Nick Bellore’s NFL run has come to an end.
The Washington Commanders added the former Seahawks fan favorite and two-time Pro Bowler to the reserve/retired list on Monday, marking the official retirement of the special teams standout. If Bellore decides to come back, Washington would still hold his contractual rights.
Bellore spent five seasons in Seattle, the longest stop of his 15-year career, and carved out a role as both a linebacker and fullback under Pete Carroll. He was a two-time Pro Bowler, earning those nods in 2020 and 2023, and he finished his Seahawks stint with 65 of his 280 career tackles. In Seattle, he also forced one fumble and recovered two.
His lone career interception came against the Seahawks while he was with the San Francisco 49ers, when he picked off then-Seahawks backup Trevone Boykin in garbage time of a 37-18 Seattle win.
Bellore also found the end zone twice on offense across his NFL career, including one touchdown for the Seahawks in a 27-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
But his popularity in Seattle went well beyond the stat sheet. Fans latched onto his personality, from his oddly edited tweets to his playful shots at teammates on Twitter and his brief “Between Two Bellores” parody series on the Seahawks’ YouTube channel. He made sure people remembered him.
After the Seahawks released him in 2024, Bellore landed in Washington and kept contributing on special teams for Dan Quinn’s team. He signed a two-year extension in March of last year before deciding to call it a career.
In Other News...
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The intrigue is in how those pieces sort themselves out once the competition starts in earnest. Clarks arrival gives the Seahawks another young defensive back to evaluate against the current holdovers, while Igbinoghenes fit in the secondary and Fowlers role up front could both reshape where the snaps go when the defense gets into its more obvious passing looks. [Read more 🡒]
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Fleury now inherits a job that will be judged less by structure than by execution, and Seattle does not have much room to experiment if it wants those stalled drives to start turning into touchdowns. The Seahawks have spent enough time chasing better answers in short-yardage situations to know this is where games and seasons can tilt, which makes the next step in the offense feel especially important even before the first snap of the new setup. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Camp Is Quietly Shaping Two Huge Week 1 Concerns
The early stretch of Seahawks camp has offered a little of everything the staff wanted to see, starting with a clearer sense of how Brian Fleurys arrival is smoothing the transition on offense. Rashid Shaheed has been one of the brighter notes as the team looks to expand his role, while the continuity in the system should help Sam Darnold settle in without starting from scratch. On the other side of the ball, Uchenna Nwosu, Derick Hall and Dante Fowler have all put together solid offseasons, and there is real anticipation around what Byron Murphy II and Drake Thomas can become if their next steps come quickly.
Still, the most interesting part of camp may be how many jobs are genuinely up for grabs as Seattle tries to sort out its depth before Week 1. The secondary is being pushed by young players trying to carve out roles, and the Seahawks are also keeping a close eye on the health of key pieces elsewhere on the roster. If the early optimism holds, the camp could end up being remembered less for any single headline and more for how it quietly clarified where this team feels strong, where it is still searching, and where the next few weeks could change the picture again. [Read more 🡒]