Why Seahawks waiving Shaquem Griffin doesn’t mean he’s gone from Seattle; plus other moves
Shaquem Griffin being waived by the Seahawks doesn’t mean Shaquem Griffin is gone from the Seahawks.
Seattle decided to put the linebacker that coaches were trying to make a situational pass rusher on NFL waivers. Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic reported that first Saturday morning. The news came hours before the team was to set its initial 53-man roster for the regular season per the league’s deadline.
The facts Griffin is the twin, roommate and soul mate of Seahawks Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin, who is entering the final season of his contract, and that Shaquem is the first one-handed player drafted into the modern NFL make this more than a routine roster move.
The Griffins called starting together in Seattle’s 2018 opener at Denver “what you dream about.”
In January, they combined for a sack of Aaron Rodgers on a key third down in the fourth quarterback of the Seahawks’ NFC divisional playoff loss at Green Bay.
It was Shaquem’s first career sack. After that game, he said it was a moment he will never forget. He had tears in his eyes when he said that.
But the coronavirus pandemic has changed the league’s roster rules. Those changes make Shaquem Griffin’s return to the team possible, if not likely.
Teams will have until 1 p.m. Sunday to put claims in on the 800-plus players waived across the league Saturday when each club had to get its 80-man rosters down to 53. If no team claims Griffin, whose speed is his biggest asset though he remains unproven as a pass rusher and linebacker, he could come back to Seattle’s practice squad.
Players who are not vested veterans, those with fewer than four years of NFL service time, are the only ones eligible for waivers.
Generally speaking, vested veterans get their contracts terminated and go straight to unrestricted free agency when cut.
NFL practice squads have gone from 10 to a maximum of 16 players this season. That’s because of COVID-19 and the possibility of needing more players to back-fill any on the active roster who may test positive for the virus during game weeks. Six of those 16 practice-squad players can be veterans of any experience. Previously, only players with fewer than two accrued seasons of service time were eligible to sign onto any team’s practice squad.
Also new this season: each team can add two players from its practice squad onto the active roster to expand it to a maximum of 55 players for any game.
So if Griffin clears waivers, he not only could be back on the practice squad but possibly on the active roster for next weekend’s opener at Atlanta.
That’s true of all the players the Seahawks have so far reportedly decided to release: WRs Paul Richardson, the University of Washington’s Aaron Fuller, Cody Thompson and Penny Hart, TEs Stephen Sullivan (recently injured) and fellow rookie Tyler Mabry, rookie S Chris Miller, CB Ryan Neal, QBs Danny Etling plus Anthony Gordon from Washington State and DTs P.J. Johnson and Cedrick Lattimore.
This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 12:54 PM.
