Seahawks release TE Ed Dickson, waive S Tedric Thompson

RENTON, Wash. – The Seattle Seahawks cleared a chunk of salary cap space by waiving safety Tedric Thompson and releasing veteran tight end Ed Dickson on Tuesday.

Both moves were expected after each player seemed to fall out of favor with the Seahawks and will clear more than $5 million worth of cap space for Seattle. According to Overthecap.com, Seattle was down to $11.3 million of cap space as the team sought to bring back defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Thompson was a starter at the beginning of last season, but a shoulder injury landed him on injured reserve. With Thompson sidelined, the Seahawks acquired Quandre Diggs from Detroit and he was clearly a better fit for what Seattle wants to do defensively.

Thompson was a fourth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2017. He started 16 of the 20 games he played over the past two seasons but was never the replacement for Earl Thomas that the Seahawks were hoping to find. His release saves Seattle $2.1 million.

Dickson’s career in Seattle never really got started. He played in 10 games in 2018 and had 12 receptions and three touchdowns after starting the year on the non-football injury list. Last year, Dickson was slowed by a knee injury before the season began but was activated to the roster in November. He was on the roster for just two days before being placed on season-ending injured reserve.

It became clearer that Dickson’s time in Seattle was coming to an end when the team made offseason moves that included the signing of veteran Greg Olson and a deal to bring back Luke Willson. Dickson’s release saves Seattle $3 million. He previously played with Baltimore and Carolina before signing with Seattle before the 2018 season.