The Seattle Seahawks made us wait for it, but eventually they released their initial 53-man roster for the 2023 NFL season yesterday.
Here are four quick takeaways from the new roster.
No QB3 (for now)
One player who some fans were hoping would make the cut and didn’t was undrafted rookie Holton Ahlers out of ECU. During the preseason he showed off some wheels and some arm talent, but when the list of cuts came in he was included. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be back. Seattle could try to get Ahlers on their practice squad – and under the new rules the team would be able to carry a third quarterback on their game-day roster without it actually counting for a roster spot. So, consider this one to be continued.
DeeJay Dallas safe after all
One player who appeared to be on his way out but made it was veteran running back DeeJay Dallas, who’s entering the final year of his rookie deal. Dallas shared some odd tweets over the last couple of days, which seemed to indicate that he’d been cut. However, Dallas was one of the initial 53 – and he’s listed as second on the depth chart as well as at the No. 1 option at kick returner and punt returner. The tweets are no big deal if you’re familiar with Dallas, but we can’t seem to figure out why head coach Pete Carroll is so attached to him. There are three more-acclaimed running backs on the roster and Godwin Igwebuike (who was waived by the Falcons yesterday) was a far better kick returner. In any case, Dallas will stick around for now.
Jalen Carter would make it look much better
Now we come to the 6-foot-3, 313 pound elephant that’s missing from the room. Heading into the offseason the front office clearly understood they needed to upgrade their interior defensive line and they went out of their way to do so. They cut all three 2022 starters in Al Woods, Poona Ford and Shelby Harris and spent an unprecedented amount of money in free agency to sign Dre’Mont Jones. We’ll probably never know for sure but our guess is if they had known Jalen Carter would still be available at No. 5 overall they wouldn’t have signed Jones in the first place. This is a strong, young and deep roster at the right spots and it’s trending in the right direction. The biggest question mark is still in the middle of that defensive line, though – the same as when last season ended.
Expect more iDL moves
It’s possible that the new starting trio of Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed and Mario Edwards Jr. will work out well. However, on paper this appears to be the team’s greatest weakness. That means fans shouldn’t get too comfortable with the current crop of iDL on the roster being the impact players for this season. Odds are coach Carroll and GM John Schneider will attempt to bring in another name to help shore up this unit. Free agents are sparse at this point – but Akiem Hicks, Michael Brockers and Ndamukong Suh are the most interesting players available. Schneider might also try to pull off one of his patented just-before-the-season starts trades to find an upgrade at this spot. Either way, expect more news on this front soon.
More Seahawks Wire stories
7 iDL Seahawks could target in a trade
Every NFL team’s most surprising cut
Seahawks initial 53-man roster revealed
Complete list of players waived/released
Matt Hasselbeck gives Pete Carroll props
Preseason PFF grades for every player
Golden Tate shares a take on quarterbacks
Drew Lock talks benefits of preseason
