Seahawks’ 53-man roster: C.J. Prosise, Shaquem Griffin make it. Here’s who did not
C.J. Prosise remains a cat on his ninth Seahawks life.
Shaquem Griffin remains on the team.
Seattle remains completely dependent on Russell Wilson. In fact, more than the franchise has ever been.
Those are the highlights of the Seahawks announcing their final cuts of the preseason and setting their initial 53-man roster for the 2019 regular season Saturday.
Prosise made the team again as the third-down, pass-catching running back after 10 injuries, three-plus years—and a reviving final two preseason games that reminded coach Pete Carroll why he loves him so much.
Seattle cut J.D. McKissic to keep Prosise.
Seattle also released veteran quarterback Geno Smith. That was a day after they released fellow backup Paxton Lynch. As of Saturday evening, Wilson was the only QB on the roster.
Then again, maybe Wilson doesn’t need a backup. He has never missed an in-season practice, let alone a game, in his seven seasons in the NFL as the Seahawks’ starter.
More likely: Carroll and general manager John Schneider are about to make another roster move or three, as they always do this time of year. And Smith, or another quarterback from another team, will join the roster.
Saturday’s is only the initial 53-man roster. The Seahawks are well-known for a flurry of subsequent moves in the days after cut-down day.
Griffin, who’s preseason was limited by a nagging knee injury, stays on the team for now. So does tight end Ed Dickson, even though he’s been out for a month following knee surgery. That’s because only a guy on the initial 53-man regular-season roster is eligible to be one of the two players a team can designate to return to play off injured reserve after eight games.
Players on IR before the initial 53-man regular-season roster is set are out for the year. This year for Seattle that’s reserve guard Jordan Simmons.
All of the Seahawks’ final moves announced Saturday:
They terminated the veteran contracts of: fullback Nick Bellore, wide receiver Jaron Brown, defensive end Cassius Marsh, OL Marcus Martin, defensive tackle Jamie Meder, defensive back DeShawn Shead, Smith and defensive back Jamar Taylor.
Those guys don’t go through waivers. They are free agents.
Veterans on a team for week one of the regular season, which Seattle begins Monday, have their entire salary for that season guaranteed. The Seahawks could re-sign any of the above released veterans after the Sept. 8 opener against Cincinnati and would only have to pay him per game this season.
The Seahawks waived: quarterback J.T. Barrett, undrafted rookie wide receiver Jazz Ferguson (who they are hoping clears waivers Sunday so they get him on the practice squad), tight end Jackson Harris, offensive tackle Will Holden, tight end Jacob Hollister, linebacker Jawaun Johnson, wide receiver Kahlil Lewis, safety Shalom Luani, Lynch, McKissic, defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, wide receiver Nyqwan Murray, offensive tackle Elijah Nksanah, wide receiver Keenan Reynolds, guard Jordan Roos, tight end Wes Saxton, running back Bo Scarbrough, defensive end Logan Tago, guard Landon Turner, running back Xavier Turner, offensive tackle Brian Wallace, wide receiver Terry Wright and linebacker Juwon Young.
The Seahawks waived/injured cornerback Jeremy Boykins and linebacker Justin Currie.
Rookie defensive tackle Demarcus Christmas and rookie guard Phil Haynes, both draft choices, went on the physically-unable-to-perform list. They are eligible to return to the team after six games of the season.
Defensive tackle Jarran Reed went on the reserve-suspended list. He will miss the first six games. The NFL suspended him last month because of an alleged domestic-violence incident.
It’s the same fundamental goal of every NFL team setting its roster each Labor Day weekend: Get better than you were the year before.
By that basic measure, the Seahawks won.
They addressed their potentially fatal flaw, lack of a pass rush, by acquiring the league’s top available pass rusher: Jadeveon Clowney in a stunning trade Saturday morning. The Seahawks had yet to announce the trade as of Saturday evening because it was not yet official. Players involved have to pass trade physicals first.
That’s what hung up the last deal Seattle did with Houston, in 2017, that brought left tackle Duane Brown to the Seahawks. Jeremy Lane failed his physical exam with the Texans, so the Seahawks had to send extra draft choices to Houston to finalize the deal.
The Seahawks got younger (rookie first-round draft choice L.J. Collier) and better (Clowney with one-time Pro Bowl defensive end Ziggy Ansah) on the defensive line, better than they were all spring into summer after trading top sack man Frank Clark to Kansas City.
They gave Wilson a new, prime target while getting younger, bigger and faster at wide receiver with 6-foot-4 rookie second-round pick DK Metcalf.
The Seahawks also rediscovered a dynamic threat at running back. Chronically injured Prosise was finally able to stay on the field long enough to flash his 2016 rookie form as a slashing runner and potent pass receiver.
And they added a new nickel defensive back: 5-10 Parry Nickerson. Seattle acquired him in its second trade Saturday, from the New York Jets in exchange for a conditional seventh-round draft choice in 2021. Nickerson has the size fit for a nickel back inside in Carroll’s defensive system.
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Seahawks’ 53-man roster: C.J. Prosise, Shaquem Griffin make it. Here’s who did not."
