Seahawks place Bud Clark and Mason Richman on injured reserve, add three free agents

The Seattle Seahawks moved quickly to reshape their depth chart on Tuesday, placing safety Bud Clark and offensive lineman Mason Richman on injured reserve. The team said both injuries occurred during Seattle’s preseason game in Tennessee two days earlier.

The corresponding roster management included signing three free agents, a sign that the Seahawks view the injuries as significant enough to require immediate help rather than waiting out a short-term recovery. With the preseason heading toward the point where final roster decisions tighten, moving to IR also protects Seattle’s ability to plan for the regular season while working new bodies into football-knowledge roles across the practice week.

Clark, listed at safety, is the type of defensive piece that carries responsibilities across run support and pass coverage, especially in the modern NFL where secondary players must communicate matchups and adjust quickly on formations. Putting him on IR removes Seattle’s starter-level or near-starter-level option from the active group for the time being, increasing the need for the remaining safeties to handle expanded snaps and assignments.

Richman, an offensive lineman, faces a different but equally immediate impact. Injuries to linemen tend to ripple through an offensive unit’s continuity because protection calls, stances, and coordination among the five front positions depend on repetitions and timing. By placing Richman on IR, the Seahawks are effectively acknowledging that they need sustainable line depth now, not later.

In the backdrop is a common preseason reality for NFL teams: injuries are not the only roster pressure. Teams must also evaluate combinations, special teams fit, and the learning curve for players who arrive after camp begins. The Seahawks’ decision to add three free agents suggests the club wants choices available for both depth and matchup-specific roles, rather than relying entirely on internal promotions from the margins.

For the players already in Seattle’s system, the immediate question is who absorbs the reps that would have otherwise gone to Clark and Richman. For the three newcomers, the short-term focus will be learning schemes quickly enough to contribute in practice and preseason playbooks, then converting that work into at least rotational value.

Seattle’s next steps should become clearer as practices progress and the team continues trimming toward the regular-season roster. The Seahawks’ injury timing also raises the stakes for how quickly the remaining defensive backs and offensive linemen can reestablish chemistry, since preseason weeks are often where those unit relationships are built and stress-tested.