Seahawks cut Nick Bellore
Seahawks make fifth and probably final cut: Seaside Joe 1835
It’s official, the Seattle Seahawks made their most notable change of 2024 by releasing Nick Bellore on Sunday. Bellore hung on the roster for almost an entire week after the Seahawks made their initial round of cuts, but may have decided he would rather look for a new team than accept a pay cut in Seattle where all the coaches are new.
For example, his former special teams coordinator Larry Izzo has joined Dan Quinn in Washington and they might need a special teams captain. Or Bellore will retire, as he’s 35.
Bellore could have earned up to $2.85 million in 2024 and that’s the amount that the Seahawks save against the cap by releasing him. We don’t have the final numbers on Tyler Lockett’s revised contract yet, but cutting Bellore gets Seattle to approximately $44.9 million in space going into free agency before getting to the vet receiver’s contract changes.
In my Seahawks free agency plan on March 1, I wrote that the team should release Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams, Will Dissly, Bryan Mone, Nick Bellore, Tyler Lockett, and Dee Eskridge. The team released the first four of those names and then after hearing John Schneider say that they were hoping to avoid anymore cuts, I wrote that the team was likely waiting to see if Lockett would accept a pay cut. On Saturday night, Lockett took a pay cut.
Eskridge also accepted a pay cut to stay in Seattle, so with Bellore now added to the list that makes 7-of-7 contracts from the offseason plan addressed by the Seahawks with release or revisement.
What we are now waiting to find out is which outgoing Seattle players will be re-signed by the Seahawks prior to free agency, if any.
The revised Lockett contract should get the Seahawks to over $50 million in 2024 cap space (which, by the way, is what I wrote they would have in my offseason plan nine day ago) and presumably not all of it will be spent on new players but a lot of it could be. In my offseason plan, I targeted these names:
QB Drew Lock, LG Damien Lewis, TE Colby Parkinson, iOL Evan Brown, and RFA tenders for OLB Darrell Taylor, CB Mike Jackson.
Those will be the names we watch for next, but I didn’t have the team retaining Leonard Williams, Jordyn Brooks, Noah Fant, or Bobby Wagner. Schneider noted last week that the team is actively working to keep Williams. Which would not surprise me or upset me, just because I wrote in my plan that Williams could or would leave that doesn’t mean I’m rooting for a particular outcome. It depends on how important Mike Macdonald and Schneider feel Williams is to the Seahawks over the next three years and now they have plenty of cap space to use.
I’ve gotten some questions on Twitter for which outside free agents the Seahawks could target starting on Monday (official signings start Wednesday) and I’ve written a few articles on that topic already. Probably the most notable are the 4 “high-priced” names on the market that I’d find worth it, the free agent names I mentioned have a connection to a new Seahawks coach, and six targets from The Athletic’s list of the top-150 free agents.
There were rumors—just rumors—of Seattle’s interest in linebacker Patrick Queen (which is nothing new) and Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn (which is new). Chinn is 26 but spent half of last season as a backup, apparently not a good fit for the Ejiro Evero defense in Carolina, so he’s still young and potentially cheap and with the safety market being depreciated it is an opportunity to get a few players in to compete for the Macdonald defense.
The Seahawks will have more news—potentially more big news on Sunday if any players are re-signed or traded—so make sure you are subscribed to Seaside Joe for the free or premium newsletter to not miss anything.
Thank you!
As I wrote recently, I am way behind on “thank you notes” for recently new additions to the Regular Joes club. It is only $5 per month or $55 for an entire year and Seaside Joe goes out 365.25 days per year with frequent bonus content (like 2-3 per week) and you can count on us like you can’t count on any other Seahawks content creator.
THANK YOU: MPGlennon (the Mike Glennon QB I hope), thank you Jef!, thank you Seasiders Robert H, Chris H, Glenda B, Gavin, and my favorite name…Temmingham. I want to be a 17th century poet named Temmingham! Thank you Will S, Benjamin 4, Ron B, Eric Ylo, Dinehart, Jamar J, Joel, Tommy S, and Fella W! Atta fella! Thank you Seasiders Craig, Fabbuuii, Bvan, Walter, Ned, Gray B, and Christian F!
You are able to include a message with your subscription, thank you for the kind words Johnceee (Hello to you in SCOTLAND!), Lopez Family, and Cameron! Thanks for the message Coco and joining the Super Joes club at $10 per month for a year. All the support is greatly appreciated and keeps this place running. Thank you Karl, Cav Max, and John C for also joining Super Joes!
If I missed you I may not have missed you. I’m still far behind on my list so I will work to catch up soon and I’m still thankful either way! There is a very EXCITING Seaside Joe giveaway coming soon to subscribers so hang tight and thank you!
Can we officially declare SSJ/KA the Nostradamus of Seahawks contract actions yet?
Bravo, Kenneth!
👏👍😀
It wouldn't surprise me if Nick does retire. If he isn't planning on retiring, he should have accepted whatever offer the Seahawks made, as I don't think he'll get much more than league minimum as a 35 year old special teams player. Since he wasn't released in the initial wave, they must have given him a reduced salary offer, otherwise why the delay?
I would be quite happy if the Seahawks sat out the first few days of free agency. If 2024 is to be a formative year, don't spend to the cap, and let whatever you don't spend rollover into 2025, when the time might be better to be a bit more aggressive.
The more I look at this draft, the more I can see John trading down in the 1st round. Maybe multiple times. There are some really solid prospects in the 30 thru 100 range, that I'm not sure are much of a drop off from what will be there from 15 to 30. Offensive Tackle would be the exception, as that seems to drop off precipitously after the first round. But safety, d-line, centre/guard, and WR have depth especially. QB is the only reason I would see John stick and pick, if his guy is there. The draft will be really interesting.