The Seattle Seahawks had one of their most dramatic “roster churn” announcements of training camp on Thursday, announcing three cuts and three additions before noon PT: 2 of the new Seahawks are “old Seahawks” and one is joining Seattle for the first time.
All three of the cut Seahawks are “old Seahawks” but as evidenced by the “new Seahawks” could still be “future Seahawks” while one of them will soon be an “injured Seahawk”.
(What if that was all that I told you and ended the newsletter here?)
Cornerback Montrae Braswell and nose tackle Matthew Gotel are back with Seattle after previous stints with the Seahawks: Braswell was signed by the Seahawks in June but released at the very beginning of training camp. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranked him as the 108th-best cornerback in the 2023 draft class, well outside the range of players who get write-ups, but he was an FCS All-American at Missouri State and had a reputation as a dangerous kick returner.
The Seahawks may still be auditioning to find the best one of those.
Gotel was with Seattle in 2022 and was in Falcons training camp and had an XFL stint earlier this year. Not long after releasing Robert Cooper for the second time, the Seahawks could still be looking for a defensive tackle who could make the practice squad and have potential for a midseason call-up given Seattle’s lack of depth at the position. He went to Lakes High School in Tacoma.
Finally, the first-time Seahawk is receiver Justin Marshall, a player who was ranked 58th at his position by Brugler—just outside “the cut” to get a deep dive from The Ahthletic. He is 6’1, 205 lbs, ran a 4.48 (not bad) and had a 38” vertical after a productive final season at Buffalo. He was also in Falcons training camp briefly this year. Marshall had 64 catches for 837 yards and nine touchdowns in 13 games, by far his most productive season after three years at Louisville, although most if not all of that came against players who will not be on 90-man rosters. He had 116 yards against Holy Cross, for instance.
It seems too much of a longshot to even say that Marshall is a “longshot” to make the roster. But in the nature of Pete Carroll, he could certainly compete for the practice squad.
Only one of the additions lines up with a release, by position: Justin Marshall takes Ra’Shaun Henry’s place with the receivers; signed on Monday, Henry will revert to IR.
Former UW running back Wayne Taulapapa and tight end Noah Gindorff, once an all-state QB in Minnesota, were also released to make room for the new additions.
The Seahawks do not have to make any cuts until August 29th, the deadline to get to 53 players.
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The first two paragraphs nearly melted my brain. Long day! 😀
Being a U-Dub fan, I had high hopes for Tualapapa to make the practice squad. He was a very productive RB for the Huskies in his only year there.