Seahawks Predicted to Make Surprising Wide Receiver Cut

Pete Carroll

Getty The Seahawks could move on from WR Freddie Swain.

The Seattle Seahawks may be preparing to cut one of their key offensive players from last season.

As predicted by Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times in his 53-man roster prediction, the Seahawks will cut wide receiver Freddie Swain. The third-year receiver has been a key fixture in Seattle’s offense over the past couple of seasons, even starting eight games during the 2021 season. Swain served as the Seahawks’ slot receiver last season, catching 25 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns.

“The Seahawks could have a tough call on whether to keep both of their 2022 seventh-round picks — Melton and Young — at the expense of a few other veterans who have been fixtures on the roster the last few seasons such as Hart and Swain,” says Condotta. “The guess here is that’s likely the way they’ll lean. Swain has also missed time of late because of a back issue, which hasn’t helped his case.”


Why It’s Unlikely Swain is Released

Swain has continued to serve as the Seahawks’ No. 3 receiver during training camp, slotted behind starters DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The 24-year-old receiver has missed some time due to a back injury, recently returning to practice last week.

After missing the Seahawks’ preseason opener versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, Swain made his preseason debut in the team’s most recent game versus the Chicago Bears. Swain caught a pass for six yards and also returned two punts.

Despite dealing with a nagging back injury and not exactly being the most productive of slot receivers — 38 catches for 502 yards and six touchdowns over the past two seasons — it’s hard to envision Seattle moving on from the former sixth-round draft pick.

Swain hasn’t seen a declined role during camp and is due to earn under $900,000 as a former late-round draft selection. When combined with the fact that Seattle likely welcomes as much continuity on their roster as possible following the departures of key franchise faces such as Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, Swain likely has a spot locked in entering the season. When you also factor in that Swain is the team’s primary punt returner — he served in that role last season and ranked seventh in the league in punt return average — there’s little reason to move on from Swain.

The Seahawks could very well retain both of their 2022 late-round draft selections — Bo Melton and Dareke Young — but it won’t be at the expense of Swain, who holds value as a dual-threat weapon.

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Report: Seahawks ‘Waiting’ for Garoppolo to Be Released

It looks like the Seahawks are still interested in San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

According to a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Rob Goldberg of Bleacher Report) on Sunday, August 21, Seattle is “waiting” for Garoppolo to be released before making any sort of move. Fowler reports that the Seahawks would only be interested if Garoppolo is a free agent and not via a trade.

“People I’ve talked to around the league still expect that any interested team—whether it’s the Browns, Seattle—they’re waiting for him to be released,” says Fowler.”They don’t want anything to do with that $26 million that he’s owed this year. And they know the clock is ticking on San Francisco—that money becomes guaranteed Week 1. And so they’re just going to sort of wait this out. There’s a chance that the 49ers can try to get some sort of mid-to-late-round pick for him.”

Considering the Seahawks are still deciding who their starting quarterback will be between Geno Smith and Drew Lock, there is urgency on Seattle’s part to make a move for Garoppolo.

If the veteran quarterback becomes a free agent, the Seahawks will likely be one of the top two destinations — the other being the Cleveland Browns — for Garoppolo.

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