The Seahawks’ roster – the 40 or so guys who matter most anyway – has been set all summer. The biggest struggle in camp involved sorting out the back end of the defense – and even as the cut to 53 (plus 17 on the practice squad) was made, the secondary is still the most unsettled position group on the team.
The top four – Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, Julian Love and Ty Okada – are ready to roll. But Nick Emmanwori, rookie Julian Neal, new trade acquisition Avery Smith and recent vet signee Trevon Diggs (on the practice squad) all are behind in their prep for the season.
Emmanwori and Neal are just now practicing after recovering from injuries (surgery in E-Man’s case). Smith just arrived via trade from the Chargers (where he was in a similar defense), and Diggs signed a couple of weeks ago and saw just a few plays in the final preseason game. It will be a race to see which of those guys is ready for the opener Sept. 9.
Nehemiah Pritchett would be the third corner at this point, but Mike Macdonald and his staff do not seem thrilled with that idea – or they would not have added both Diggs and Smith. In reserve on the ready squad are safeties A.J. Finley and Rodney Thomas II and rookie corners Michael Dansby and Andre Fuller.
The Hawks surprisingly did not stash D’Anthony Bell and Noah Igbinoghene on the ready squad. Same with Cody White, who latched on with Klint Kubiak in Vegas. It remains to be seen whether Bell and Iggy go elsewhere as well or remain in the mix with Seattle.
The other move in the back end worth noting was the official signing of Terrion Arnold. He is on paid leave via the commissioner’s exempt list until his legal case is resolved. The next scheduled checkpoint in that saga is Oct. 5. John Schneider confirmed they see Arnold as a long-term play – assuming he is not incarcerated. If his case is not resolved until after the season, and he avoids prison, the Hawks still would control his rights for two years.
The first 53 includes seven new guys to go with 46 who played for the Super Bowl champs last season. Five of the newbies were expected: rookies Jadarian Price, Beau Stephens and Neal and veterans Dante Fowler Jr. and Emanuel Wilson. Two were unexpected: WR Montorie Foster Jr. and late trade pickup Smith.
To be clear, Foster was on the practice squad for the postseason and thus was technically part of the Super Bowl team. But he never played, so we consider him new.
Those seven essentially replace free-agent departees Kenneth Walker III, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant, plus injured Zach Charbonnet (PUP), Jake Bobo (IR) and Mason Richman (IR).
There was some speculation that Charbs would come off PUP – the team maybe thinking he could play before October. But moving him to active PUP means he will miss the first four games. Figure he will be back at some point in October.
The Seahawks kept just five receivers, so it would have been interesting to see what happened with Foster if Bobo had not been lost for the season with an ACL injury suffered during a joint practice with Tennessee. Foster seemed to have done enough to force the team to keep him either way.
Along with Foster and Smith, the other bubble spots (as we saw them) were claimed by Bryce Cabeldue, Patrick O’Connell, Connor O’Toole, Brandon Pili and Pritchett. They were all on the 53 for all or some of last season but seemed at risk of losing spots if they were outplayed in the preseason. Clearly, Macdonald and his coaches thought they remained the best reserves.
That said, there will be more changes to the bottom of the roster. As Dan Viens tallied, the 2025 Seahawks made 11 more moves between the original cuts and the season opener.
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