The first Alaskan on an NFL roster in nearly a decade, Brandon Pili has fought through practice-squad cycles to become a Super Bowl champion nose tackle.
Brandon Pili's path from USC to the NFL has been anything but smooth, bouncing between the Dolphins and Seahawks practice squads before finally sticking on Seattle's active roster. His perseverance paid off with a championship in 2025.
Path to the league
Pili played five seasons at USC from 2017 to 2022, appearing in 52 games with 74 tackles, including 10 for a loss, and 4 sacks, with his final season standing out as his most productive at 25 tackles. He went undrafted in 2023 and signed with the Miami Dolphins, becoming the first Alaskan to make an NFL roster since 2014.
Career highlights
After being waived and re-signed multiple times by Miami, Pili was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Seahawks in November 2024. He cycled through Seattle's practice squad before being elevated to the active roster in October 2025.
2025 season recap
Pili spent the early part of 2025 on Seattle's practice squad before being signed to the active roster in October, finishing the season with 16 tackles as a nose tackle. He was part of Seattle's Super Bowl LX championship roster and re-signed with the team on a one-year, $2 million contract in March 2026.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Brandon Pili
- ESPN: Brandon Pili
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
13 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | seahawks | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | dolphins | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | dolphins | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive Tackle
- Group
- defense
- College
- USC
- Hometown
- Anchorage, AK, USA
- Age
- 27
- Status
- active
