Getty The Seahawks will release cornerback Tre Flowers.
The Seattle Seahawks are making a roster move that seemed unlikely entering the first week of the regular season. The team will part ways with cornerback Tre Flowers, per a report by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The insider broke the news on Tuesday, October 12. Rapoport explained that Flowers recently requested the move, which would make him available to sign with any secondary-needy teams. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times added that the move will likely open up a spot for rookie Tre Brown to make his return from Injured Reserve.
Flowers has spent his entire NFL career with the Seahawks. He landed with the NFC West team as a fifth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and started all 15 games that he appeared in as a rookie. He has since started another 25, including the first three of the 2021 campaign.
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Flowers Struggled During the First 3 Games in 2021
GettyTre Flowers prepares for a game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The fourth-year veteran entered the season as one of the two starting cornerbacks. He lined up across from DJ Reed and played 100% of the snaps during games against the Colts, Titans, and Vikings. Flowers struggled during the 1-2 start to the season — as did the entire defense — while giving up 14 receptions for 208 yards and one touchdown, earning a 52.9 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus.
Following the Week 3 loss to the Vikings, Flowers expressed frustration and said, “Sadly, y’all want me to be Sherman,” per Gregg Bell of the News Tribune. He also shot down the notion that he is losing confidence. Flowers told reporters that he “is playing good” and that everyone can get better.
The former college safety did not have the opportunity to show improvement. He lost his starting job ahead of the Week 4 matchup with the 49ers. Trade acquisition Sidney Jones took over for Flowers as the Seahawks secured a 28-21 win. Though PFF gave the former Jaguars corner a coverage grade of 30.3 after he gave up seven receptions for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
Head Coach Pete Carroll Made Strong Comments About the Defense
The Seahawks originally benched Flowers and put Jones in the starting lineup in order to potentially prevent some future big plays. This strategy has not panned out quite yet. The defense has still struggled, resulting in PFF ranking the unit 20th overall in the NFL.
The Seahawks defense has allowed 450 or more yards in four straight games. The Titans kicked off the streak with 532 total yards, the Vikings put up 453 total yards, and the 49ers added another 457 yards. The Rams rounded out the list with 476 yards. The Seahawks went 1-3 during this stretch.
“There was just too many big plays, Stafford hitting both Robert [Woods] and Cooper [Kupp] over the middle,” head coach Pete Carroll said during his postgame press conference on October 7. “Those plays were field-changing plays, and they got in behind us in our zones and we didn’t have the pressure to kick the ball to get it dumped down. It’s football stuff. The things we have to fix, we have it clean up, get better at, and make sure we don’t allow that to happen again. The second half was a big explosion for them offensively and we really were in way better control of that, and really disappointed that we let that happen.”
Releasing Flowers does not have an immediate impact on fixing the defense. He had spent his final two games on the bench. However, bringing Brown back to the active roster would give the Seahawks another person that could potentially make an impact.
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