Seahawks release kick returner-receiver Walters, sign safety Parks off practice squad

Published 6:53 pm Saturday, November 1, 2014

Rookie wide receiver Paul Richardson has apparently won the kickoff-return – and perhaps punt-return – job. That’s the result of the Seahawks releasing kickoff and punt returner Bryan Walters.

Saturday’s corresponding roster move was signing Terrance Parks off the practice squad to bolster a safety position that had just three healthy players for Sunday’s game against Oakland.

Walters was only on the roster because the Seahawks had decided after Week 1 that All-Pro safety Earl Thomas was too focused on new punt-return duties. Now, with Walters off the roster, Richardson becomes the apparent kickoff returner one week after his 47-yard run back of a Carolina kickoff set up the Seahawks’ only points of the first half.

The speedy, second-round draft choice from Colorado has caught punts out of a machine after practices since the summer.

The 6-foot-2, 218-pound Parks was an undrafted rookie in 2012 out of Florida State invited to the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason but cut that August. He didn’t play for anyone that season, then played two games for Hamilton of the Canadian Football League last season.