DT Damon ‘Snacks’ Harrison asks for release from Seahawks, who will apparently grant it

Veteran defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison appears to have played his last game for the Seahawks.

A report from Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network on Sunday morning stated Harrison asked for his release after learning he would be inactive for Sunday’s game against the Rams, with Seattle instead using Bryan Mone as its reserve defensive tackle.

Pelissero further wrote that, while the team hopes Harrison has a change of heart, he appears to have his mind made up, and the team will grant his request this week. That means Harrison will go on waivers, where he could then be claimed by any team. If no team claims him and he clears waivers, he could sign with any team he wants as a free agent.

Harrison, who signed with Seattle in October at the age of 32 after contemplating retirement, appeared to confirm the report – and that his mind for the moment is indeed made up that he wants out of Seattle – in a tweet sent a few hours later.

“Didn’t want to but it’s time to,” Harrison wrote in response to a tweet asking him not to leave Seattle. “I came here to help and I’ve done that and now it’s time to move on. I came back this year to play and that’s all I want. Team is back healthy and playing really well..it’s my time to head out. Still all love and respect for the hawks!”

In another tweet, Harrison explained further: “Nobody is doing me wrong lol the team is investing in their future as they should. Winning and preparing for the future at the same time is rare. If you know me you know I find meaning in EVERYTHING. I was supposed to be here for the time I was here for a lot of reasons.”

Seattle on Saturday activated Mone off injured reserve, and Mone was the third defensive tackle for Sunday’s NFC West showdown against the Rams behind the starting duo of Jarran Reed and Poona Ford; Seattle did not go with a fourth.

Seattle has had just three true defensive tackles, or those who play on early and run-down situations, active all season – Reed, Ford and Mone for the first eight games, and then Reed, Ford and Harrison after Mone sprained his ankle against Buffalo and went on injured reserve.

Mone played at least 15 snaps in each of the first eight games and as many as 30. Seattle added Harrison the week after Mone was hurt and he has played 18 or more snaps in every game since then with a high of 30 in Sunday’s 20-15 win over Washington.

Seattle had 54 players on its active roster for Sunday’s game and needed to make six inactive to get to the limit of 48. Harrison apparently was set to be one of those.

After weeks of speculation, Harrison officially signed with Seattle on Oct. 7, but to its practice squad and not the active roster, which caught some by surprise given his pedigree – he was a first team All-Pro pick in 2016 and had 111 starts with the Jets, Giants and Lions in a career that began in 2012.

But the Seahawks said he needed time to get in shape, and it also worked out for roster construction to leave him there until needed. He was needed when Mone went down against Buffalo.

Harrison signed a one-year deal with Seattle for the veteran minimum of $1.05 million (players are paid weekly, so he got a weekly prorated share of that number for the six games he played).Harrison had nine tackles in six games for Seattle and forced a fumble against the Jets, playing 133 snaps overall.

Mone, a second-year player out of Michigan, has earned high praise from coach Pete Carroll all season.

Harrison had a grade of 68.1 from Pro Football Focus, including 81.7 against the run but just 47.9 as a pass rusher. Mone has grades of 65.1 overall and 61.6 against the run and 63.1 as a rusher.

In his lone Zoom call with media this year, the week it was known he would make his Seahawks debut against the Rams, Harrison – listed at 350 pounds – said he had his eyes on signing with Seattle all offseason. He also admitted that remaining on the practice squad for more than a month had taken some getting used to (Harrison was elevated from the PS to play in his first two games before being signed to the 53-player roster on Nov. 23).

“It was tough because I’m a competitor,’’ he said. “I want to be out there. But I understood. … We had a plan coming in. I needed to work myself back into football shape. The only way you can get into football shape is actually playing football. … I spoke to coach (Carroll), I spoke to general manager (John Schneider) before I got here, and we knew it was going to be a process, so that’s why I’ve been OK with it. Just working from the ground up.’’

Seattle has two undrafted rookie free agent defensive tackles on its practice squad – Myles Adams out of Rice and Cedrick Lattimore out of Iowa.