Breaking Down Seattle Seahawks Roster Cuts, Initial 53-Man Roster

The Seahawks whittled their roster down to 53 players prior to Tuesday's deadline, making a few surprise moves to reach NFL compliance along the way.

Aug 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) gets ready for a play in the first quarter of the game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Casey Gower-USA TODAY Sports / Casey Gower-USA TODAY Sports

With their regular season opener less than two weeks away, the Seattle Seahawks orchestrated their series of annual roster cut downs to trim to 53 players with a few unexpected surprises sprinkled in on Tuesday.

Prioritizing the trenches over skill positions, the Seahawks retained 11 offensive linemen on their initial roster, including sixth-round picks Sataoa Laumea and Mike Jerrell. Meanwhile, the team jettisoned linebackers Jon Rhattigan, Patrick O'Connell, and Michael Barrett, who was acquired late last week from the Panthers in exchange for cornerback Mike Jackson. Instead, they kept Drake Thomas, a second-year linebacker from North Carolina State who only recently returned to practice from the PUP list following knee surgery.

Along with some unexpected shakeups at linebacker, Seattle kept just five cornerbacks from what was viewed as the deepest position group on the roster at one point, releasing sixth-round pick D.J. James and terminating the contract of veteran Artie Burns.

The Seahawks also released several young offensive standouts who performed well in training camp in the preseason, most notably releasing undrafted rookie running back George Holani and tackle/guard McClendon Curtis. Both players saw action with the first-team offense at various times this summer, but clearly, the organization thought they would be easier to sneak onto the practice squad than Kenny McIntosh, Laumea, or Jerrell, who received roster spots instead.

Taking a deep dive into Monday's festivities, Locked On Seahawks hosts Corbin Smith and Rob Rang dive into every cutdown day move made by Seattle, explore the biggest surprises for players who received a pink slip and players that made the roster, including choosing to keep only three running backs, and share their thoughts on which positions the Seahawks may still be aiming to upgrade in the next several days leading up to Week 1.

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