Jacksonville Jaguars fans weren’t the only ones surprised when the team traded former starting defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris this week.

So was the ex-Jaguars captain himself.

“You could say they caught me off guard. It is what it is. It’s a part of the business, so can’t be too upset about it. Still playing ball, so no complaints here,” Robertson-Harris told Seattle Seahawks media earlier this week.

The Jaguars traded Robertson-Harris to Seattle for a 2026 sixth-round pick, marking the first official trade of the 2024 regular season.

“I’m blessed to be able to continue to play the game I love, I put my life into. And meeting everybody today has been great. My new teammates, new coaches and everything and it’s exciting,” Robertson-Harris said.

As for why the Seahawks seemingly sought out the chance to nab the veteran defensive lineman, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald pointed to a few different factors.

“Well, just an opportunity to get a really good player that we have a lot of respect for. He’s big, he’s tough, he’s rugged, I think we use the term ‘position flexibility’ probably too much, but he does do that and can play really all three gaps upfront, so gives us a great opportunity to have a pretty deep front,” Macdonald said.

Macdonald also pointed to the fact that Robertson-Harris played for former Baltimore Ravens assistant Joe Cullen in 2021 when Cullen was the Jaguars defensive coordinator, sparking another connection and reason for why the Jaguars found a suitor for the defender.

“Definitely, and he played for Joe Cullen and a lot of that language carried over from Baltimore. So, it’ll be a quick study. And guys up front, there’s so much carryover in the league with some of the language and stuff. A six technique is a six technique everywhere you go. We know he can do that,” Macdonald said.

Robertson-Harris was signed to the Jaguars in 2021 as a part of general manager Trent Baalke’s first free agency class. After starting 13 games for the Jaguars and recording three sacks in 2021, Robertson-Harris started in all 17 regular-season games and two playoff games in 2022.

After a standout performance at the end of the 2022 season, the Jaguars extended Robertson-Harris in the 2023 offseason. The former Chicago Bear was also voted a defensive captain for the first time. In 2023, Robertson-Harris played all 17 games and recorded 3.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, and 11 quarterback hits.

In six games this year, Robertson-Harris started two games and recorded two sacks and three tackles for loss.

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