Day after trade for Jamal Adams, Seahawks release 9 players to near NFL’s new roster limit
The Seahawks made 10 roster moves this weekend.
The other nine didn’t come close to the size of one, mammoth trade.
A day after Seattle traded two first-round draft choices and starting veteran Bradley McDougald to the New York Jets for All-Pro safety Jamal Adams, the Seahawks released nine players. That is to get the roster down from 90 to the new, COVID-19 preseason roster limit of 80.
The team terminated the contracts of veteran defensive end Branden Jackson and Joey Hunt, the fill-in for injured and now departed center Justin Britt last season. Those two moves Sunday save $4.2 million against the salary cap in 2020. Jackson and Hunt had signed their tender offers as Seahawks restricted free agents this offseason, but such offers are not guaranteed in the NFL.
The Seahawks also waived guard Jordan Roos, running back Patrick Carr, wide receiver Seth Dawkins, guard Kahlil McKenzie, defensive back Josh Norwood, linebacker Sutton Smith and tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson.
The Seahawks now have $17.2 million in salary-cap space, according to overthecap.com. Considering the six rookie draft choices they will be signing to contracts before training camp begins Tuesday and the need to allot cap space for injured reserve and other contingencies, Seattle has about $10 million in real cap space available to use.
That’s enough for the veteran edge rusher the Seahawks are still seeking. And, yes Jadeveon Clowney is still in play for Seattle.
He has been the team’s top offseason priority to re-sign. The three-time Pro Bowl end remains a free agent. He’s awaiting team facilities to open across the league this week so he can leverage the offers he got from Seattle this spring. Clowney has been unable to get physical examinations from other team doctors to prove himself medically worth a new, rich contract, because facilities have been closed by the coronavirus since March.
Roos appeared in 14 games mostly on special teams after Seattle signed him as an undrafted rookie in 2017. He was more noticed in Seattle for being tight end Luke Willson co-conspirator in the team’s weekly “Techno Thursday” buffoonery at practices the last couple years.
The moves leave Seattle with 81 players.
All NFL teams must be down to 80 players either by the start of training camps Tuesday or the start of padded practices Aug. 17. That’s in the agreement the league and its players association reached Friday to start camps in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jackson had two sacks last season on what was the NFL’s second-worst pass rush dumping quarterbacks. He became endangered in Seattle after the team signed veteran edge rushers Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa in free agency and drafted pass-rushing defensive ends Darrell Taylor in the second round and Alton Robinson in the fifth.
Releasing Hunt and Roos is a sign of the depth the Seahawks have at center and guard. They will go with offseason free-agent signing B.J. Finney arriving to replace Britt at center. They drafted Damien Lewis in the third round from LSU to replace released D.J. Fluker as the starting right guard. They have fellow guards Jordan Simmons and Phil Haynes returning from season-ending injuries last year to challenge returning veteran Mike Iupati at left guard.
This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 5:24 PM.
