Seahawks waive QB Smith, WR Brown on active cut-down day

By Bob Condotta / The Seattle Times

RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks set their initial 53-man roster Saturday afternoon, a group that at the moment includes only one quarterback — Russell Wilson.

But, the Seahawks are hardly done making moves as their 53-man roster still included linebackers Barkevious Mingo and Jacob Martin, who will each soon be traded to Houston for defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Once that trade goes through the Seahawks will have an open roster spot that it figures to use to sign a quarterback — which could just be Geno Smith, who had been thought to have won the backup job when it was learned on Friday that Paxton Lynch had been waived.

Smith officially had his contract terminated on Saturday. But since he does not have to go through waivers, the team may have done this as a little roster laundering and will re-sign Smith once the trade goes through and another roster spot opens up.

Some somewhat surprising cuts included the likes of receiver Jaron Brown, defensive end Cassius Marsh, cornerback Jamar Taylor and defensive tackles Earl Mitchell and Jamie Meder. Brown was released to clear up cap space to fit in Clowney, who will take up almost $16 million in cap space. Brown’s release saves $2.75 million against the cap.

Here’s a quick look at the Seattle roster as it appears to stand, but with the Clowney traded accounted.

QUARTERBACKS

Keep: Russell Wilson

Comment: They obviously need to get one more, and would appear likely to just re-sign Smith.

RUNNING BACKS

Keep: Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny, C.J. Prosise, Travis Homer.

Comment: The Seahawks’ cuts here included J.D. McKissic, Bo Scarbrough and fullback Nick Bellore. But Bellore, in particular, may be back in a day or so when his contract would no longer be guaranteed. He got a $400,000 signing bonus and would seem unlikely to get signed elsewhere.

RECEIVERS

Keep: Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, Gary Jennings, David Moore, Malik Turner, John Ursua.

Comment: The big surprise was the release of vested veteran Brown, which saves the team $2.75 million against the cap. That appears to have compelled the team to keep Malik Turner to give Seattle enough healthy receivers to get through week one. Jennings was the topic of much discussion, but the team always seemed likely to not want to give up on a fourth-year pick just yet.

TIGHT ENDS

Keep: Will Dissly, Nick Vannett, Ed Dickson.

Comment: It was a little surprise that Seattle waived Jacob Hollister, an early training camp standout. But for now, Seattle is keeping Dickson, who had knee surgery early in camp. Dickson, though, could be placed on injured reserve this week so he could then return later in the year, and maybe Seattle then adds another tight end.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Keep: Duane Brown, D.J. Fluker, Justin Britt, Mike Iupati, Germain Ifedi, George Fant, Ethan Pocic, Jamarco Jones, Joey Hunt.

Comment: No real surprises here as Seattle keeps nine. Hunt sprained his ankle against the Chargers but is apparently healthy enough to keep for now.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Keep: Jadeveon Clowney, Ezekiel Ansah, L.J. Collier, Poona Ford, Al Woods, Quinton Jefferson, Rasheem Green, Bryan Mone, Branden Jackson.

Comment: Okay, so we are going to go ahead and count Clowney and subtract Mingo and Martin. The one mild surprise is keeping Mone, an undrafted rookie free agent, and dumping both of vets Mitchell and Meder. Jackson also makes it after a solid camp and with the losses of Martin and Mingo meaning needing to keep around another end.

LINEBACKERS

Keep: Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Mychal Kendricks, Austin Calitro, Cody Barton, Ben Burr-Kirven, Shaquem Griffin.

Comment: Seattle has seven at the moment, and needed the depth with the trades of Martin and Mingo, who also had value as emergency linebackers, if needed. Griffin has been dealing with a knee issue, though, and could also be an IR candidate who could then return later.

CORNERBACKS

Keep: Shaquill Griffin, Tre Flowers, Akeem King, Neiko Thorpe, Parry Nickerson.

Comment: The one surprise was the release of Taylor and then the trade with the Jets for Nickerson, Seattle giving up a conditional 7th-round pick in 2021. The assumption is he could step right into the nickel spot, though King can also play there as can Ugo Amadi.

SAFETIES

Keep: Bradley McDougald, Tedric Thompson, Marquise Blair, Ugo Amadi, Lano Hill.

Comment: No surprises here after it was learned Friday that the Seahawks were releasing DeShawn Shead. Blair has had a hip pointer issue but for now is apparently good enough to stay on roster.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Keep: PK Jason Myers, P Michael Dickson, LS Tyler Ott.

Comment: Never a doubt here.