Seahawks sign veteran running back C.J. Spiller to add depth to injured backfiel

The Seahawks on Wednesday signed veteran running back C.J. Spiller, adding depth to an injury-ravaged backfield in time for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

Spiller was a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2010, taken ninth overall. He was released by the Saints earlier this month after being inactive for New Orleans’ first game of the 2016 season. The Seahawks released Terrence Magee, signed as a free agent last week, to make room for Spiller on the 53-man roster.

The Seahawks are without Thomas Rawls for a few weeks due to a hairline fracture in his shin suffered against Los Angeles on Sept. 18. The team had thought Rawls might return this week but coach Pete Carroll said Monday that further tests revealed the fracture and that Rawls will be out “a few more weeks” at least.

And rookie C.J. Prosise hasn’t played the last two games while dealing with a broken bone in his wrist suffered in the opener against Miami. Carroll said Wednesday it would be up to three more weeks before Prosise would be able to play without protection on his hand.

Carroll said that the healing of Prosise’s injury, and the ability to play without a cast, is a “six-week process. So likely he’ll have to wear something to protect him all the way through those six weeks. We’re still a long ways away from that.”

While Prosise has been practicing regularly — he was listed as a full participant on Wednesday — the team has decided not to have him play the last two weeks and the Seahawks have been searching for someone to fill the third-down back role in his absence. That’s a role that could well suit Spiller, who has 192 receptions for 1,434 yards in his NFL career.

Spiller was slowed by a knee issue last season when he appeared in 13 games with two starts with New Orleans, rushing for 112 yards on 36 carries and catching 34 passes or 239 yards and two touchdowns.

The Seahawks brought in four other running backs for workouts earlier this week, indicative of their desire to add depth at that position.

It’s unclear as of yet the move that Seattle will make to clear a spot on the roster to add Spiller.

Seattle’s other tailbacks at the moment are Christine Michael, Alex Collins, Rawls, Prosise and Magee. Collins essentially filled the third-down back role on Sunday against the 49ers but that has not been regarded as something that would be his primary role.

Spiller rushed for 1,244 yards on on 207 attempts in his best season in 2012. He suffered a broken collarbone in 2014 in his last year with Buffalo before signing a four-year deal as a free agent with the Saints.

It is the second time in two years the Seahawks have signed a veteran with Buffalo ties, last year bringing in Fred Jackson to fill a similar third-down type of role. Marshawn Lynch also began his career with Buffalo before being traded to Seattle in 2010, a move the Bills made in part due to having just spent a first-round pick on Spiller.

Spiller turned 29 last month.