WR Bryan Walters, RT Eric Winston, QB Terrelle Pryor, DE Benson Mayowa and LB Korey Toomer were among the higher profile players cut as the Seahawks reached the mandatory 53-man roster limit Saturday. They also added CB Marcus Burley in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts for a 2015 sixth-round draft choice.
They released 20 players, terminated the veteran contracts of Winston and CB Phillip Adams and placed DT D’Anthony Smith on injured reserve after he hurt his elbow Thursday in Oakland. The roster is written in pencil, not ink, as all clubs can begin claiming players off waivers Sunday.
“We’ve got the guys who are going to play for us and we’re ready to go,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
As expected, the Seahawks parted ways with Pryor, who lost his bid to oust Tarvaris Jackson as the backup quarterback, and cut fellow QB B.J. Daniels, whom they hope to bring back as one of 10 players on the practice squad if he clears waivers.
Winston, an eight-year free agent whom the club acquired earlier in the month after Michael Bowie was injured and waived, lost out to rookie Justin Britt, the second-round pick from Missouri. He appears to be the only rookie likely to start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Green Bay in the NFL season opener.
Adams was bumped by the trade for Burley, who was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted rookie free agent April 28, 2013 and has spent time on the practice squads of Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams and Colts. He has not played in a regular-season game. The Seahawks are worried about depth in the secondary with injuries to CBs Jeron Johnson and Jeremy Lane.
In addition to Pryor, Daniels, Walters, Mayowa and Toomer, the Seahawks waived:
TE RaShaun Allen, CB Akeem Auguste, RB Demitrius Bronson, WR Arceto Clark, G Caylin Hauptmann, T Nate Isles, C Patrick Lewis, WR Chris Matthews, S Terrance Parks, TE Morrell Presley, DT Andru Pulu, FB Kiero Small, DT Jimmy Staten, S Steven Terrell, and RB Spencer Ware.
Not all of the cuts are permanent. The Seahawks can sign up to 10 practice-squad players beginning Sunday, so some of those cut Saturday will return.
Staten was Seattle’s fifth-round pick, a product of Middle Tennessee State, and small was a seventh-rounder.
Five members of Seattle’s 2013 draft class — WR Paul Richardson (1st round), OT Britt (2nd), WR Norwood (4th), DE Cassius Marsh (4th), and LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (4th), made the team.
Toomer, Walters and RB Kevin Ware were holdovers from the 2013 Super Bowl champions. FB Heath Farwell was lost for the season (groin muscle tear) in the game against the Bears.
Walters, who returned all kickoffs and punts and made three catches Thursday in Oakland, lost out to to Norwood, the rookie from Alabama who played little in camp after having a bone spur removed from his foot, and Bates, the converted quarterback who had an outstanding camp. Walters’ cut means Earl Thomas has won the punt return job.
The cut to 53 means that two undrafted free agents, 6-foot-1, 243-pound LB Brock Coyle from Montana, and tackle Gary Gilliam, a 6-5, 306-pound rookie from Penn State, made the team.
SEAHAWKS 53-MAN ROSTER
OFFENSE
Wide receiver (7): Doug Baldwin, Percy Harvin, Jermaine Kearse, Ricardo Lockette, Paul Richardson, Kevin Norwood, Phil Bates.
Offensive line: (9): Russell Okung, Max Unger, J.R. Sweezy, Alvin Bailey, James Carpenter, Justin Britt, Lemuel Jeanpierre, Garry Gilliam, Stephen Schilling.
Tight end (3): Zach Miller, Luke Willson, Cooper Helfet.
Quarterback (2): Russell Wilson, Tarvaris Jackson.
Running back (4): Marshawn Lynch, Robert Turbin, Christine Michael, Derrick Coleman.
DEFENSE
Defensive line (9): Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Tony McDaniel, Brandon Mebane, Kevin Williams, Jordan Hill, Greg Scruggs, O’Brien Schofield, Cassius Marsh.
Linebackers (7): Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Malcolm Smith, Brock Coyle, Mike Morgan, Bruce Irvin, Kevin Pierre-Louis.
Cornerbacks (5): Richard Sherman, Byron Maxwell, Jeremy Lane, Tharold Simon, Marcus Burley.
Safeties (4): Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Jeron Johnson, DeShawn Shead.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker: Steven Hauschka. Punter: Jon Ryan. Long snapper: Clint Gresham.
Notes
The Tennessee Titans will include three ex-University of Washington Huskies on their roster as Travis Coons won the kicking battle and made the 53-man roster. He joins join QB Jake Locker and RB Bishop Sankey . . . Former Seahawks WR Nate Burleson was waived by the Cleveland Browns . . . Ricardo Lockette tweeted Saturday he was fined $22,000 for an illegal hit during the Bears game.
1 Comment
It’s a numbers game at this stage and you can’t really knock a formula that’s brought a Super Bowl win to Seattle but it’s sad to see some of these guys go because they DID play well in the preseason. In particular I thought Walters made some great catches in heavy traffic and looked fine returning kicks and punts, but who was he going to beat out with this group?
The upside is that you KNOW there are 31 other teams watching very closely who the Seahawks let go and a lot of these players will be on new teams by the end of the weekend.