Seattle Seahawks cut Carlos Dunlap – 6 More possible cap casualties
Monday afternoon, the Seattle Seahawks cut edge rusher Carlos Dunlap to pick to $14.1M against the cap. Who could be next?
It came as a shock to no one that the Seattle Seahawks let go of edge rusher Carlos Dunlap on Monday. He was due $14M in 2021, which is a big hit. None of his money was guaranteed, so the team could let him go without financial penalty. Dunlap is the first but certainly not the last member of the Seahawks 2021 cap casualties.
Between now and March 17, the NFL will announce the 2021 salary cap amount. It is estimated to come in somewhere over $180M and $185M. That amount is down from the 2020 mark of $198.2M. Teams like the Seattle Seahawks are scrambling to cap space ahead of free agency.
After releasing Dunlap, Seattle has approximately $18.6M of cap room, the 12th most in the NFL. It may not seem like a ton of money, but they are in pretty good shape. As of Tuesday, 12 teams are over the projected cap amount. Six of them are over $19.5M in the hole.
The Seahawks have enough money to re-sign linebacker K.J. Wright and bring in a quality offensive lineman. They might have enough left over to add a defensive lineman. The team said they would like to renegotiate a new contract with Dunlap. Even though free agency is shaping as a buyer’s market, it’s unlikely the Seahawks can do all three.
With so many holes to fill, the Seahawks will need more money. That means there more cap casualties are on the way. These are our top six.
The 6-Pack
Tre Flowers, CB ($2.18M savings) – A cover corner who can’t cover. Unfortunately, without Quinton Dunbar and Shaquill Griffin, Flowers is all they have left. If the Seahawks sign a free agent corner, he could be gone.
Jamarco Jones, OT ($900K) – Jones had every opportunity to show he was worth keeping and never did. It would cost as much if not more money to replace him.
Will Dissly, TE ($920K) – He’s a good value for the money. Besides, are the Seahawks ready to go with Colby Parkinson and Tyler Mabry as their tight ends? If Dissly does go, he won’t be on the market for long.
Michael Dickson, P ($3.46M) – Dickson was fantastic in 2020, finishing third in the NFL for both average yards per punt and net yards per punt. He’s fantastic, but that’s a big hit for a punter. A renegotiation is in Dickson’s near future.
Brandon Shell, OT ($3.35M) – Granted, an improvement over George Fant and Germain Ifedi isn’t a high bar. But Shell barely passed it last season. He had problems staying on the field. Then, when Shell did play, he couldn’t pass block.
Jarran Reed, DT ($8.975M) – This one is simple economics. Reed had a good season last year, especially after Dunlap joined the team. He’s a luxury the Seattle Seahawks can’t afford. If they could find a way to drop his cap hit from $13.975M to under $10M, maybe Reed could stick around. Don’t count on it.
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Who do you think the Seattle Seahawks will part ways with to open up cap space? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.