafe (Cincinnati), safety Coby Bryant (Chicago), and cornerback Riq Woolen (Philadelphia) were the most notable losses, but the Seahawks are expected to once again be among the league’s best.

Even on a defense as heralded as Seattle, a veteran presence like Fowler can still help make everyone better.

“The way he comes in, he works. I think from a football aspect, like what he’s going to bring to that room, pass rush-wise, Lord, like, he’s able to get off the rock,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “He has so many moves in his bag, and it’s only going to make the guys around him better.”

Fowler was also attracted to Seattle by the presence of defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who Fowler first worked with in Atlanta in 2020 when Durde was a defensive assistant, then in Dallas when Durde coached the Cowboys’ defensive line.

Durde tried hard to recruit Fowler to Seattle last season, and Fowler is excited to once again be working with the Seahawks British-born coach.

“Just to see the way he’s grown throughout his career, and being my defensive line coach at the Cowboys to now his role as a defensive coordinator here, is very awesome,” Fowler said.

Along with Durde, Fowler is eager to continue working with Seattle’s strength and conditioning staff, which he says is the best he’s ever worked with.

Fowler credits the staff for getting him into fantastic shape, which gives him optimism that he’ll have a big year like in 2024, when he had 10 1/2 sacks and 39 tackles with Washington.

“I feel like how it felt when I played in Washington with the Commanders,” Fowler said. “I just knew I was going to have a great season just because of the work that I put in all season, and how good of a shape I was. So I feel like that.”

Head coach Mike Macdonald has already started to feel Fowler’s impact three days into training camp.

“You want to affect the quarterback, but not too much at this point,” Macdonald said, “so he’s doing great. He’s getting used to how we roll here, and I think he’s enjoying his time, which is positive. Definitely seeing flashes for sure.”

While he wasn’t a member of last year’s Super Bowl-winning squad, Fowler hasn’t struggled to fit in on a Seahawks team that already has plenty of star talent on defense.

“I just fall in line and do what I’m supposed to do,” Fowler said. “They already had a great defense before we got here, and they won a Super Bowl. It was the best defense in the world last year. So my job is to just fall in line and do whatever I’ve got to do to make this defense upgrade a little bit more.”

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