The Seattle Seahawks won't match the one-year contract that the San Francisco 49ers officially offered to restricted free agent Garry Gilliam, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Seattle had five days to match the 49ers' offer in order to retain him. That means that Gilliam will officially join the 49ers roster and compete for a role at the tackle position.
Update:
The 49ers officially announced the signing of Gilliam on Tuesday.
That was fast: The #Seahawks will not match OT Garry Gilliam's offer sheet and he's headed to SF now to sign with the #49ers, source said 🖋
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 18, 2017
On Monday, the 49ers signed Gilliam to an offer sheet reportedly worth $2.2 million, with $1.4 million guaranteed. Gilliam visited with the 49ers on April 13. In March, the Seahawks gave an original round tender to Gilliam at a cost of about $1.8 million in order to bring him back in 2017.
The 49ers do not have to give up draft picks as compensation – despite the restricted free agent designation – because Gilliam was originally signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent in 2014.
Available money may have played a factor in Seattle's decision. The 49ers have nearly $74 million in salary cap space according to the most recent report by the NFLPA. The Seahawks have just $9.7 million in cap space.
Newly acquired Garry Gilliam will compete with Trent Brown, who started 16 games for #49ers last season, at right tackle. https://t.co/ApPuLqiYz9
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) April 18, 2017
Gilliam started 13 of the 14 games in which he played for the Seahawks last season. While he was a favorite in training camp to take the place of departed left tackle Russell Okung, Gilliam struggled and was benched in November for two games before returning to the starting lineup in December. He played at right tackle following a training camp injury to J'Marcus Webb.
In three seasons with Seattle, Gilliam has played in 44 regular season games while starting 30. He played college football at Penn State and spent most of his years there as a tight end. He converted to an offensive tackle for his senior year and started at the position for the Nittany Lions.
Looks like the #49ers have a new backup swing tackle. #49wz https://t.co/fdm99A8TDa
— Zain N. (@zain49ers) April 18, 2017
