Enter the Whirlwind: Just 33 days until Seahawks initial roster cuts

It’s the middle of July, and the last full week of the offseason without actual training camp news for fans to enjoy. Monday the rookies for the Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills will report to training camp, with eight other teams across the NFL set to see rookies report Tuesday.

The Seattle Seahawks, however, are one of eight teams that has opted to wait a week, allowing rookies and veterans to all report to training camp on July 26. With that in mind, even though teams have yet to report for camp, due to the return of three waves of cuts, despite twelve more days until the Hawks report, just 33 days remain until the first round of roster cuts are due on August 16.

As a reminder, after trying out the giant wave of cuts at the end of preseason in recent years, the league has returned to two rounds of five cuts each, followed by a final round of 27 cuts. For 2022 the league-wide cutdown dates are:

• August 16: Reduce roster from 90 to 85
• August 23: Reduce roster from 85 to 80
• August 30: Reduce roster from 80 to 53

For Seattle, however, roster cut deadlines in late August and the first few days of September have often been when the team has been the most busy in adding players from other teams, specifically by trade. Over the past decade the Hawks have brought in more than two dozen players via trade during the offseason and training camp, with varying degrees of success. The full list of players acquired and the dates on which a trade was official is:

• Percy Harvin, March 12, 2013
• Sealver Siliga, August 20, 2013
• D’Anthony Smith, August 31, 2013
• Terrelle Pryor, April 21, 2014
• Marcus Burley, August 30, 2014
• Jimmy Graham, March 10, 2015
• Mohammed Seisay, August 2, 2015
• Kelcie McCray, September 5, 2015
• Dewey McDonald, September 3, 2016
• D.J. Alexander, July 28, 2017
• Matt Tobin, August 21, 2017
• Sheldon Richardson, September 1, 2017
• Justin Coleman, September 1, 2017
• Isaiah Battle, September 2, 2017
• C.J. Smith, March 20, 2018
• Brett Hundley, August 30, 2018
• Shalom Luani, September 1, 2018
• Darrell Daniels, September 1, 2018
• Jacob Hollister, April 29, 2019
• Parry Nickerson, August 31, 2019
• Jadeveon Clowney, September 1, 2019
• Quinton Dunbar, March 24, 2020
• Jamal Adams, July 25, 2020
• Gabe Jackson, March 18, 2021
• John Reid, August 24, 2021
• Sidney Jones, August 31, 2021
• Shelby Harris, March 8, 2022
• Noah Fant, March 8, 2022
• Drew Lock, March 8, 2022

Narrowing that list down to just the players acquired in the second half of August and the first week of September, it looks like this:

• Sealver Siliga DT
• D’Anthony Smith NT
• Marcus Burley CB
• Mohammed Seisay CB
• Kelcie McCray S
• Dewey McDonald LB
• Matt Tobin T
• Sheldon Richardson DT
• Justin Coleman CB
• Isaiah Battle T
• Brett Hundley QB
• Shalom Luani S
• Darrell Daniels TE
• Parry Nickerson CB
• Jadeveon Clowney DE
• John Reid CB
• Sidney Jones CB

That’s 17 acquisitions towards the end of the preseason, and breaking it down by position group yields:

• Quarterbacks: 1
• Running Backs: 0
• Wide Receivers: 0
• Tight Ends: 1
• Offensive Line: 2
• Defensive Line: 4
• Linebackers: 1
• Defensive Backs: 8

The question, however, for the 2022 version of the Seahawks is how much need there really is in the secondary. As things stand, the top of the depth chart at both cornerback and safety are likely well known. Injuries, of course, could change that, and with the back end set to use more of the Fangio defense and less of the Carroll defense, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the Hawks added a player more versed in the intricacies of the new system.

Thus, during training camp it may make sense for fans to pay attention not just to the Seahawks, but to teams across the league who might have players well suited for the revamped secondary in Seattle. Carroll and Schneider have a long history of adding to the roster late in the summer, and it should come as no surprise to anyone if the team looks to bolster the roster, particularly the secondary, at the same time as it trims down to comply with mandatory roster cuts.