Mike Macdonald makes more changes to the poor run defense: Seahawks release Tyrel Dodson
You don’t play the run well enough, you won’t play linebacker for Mike Macdonald.
The Seahawks’ first-year coach made that clear again Monday. The players returned from their week-off bye to learn starting linebacker Tyrel Dodson is being released.
The team announced the move as practice was beginning Monday.
Cornerback Josh Jobe signed from the practice squad to the active roster to take Dodson’s place on the 53-man active roster.
Dodson signed this offseason with Seattle to be an every-down starter for the first time in his five NFL seasons. He had been a part-time and special-teams player for Buffalo from 2020 through January.
The 26-year-old started the first seven games at middle linebacker and was obviously in the wrong spot.
New England ran for 185 yards on Seattle. The New York Giants rushed for 175 against the Seahawks. They allowed San Francisco’s third- and fourth-string running backs to romp for 228 yards last month at Lumen Field. Buffalo gained 164 on the ground against Seattle.
Even in the only game the Seahawks have won in their last six contests, Atlanta rushed for 158 yards last month.
The Seahawks two inside linebackers those first seven games, Dodson and Jerome Baker, routinely got blocked out of rushing lanes or missed tackles, or both.
After that win over the Falcons, Macdonald and Seattle general manager John Schneider traded starting weakside linebacker Baker plus a fourth-round draft choice to Tennessee. That was to acquire Ernest Jones IV. The Seahawks immediately made Jones their new middle linebacker. He started two games ago against the Bills after just two practices with Seattle.
Dodson moved to weakside linebacker to replace Baker. It didn’t work. The Bills and Rams beat the Seahawks’ defense for 31 and 26 points.
Now, days before Seattle (4-5) plays the 49ers (5-4) with returning Christian McCaffrey in Santa Clara Sunday, the Seahawks are changing again at linebacker.
He is the third former starting Seahawks linebacker Macdonald and Schneider have parted with since late August.
They traded Darrell Taylor, their co-leader in sacks two seasons ago, to Chicago because he couldn’t or wouldn’t set the edge against the run.
They traded Baker to get Jones as their new middle linebacker.
And now Dodson exits.
The money
Thus effectively ends at half a season the experiment Schneider made this past offseason of letting inside linebackers Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks sign elsewhere and signing Baker and Dodson to replace them. Baker signed for one year and up to $7 million. Dodson signed for one year at $4.26 million.
Ultimately, the short-term shopping failed. The Seahawks signed two starting middle linebackers this spring for more than $11 million—and got no more than half the season from them.
Dodson now goes on NFL waivers. If another team claims him, Seattle owes Dodson $1,125,000 in base salary plus $270,000 in per-game roster bonuses for the nine games. The Seahawks already paid him a $1 million signing bonus plus roster and workout bonuses of $500,000. That would be a total of $2,895,000 they will have played Dodson for nine games.
If he goes unclaimed, Seattle would owe the vested veteran the remaining nine weeks of his base salary, $1,125,000. That would be the Seahawks paying $4,020,000 total for nine games from Dodson.
Dodson was close to achieving $550,000 of his contract incentives of games played and sacks, Spotrac reported. He had two sacks, on 22 blitzes, with 71 tackles in nine games.
He stood to earn an extra $500,000 for playing at least 65% of Seattle’s defensive snaps over 17 games, plus $300,000 more for three sacks, $400,000 for five sacks and $500,000 for seven total sacks this season, per spotrac.com.
Dodson played 98% of Seattle’s defensive snaps this season before his release.
On the depth chart, rookie fourth-round pick Tyrice Knight has the most remaining experience playing weakside inside linebacker in Macdonald’s 3-4 scheme with Seattle. Veteran special-teams player Drake Thomas has also played some weakside linebacker this Seahawks season.
Josh Ross, claimed off waivers from Macdonald’s former Baltimore Ravens last month, played weakside inside linebacker at Michigan — while Macdonald was defensive coordinator for the Wolverines in 2021.
“It was an opportunity for us, when we sat, kind of took a step back and looked where we were at, it was, really, the best thing for us to move forward that way. Give the other guys in the room the opportunity to step up,” Macdonald said following practice Monday.
“I hope they grab the opportunity by the horns, and take it and run with it.
“Then it gives Tyrel an opportunity to find another spot somewhere else, so he can finish the year strong.”
New defensive tackle
Also Monday, the Seahawks claimed nose tackle Brandon Pili off waivers from the Miami Dolphins.
Seattle put safety K’Von Wallace on injured reserve to clear roster space for Pili. Wallace, the third safety for much of this season, injured his ankle last week in the Seahawks’ home loss to the Rams.
The 6-foot-3, 319-pound Pili was an undrafted from USC in 2023. He’s played in 12 games for the Dolphins the last 1 1/2 seasons. He has four tackles in his NFL career playing 11% and 14% of Miami’s snaps on defense in the 2023 and ‘24 seasons.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 1:25 PM.
