Seahawks release 2022 draft pick; Bryce Young (ankle) misses practice
Lots of NEWS already this morning!
The Seahawks released Tyreke Smith on Wednesday, opening up a roster spot for tight end Brady Russell, an undrafted free agent rookie who had been on the Eagles practice squad. How do the two moves relate? We will have to wait to find out, but Seattle has also added Artie Burns from the practice squad to the 53-man roster so we were waiting for another move and it just came in: Mike Morris has been placed on IR.
Also, Bryce Young did not practice with the Panthers on Wednesday, putting his status for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks in question, but I’ll come back to that in a minute.
What would the Seahawks look like today if they had made a blockbuster trade for Bryce Young, the Panthers QB who they will face in Week 3? I take a look in Monday’s bonus episode of Seaside Joe: Read Here!
Russell is a 6’3, 247 lb tight end out of Colorado who had 45 catches for 460 yards over the previous two seasons with no touchdowns. He ran a 4.69 40-yard dash at his pro day, so Russell has the athletic prowess to compete in the NFL, just not much of a resume as a receiver. Why add a tight end though?
This move isn’t for the practice squad, he’s on the 53-man roster now, giving the Seahawks four tight ends for the time being. Is there something going on with a player in that group that we don’t know about? It’s interesting that Russell would skip over Tyler Mabry—and other players—despite Russell being an undrafted free agent seemingly on nobody’s radar.
Tyreke Smith gets released after playing in a total of one career game with the Seahawks. The 2022 fifth round pick had nine snaps and one tackle against the Lions on Sunday, but now he hits the waiver wire and I assume he could come back on the practice squad if unclaimed. Smith missed all of his rookie season and seemingly had no significant role behind Seattle’s other four outside linebackers. This could be good news for the health of Boye Mafe.
Finally, Bryce Young didn’t “practice” (the Panthers only held a walkthrough and Young’s DNP is an estimate of what he would have done) on Wednesday and Frank Reich didn’t try to caution anyone that he would be fine. Reich (ICYMI: My article on Pete’s 1994 coaching debut that featured Reich) said that he wasn’t sure if Young would play on Sunday and that Andy Dalton would be ready to go, if needed, and not change the gameplan much.
There was no known injury with Bryce on Monday Night Football against the Saints, then he has a mysterious ankle injury that the head coach says, “Yeah, maybe he’s out, IDK”? That feels a lot like a team thinking that Dalton gives them a better chance to win this week. Without having to use the word “benching”—because really the intention would be “he needs more preparation time”—Carolina could be doing what they think is in the best interest of the team and the player by not exposing him to a situation he isn’t ready for yet.
Or Bryce Young could start on Sunday against the Seahawks and that’s the end of the story. Really. It can just feel like there’s more to the story when arguably the worst or second-worst QB of the first two weeks doesn’t appear hurt and then the coach says “Actually he’s hurt and he may not play on Sunday.”
Finally, one more note about a quarterback who doesn’t play for or against the Seahawks this season but I feel compelled to address what he said on Wednesday and it does relate to my Bryce Young article from Tuesday…