Seahawks waive injured defensive tackle Jordan Hill
SEATTLE – There were no blockbuster moves made by the Seattle Seahawks as they pared their roster to the NFL regular-season limit of 53 on Saturday.
But there were a few definite surprises, including the waiving as injured of fourth-year defensive tackle Jordan Hill, listed as a starter on the team’s final preseason depth chart, as well as keeping relatively unheralded rookie free-agent cornerback DeAndre Elliott (who made it instead of 2015 fifth-round pick Tye Smith) and left tackle George Fant.
Seattle also made two trades for backup safeties, acquiring L.J. McCray from the 49ers for a 2018 conditional seventh-round pick and Dewey McDonald from the Raiders for a 2017 conditional seventh-round pick. Each figures to have an immediate role helping beef up kickoff and punt coverage units that had some issues during the preseason.
The addition of those two gave Seattle 12 players listed as either cornerbacks or safeties.
The initial regular-season roster includes 14 rookies, including eight of the team’s 2016 draft picks and six undrafted free agents (including backup quarterback Trevone Boykin, receiver Tanner McEvoy, safety Tyvis Powell and snapper Nolan Frese).
Among those waived was running back Troymaine Pope, who led the Seahawks in rushing in the preseason with 162 yards, and former Skyline High star quarterback Jake Heaps and receiver Kasen Williams. Williams, who also played at UW, battled hamstring issues throughout the preseason and played in just one game. Also waived was former WSU linebacker Kache Palacio, who had been a standout in the team’s final preseason game Thursday night at Oakland.
Pope, Heaps, Palacio and Williams and most of the other players waived could rejoin the Seahawks as part of their 10-man practice squad, which the team can begin assembling on Sunday.
The waiving of Hill also meant a roster spot for defensive lineman Justin Hamilton, a second-year player who was on Seattle’s practice squad at the end of last season. The 6-foot-2, 315-pounder from Louisiana-Lafayette looms as a potentially key backup player on the defensive line.
Hill was a third-round pick in 2013 and had a key role as an inside rusher in the team’s nickel package. But Hill battled injuries throughout his Seahawks career and played in just 27 of a possible 48 regular-season games and just two of a possible eight playoff games, and saw little action in the preseason because of injuries, suffering another hamstring injury in Thursday’s game against the Raiders.
That Seattle has 12 defensive backs – the team has more commonly had nine or 10 on its roster in recent years – could mean more moves are coming. The Seahawks, though, may also have just wanted the flexibility in the back end with teams increasingly playing more five- and six-defensive-back sets.
Roster moves
Waived: DT Brandin Bryant, TE Clayton Echard, WR Antwan Goodley, DE Tylor Harris, QB Jake Heaps, S Keenan Lambert, WR Kenny Lawler, LB Steve Longa, WR Douglas McNeil III, WR E.Z. Nwachukwu, LB Kache Palacio, G Will Pericak, RB Troymaine Pope, DE Ryan Robinson, CB Tye Smith, DT/FB Tani Tupou, WR Kasen Williams.
Terminated veteran contract: G Jahri Evans, FB Will Tukuafu.
Waived as injured: CB Marcus Burley, DT Jordan Hill, LB Eric Pinkins, T Terry Poole, TE Joe Sommers.
Acquired via trade: DB L.J. McCray (from San Francisco for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2018), DB Dewey McDonald (from Oakland for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2017).
Waived from injured reserve/reached injury settlement: RB George Farmer, CB Trovon Reed, WR Kevin Smith, DT Sealver Siliga.