John Clayton: Seahawks likely to cut Chris Clemons, Zach Miller
Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Chris Clemons (91) celebrates in the second quarter of Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. The Seahawks defeated the Broncos 43-8. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
In the latest edition of Seattle’s salary-cap casualties, the Seahawks may have to release Chris Clemons and Zach Miller to clear cap room for other players, per ESPN’s John Clayton.
Clayton was on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Danny” show Monday to discuss the Seahawks and he said he expects the Seahawks to continue trimming their roster:
Clayton said he expects the Seahawks to clear more than $24 million by cutting Clemons and Miller along with Sidney Rice and Red Bryant, who are also expected to be cut.
The moves would allow Seattle to work on re-signing Michael Bennett and Golden Tate, both of whom were considered top priorities in keeping on the team this offseason.
“From what I gather, I think [the Seahawks] are probably at the stage right now where they are willing to [spend $7 million per year] for Bennett,” Clayton said on the show. Bennett has already said that he will not take a pay reduction to stay with the Super Bowl champs.
Clayton said that he worried releasing both Bryant and Clemons would hurt Seattle’s run defense, which would make keeping Bennett even more important.
Miller, on the other hand, is a slightly more peculiar case. He is currently the only tight end on the Seahawks roster under contract for the 2014 season with legitimate starting experience. He could take a pay reduction (as Golden Tate is expected to) in order to maintain a spot on the team, but the two sides are still working through that.
If Miller chooses not to take the pay cut, the Seahawks will likely need to look to free agency to pick up a tight end who has experience as a starter. Clayton believes Green Bay’s Jermichael Finley might be worth looking into, though he is still recovering from a neck injury suffered last season.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Zach Miller was the only tight end under contract next season. He is not — the sentence was intended to say that he is the only tight end with experience as a starter under contract for next year. The writer regrets the confusion and the error.