Seahawks trim roster to 81 ahead of training camp opening Tuesday

The Seattle Seahawks will report to training camp on Tuesday, and when they do so it appears the team will report with just 80 players on the roster. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the NFL has reduced roster sizes to 80, with team retaining the right to keep 90 players if they split the squad up during practices using different facilities. For the Seahawks, however, the decision that was made was apparently to cut ten players and proceed forward with those remaining.

Joey Hunt and Branden Jackson were two of the four restricted free agents for the Hawks this offseason, and while they both contributed and started during 2019, the team was ready to move on without them. Jackson was the only defensive lineman impacted by the moves Sunday, as the team opted to move on from Jackson with multiple younger players potentially ready to take over on the line. Some of the names that will look to capture the snaps Jackson played in 2019 are Rasheem Green, L.J. Collier, Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson.

Hunt, meanwhile, was let go following the first extended playing time of his career in 2019. Starting the final eight games of the season after Justin Britt went down with a torn ACL, Hunt was overpowered at times while playing through injury, and the addition of B.J. Finney from the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency apparently meant the end of the road in Seattle for both Britt and Hunt.

Best of luck to the players who were released, and Field Gulls will be here to keep fans up to date on news as players report for training camp in the coming days.

Releasing nine players Sunday brings the Seahawks down to 81 players, meaning there is potentially one more move left to be made. Alternatively, it is possible that the front office is aware that one of the current players intends to opt out of playing in 2020 due to the pandemic.