Getty Seahawks tight end Ed Dickson has been released.
After a quiet few days, the Seahawks made a series of roster cuts in an effort to create additional cap space. Seahawks tight end Ed Dickson is one of the players the team is releasing, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The Seahawks are also set to release safety Tedric Thompson, per ESPN’s Josina Anderson. The two moves give the Seahawks an additional $5 million to use in free agency, per The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta.
“The #Seahawks have released TE Ed Dickson, source said. He was due $3M this year and Seattle saves most of it,” Rapoport tweeted.
It is a move that had been rumored for months as the tight end struggled to stay healthy throughout his career with the Seahawks. Seattle also signed former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen earlier this offseason and appears to be bringing back Luke Willson making Dickson expendable. Dickson was set to have a cap hit of $3.8 million next season, a lot of money for a player that projected to be a third-string tight end.
With Jadeveon Clowney’s future up in the air, The Seattle Times Bob Condotta admitted that the timing of the roster moves is “curious.”
“And here’s another move today by Seahawks to create some cap space. So, obviously it’s curious why they may be doing all of this today,” Condotta noted on Twitter.
The Seahawks Also Released Former Starting Safety Tedric Thompson
Thompson began last season as the Seahawks’ starting free safety, but was later replaced by Quandre Diggs after the team made a mid-season deal with the Lions. As The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell explained, releasing Thompson saves the Seahawks more than $2 million in cap space.
“The flip side of free agency begins for #Seahawks: Paying for it. They are about to release benched safety Tedric Thompson, per
@JosinaAnderson.. No surprise there. Expected way to save $2.13M vs cap. Quandre Diggs’ arrival in Oct made him expendable,” Bell tweeted.
The Roster Cuts Have Some Speculating About Jadeveon Clowney’s Future
The Seahawks’ roster cuts have been met with some speculation that the team could be nearing a deal with Jadeveon Clowney. Free agency is now in its third week, but Clowney remains unsigned as of now. Prior to the moves, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the Seahawks had $11.3 million in cap space and the number is now north of $15 million with the two cuts.
Clowney has reportedly been seeking more than $20 million annually but has not found a market. Seahawks’ center Justin Britt is another player that has been mentioned as a potential cap casualty given his more than $11 million impact for next season. Britt remains on the roster so far, but it will be interesting to see if the team restructures his deal to create room to add more pass rushers.
Condotta previously reported that there has been growing speculation that Clowney could remain a free agent through training camp. The pass rusher has been hurt by the NFL’s current face-to-face meeting restrictions as a response to COVID-19.
READ NEXT: Seahawks’ Russell Wilson Sends Heartfelt Message on Coronavirus