Seahawks announce practice squad

The Seahawks announced their eight-player practice squad, though most notable is the player not on it, fourth-round pick Chris Harper. The Seahawks released the receiver Saturday, which was no surprise given his struggles in the preseason, but they still saw potential in the Kansas State product (hence using a fourth-round pick on him in April) so they hoped to keep him around to let him develop.

That won’t happen, however, because in latest chapter of the always-entertaining Seahawks-49ers rivalry, San Francisco signed Harper to their 53-man roster Monday.

So here’s who Seattle did sign to the practice squad: DT Michael Brooks, LB Ty Powell, DT Sealver Siliga, G Jared Smith, G Ryan Seymour, TE Cooper Helfet, WR Bryan Walters, DB DeShawn Shead.

They also might have liked to get a player like TE Sean McGrath on there, but he was claimed by Kansas City off of waivers yesterday.

That the Seahawks have a practice squad made up entirely of guys they just cut, and that they have added just one new player over the weekend—DT D’Anthony Smith, a trade they made out of need because of injuries—is a pretty strong indicator of how far they’ve come in rebuilding the roster. After the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the Seahawks made tons of moves in these days following cut day, adding players that other teams had cast aside because they liked them better than some of the players they had kept. Now, the Seahawks are the team whose cuts quickly get snatched up.