Seahawks think Justin Coleman is ‘really good.’ They want him back. So why’d they cut him?
The roster cuts have happened.
Let the roster massaging and machinations begin.
On the surface, it appeared veteran defensive back Justin Coleman got the shaft from the Seahawks on Tuesday. The best nickel, fifth defensive back covering slot receivers Seattle has had the last decade was the most surprising of the 27 moves the team made to get to 53 players by the NFL deadline to set the initial roster for the season.
Releasing Coleman gives the nickel job to show-out rookie Coby Bryant.
For now, anyway.
Coach Pete Carroll moved Bryant to the inside slot cover spot only a couple weeks ago, to get him more opportunities after the crowded cornerback competition took shape with fellow rookie Tariq Woolen emerging as a starter on the right side. Bryant had practiced all offseason and began training camp outside at cornerback. That’s where he starred at the University of Cincinnati as the Thorpe Award winner as college football’s best defensive back last season.
Carroll said Tuesday the ball-hawking Bryant is ready to play in a regular-season game at nickel — such as the first one, Sept. 12 against Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos at Lumen Field.
“Coby’s ready to play, yeah,” Carroll said. “At this stage, he can only be as ready as he is, but he’s can play for us. And we would expect him to make things happen and do good stuff. ...It’s like, it’s not new to him anymore. He’s comfortable with it, but he’ll get a lot better. He’ll get comfortable with the calls and the looks and the disguises and all that kind of stuff as he grows with it.”
Thing is, the Seahawks want to bring Coleman back.
“There’s moving parts,” Carroll said.
“Justin is a really good football player. And hopefully this isn’t where, you know, we’re done with him.”
Huh? So why did they just cut the father to a 3-year-old daughter, Lotus Sage?
Coleman’s situation is an example of how teams massage the NFL’s roster rules, particularly this time of year.
As a vested veteran with more than four accrued seasons in the league, Coleman is not subject to waivers when released. He immediately becomes a free agent. That means another team can’t automatically claim and sign Coleman through a claim by the end of the waiver period Wednesday — as it can with the 20 younger players the Seahawks waived Tuesday.
As an unrestricted free agent now, the 29-year-old Coleman can choose his next team. He can sign for whatever offer he gets and wants.
Carroll’s words — plus the fact the Seahawks don’t really have another nickel back option besides the new Bryant — suggest the team and Coleman have something of a gentlemen’s agreement for Coleman to re-sign with Seattle.
Why even go through all that with Coleman?
They knew they could cut him without him going through waivers so he could agree to return to them. They needed his spot to subsequently put another player on injured reserve after they’ve set their initial 53-man roster.
Per NFL rules players put on injured reserve before the 53-man roster is official are out for the season. Rookie draft choice Tyreke Smith went on IR as part of Tuesday’s moves to get the roster down to 53, so he is out for the year.
Players that go onto IR after the initial 53-man roster is set can return after missing a minimum of four games.
The Seahawks have a list of banged-up candidates for that designation.
L.J. Collier, the often-injured and ineffective defensive lineman and former first-round pick, was a surprise to make the team Tuesday. He may have done so just to go on IR Wednesday or Thursday.
Defensive linemen Alton Robinson, safety Ryan Neal, cornerback Sidney Jones with an ongoing concussion, running back Ken Walker with a unique hernia case, all could go on injured reserve this week. That would create the roster spot for Coleman to re-sign.
Also, if the Seahawks wanted to pinch some dollars they could roll dice running Bryant out as their new nickel back against Wilson and Denver’s slot receivers in the opener, then re-sign Coleman after week one. Vested veterans on rosters through week one’s game get their entire base salary guaranteed for all season. But players signed or re-signed after the first game get paid by the week, essentially a la carte.
That’s not as big a factor for Coleman. His base salary was for the NFL veteran minimum of $1.27 million.
So more likely the Seahawks will ask Coleman to sign back with them this week, after the team puts a player on shorter-term injured reserve.
“We’ve got a couple guys that we are looking at that we’ve got to make sure are healthy,” Carroll said.
This “gentlemen’s agreement” doesn’t always work in a team’s favor. The Seahawks learned that in 2018.
In September that year the team released veteran defensive tackle Ted Johnson for week one, to not have to guarantee his contract all that season. Johnson’s former Minnesota Vikings swooped in and offered more than Seattle was paying and was going to pay Johnson again. That and getting used as a pawn by the Seahawks had Johnson breaking his agreement and signing back with Minnesota instead of Seattle.
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 6:40 PM.
