Report: Jalen Carter to Visit Seahawks, Raiders This Week Ahead of 2023 NFL Draft

Jalen Carter is scheduled to visit with the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Pro Football Talk’s Peter King.

Carter’s visit with the Seahawks will be on Tuesday.

The Seahawks pick at No. 5 overall, while the Raiders pick at No. 7. Both teams have quarterbacks in place—Geno Smith for the Seahawks, Jimmy Garappolo for the Raiders—so taking a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball wouldn’t come as a major surprise.

There was a point when Carter was considered potentially the top talent available in this year’s draft, but in early March he was arrested and charged with reckless driving and racing for his part in a Jan. 15 car accident that killed Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and team staffer Chandler LeCroy.

Carter was allegedly racing his 2021 Jeep Trackhawk against LeCroy’s 2021 Ford Expedition.

While teams are surely investigating that situation and will take a close look at Carter’s background, his talent alone—he had 18.5 sacks in three seasons from Georgia, an impressive number for an interior player—is hard to ignore.

The NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah had him ranked as the No. 5 player overall on his latest big board, calling him a “difference-maker” who “must be accounted for on every snap” and has the “versatility to line up at any position along the defensive front.”

And ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had Carter as the top player, period, on his latest big board, noting that “the reality is Carter’s stock hasn’t dropped in the eyes of NFL teams, and so I’m not dropping him in my rankings.”

With the possibility that quarterbacks will be off the board with three of the first four picks to the Carolina Panthers (No. 1), Houston Texans (No. 2) and Indianapolis Colts (No. 4)—and the additional chance that the Arizona Cardinals could trade the No. 3 overall pick to a quarterback-needy team—the Seahawks could be in a position to get one of the two best non-quarterback prospects on the board.

And if Carter’s off-field concerns cause him to drop, a team like the Raiders might be in line to add him. Either way, he’ll be an interesting name to monitor come the draft.