If the Seahawks had to cut 25 players today

The Seahawks have difficult decisions to make with the roster: Seaside Joe 1632

The Seattle Seahawks do not need to cut anybody from the roster this week, but what I’ve learned from doing this thought experiment is that when we do get to that eventual date, with a near-identical roster, the decisions that Pete Carroll has to make will be harder than what we’ve been accustomed to lately.

In recent years, NFL teams had to go through a series of cuts before eventually getting down to 53 players, but the rules in 2023 are different: On August 29th, the Seahawks have to get down to 53 players. That’s it, that’s the only rule.

Seattle will play the preseason finale against the Packers on August 26th and then three days later, Pete Carroll has to have 53 players on his roster. That gives the Seahawks as many as 90 players to go to Green Bay and there is no way for us to know just how many of them have legitimate chances of winning a job based on their performance at Lambeau.

Or losing a job.

However, it would be interesting to pare down the Seahawks roster anyway as a thought experiment that gets fans closer to not only imagining the 53 but also those who are on the bubble.

What I learned is that not only is getting from 65 to 53 going to be difficult, I had just as hard of a time getting down from 90 to 65. And I can guarantee that no matter who I chose, there are at least five names that will spark some debate. If you disagree with a name or two, you might end up being right.

It’s the fact that we can disagree that shows that the 2023 roster appears to be much better, with characters who are somewhat easier to root for, than the previous six or seven years.

I’ve been posting Seaside Joe episodes at 7:15 AM PT, but have scheduled this one for later because the Seahawks-Cowboys game recap went out late on Saturday and I want to give you a chance to read that one first.

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Offense (11 cuts)

WR Matt Landers

WR Justin Marshall

WR Tyjon Lindsey

WR John Hall

OT Jalen McKenzie

G Kendall Randolph

C Joey Hunt

OT Liam Ryan

TE Griffin Hebert

RB Bryant Koback

RB Wayne Taulapapa

Defense (11 cuts)

DB Ty Okada

CB Arquon Bush

CB Montrae Braswell

CB Benjie Franklin

CB Lance Boykin

CB Chris Steele

LB Christian Young

OLB Jordan Ferguson

DT Roderick Perry

NT Matt Gotel

NT Austin Faoliu (PUP)

As you can see, I didn’t even get from 90 to 65 yet. I couldn’t make those last three decisions so easily, so I wanted to start with a baseline of names that I’m mostly comfortable with. And I know that coming off of a game in which John Hall blocked a punt, Tyjon Lindsey had a few nice plays, it seems harsh to bring them up as cuts. But I think that’s going to be a difficult hill to climb no matter what happens in the preseason.

They could have earned jobs on the practice squad to wait for a turn, however.

Here are the names remaining on 90-man offense

A question you may be asking is whether I’m making cuts with a preseason game in mind, in which case it would be important to keep enough players at each position to go against the Packers. So let’s make it easier and say that I’m not because 65 is not enough for a preseason roster.

In that case, I can comfortably reduce the roster by a few more names.

QB Holton Ahlers

WR Easop Winston

Let’s start with Ahlers. I think he’s doing an admirable job, he’s fun to watch, but I don’t think the Seahawks need to worry about losing him on waivers. After catching a touchdown last week and also possessing special teams prowess, Winston’s presence would still be redundant to some players who will definitely make the roster like Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Here are the names remaining on 90-man defense

I think Jacob Sykes is still on the roster bubble, most likely on the outside of it. Especially since it seems like USFL’s Levi Bell could be stealing one of the 53 right before our Lev-eyes.

I next look at linebacker, where I have seven names remaining, which would seem to be too many. It’s hard for me to gauge where Pete stands on some of these Seattle veterans like Jon Rhattigan, Ben Burr-Kirven, and Vi Jones. Whereas Patrick O’Connell seems to have stepped up lately and has the added benefit of being a little younger, a little newer, a little cheaper.

LB Ben Burr-Kirven

This is an area I’m struggling with, maybe you are too? Let me know in the comments where you stand with the linebacker depth:

Pete complimented O’Connell and Rhattigan after the game. Should Vi Jones be closer to not making it? Am I being too hard on Burr-Kirven, who does everything right but lacks some of the size and athleticism?

The main point is that this isn’t even getting the roster to 53, there are still 12 more names to go! How do you possibly reconcile the next 12 names after the 65 who I have so far kept on the roster?

Yes, the Seahawks could place Jamal Adams and Bryan Mone on PUP or IR to start the season, that still leaves 10 names.

The “bubble” here seems to be hovering around WR Cade Johnson, WR Cody Thompson, WR Jake Bobo, OL Greg Eiland, TE Tyler Mabry (longshot probably), RB SaRodorick Thompson (probably cut actually), DL Jacob Sykes, LB Vi Jones, LB Patrick O’Connell, LB Jon Rhattigan, OLB Tyreke Smith (I think he is trending up probably?), OLB Levi Bell, CB Artie Burns (CB depth will be important), DB Jonathan Sutherland, DB Jerrick Reed II, S Joey Blount.

Which 6 of those 16 players would you keep?

I think that Bobo, Bell, Smith, Blount, Sutherland, and maybe Burns tops that list for me. The inconsistent two weeks for Tre Brown and Mike Jackson give Artie Burns an argument to stay, as does the lack of appearances by Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen.

Of course, someone who I “cut” above could also make it and should be on the bubble. I’m just listing the players who remain on my fictitious 65-man roster.

As difficult as it always is to see a drafted rookie on the bubble, I just don’t know what Jerrick Reed II has done to earn a spot on the roster. Maybe behind closed doors it is very obvious, but everything we’ve seen and heard so far suggests that Jonathan Sutherland is doing better.

These are the first 25 names I would consider when paring down the roster, but that is only the beginning.