Justin Britt following D.J. Fluker out, Seahawks releasing veterans to save cap space
Their general manager said the Seahawks were moving on.
A day later, they are doing exactly that.
Not long after veteran starting right guard D.J. Fluker wrote online his goodbye informing Seattle the team had released him, news broke Sunday the Seahawks “are prepared to release” veteran center Justin Britt, according to Aaron Fentress of The Athletic.
Seattle has started shedding veteran contracts to clear salary-cap space, and to reduce the surplus of the 19 offensive linemen they had entering Sunday.
Releasing Britt and Fluker will save Seattle $12.18 million in cap space for 2020. That’s more than the team entered Sunday with in cap room, $10.59 million per overthecap.com.
The more than $22.7 million in available under the cap is more than double what they had at the conclusion of the NFL draft on Saturday. The Seahawks now can move on to either re-signing Jadeveon Clowney or making offers on other veteran free agent pass rushers still unsigned, such as former Minnesota Vikings captain Everson Griffen.
There is now room for Seahawks general manager John Schneider to take on the cap charges for edge rushers given franchise tags by other teams last month, including Jacksonville’s Yannick Ngakoue. The 25-year-old sack man has voiced his frustration with the Jaguars and desire to leave the team.
The Seahawks say the “door’s not closed” on bringing back Clowney. He remains unsigned after not accepting the team’s offer last month. It was believed to be for four years and up to $18.5 million.
“We don’t shut the door on anything really,” Schneider said Saturday on an online Zoom call from his home and makeshift draft center.
“Basically, with Clowney, I’ll just put it out there: he did a great job for us. He was amazing this past year. We were in negotiations with his agent for a long time, and at some point, you need to move on and keep conducting business. It’s not Jadeveon’s fault. It’s nobody’s fault.
“You have to keep moving, or your going to get beat.”
So they’ve moved on from Fluker and Britt.
The Seahawks will save $8.5 million against next year’s cap by releasing the 28-year-old who has been a Pro Bowl alternate for them at center after he failed at tackle then at guard his first two seasons with the team. Britt’s $11.42 million cap charge was scheduled to be the fifth-highest on the team in 2020. That was behind only franchise pillars Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner then Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown and top wide receiver Tyler Lockett.
Britt, who turns 29 next month, missed the final eight regular season games and both playoff games for the Seahawks last season. The Pro Bowl alternate in 2016 tore ligaments in his knee early in the team’s win at Atlanta in October. Britt’s three-year, $27 million contract extension he signed before the 2017 season was scheduled to end after the 2020 season. Like most veteran extensions, the salary-cap charges for his extension years balloon in the final years, back-loaded to be more cap friendly up front at the start of the deal.
Seattle signed B.J. Finney in free agency last month to a two-year contract worth at least $8 million, with bonuses that could push the deal to $9.5 million. Finney was had 11 starts at guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He started two games at center last year when Maurkice Pouncey was suspended. Reports from Pittsburgh say Finney played well at center. The Steelers were 11-2 in all of Finney’s career starts for them.
Last week Joey Hunt signed his tender as a restricted free agent. Hunt has been Britt’s backup since the Seahawks drafted Hunt in 2016. Hunt drew praise from Carroll and Schneider for how he played replacing the injured Britt over the last 2 1/2 months of last season. Hunt is smaller than most NFL center, below 300 pounds, and at times he got physically overwhelmed by bigger defensive tackles late in 2019.
Fluker, 29, posted his release in the classiest way on Twitter Sunday. That was after general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll each called to inform him they were releasing him.
The move saves Seattle $3.69 million in salary-cap space in 2020. In addition to adding Finney, the Seahawks drafted LSU right guard Damien Lewis in the third round of the NFL draft Friday and said he was ready to compete to play right away.
This story was originally published April 26, 2020 at 6:24 PM.
