The Seattle Seahawks are going to be a little short handed at the tight end position for a few weeks. On Monday morning, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler is reporting the Seahawks will be placing second year tight end Elijah Arroyo on the injured reserve (IR) list. Arroyo injured his shoulder during Seattle's 17-14 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos. He exited the game and did not return.

Now, Arroyo will miss at least the next four games. Seattle's opponents during this stretch will be three home games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals, and a road game in Vegas to play the Raiders. Earlier on Monday, the Seahawks signed veteran tight end Josiah Deguara to the practice squad. The move was clearly related to the fact Arroyo was going to miss time with this shoulder injury.

Arroyo was selected by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft with the hopes of him becoming a receiving threat at the tight end position. Unfortunately, he has struggled to get going. Arroyo only had 15 receptions for 179 yards and one touchdown in his rookie campaign before going on injured reserve after Seattle's Week 14 game last year. So far those numbers feel out of reach to match, let alone surpass.

So far in 2026, Arroyo has been targeted only twice, hauling in a lone reception for 17 yards which was all the way back in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals.

The lack of production overall from Seahawks tight ends has been the most disappointing aspect of Brian Fleury's short tenure as offensive coordinator so far. Fleury was the tight ends coach for the San Francisco 49ers before being hired in Seattle, so naturally folks assumed big years would be in store for Arroyo and AJ Barner. That has not materialized as of yet.