Seahawks lose pass rusher with release of Marcus Smith

The Seahawks released Marcus Smith on Friday. For a team in need of pass rushers, there must be a good reason. And that might be bad.

I want to be clear here and say I don’t know what issue Marcus Smith has currently. For the Seahawks to release a player they seem to be counting on for pass rush in 2018, whatever is happening with Smith cannot be good.

The last few days Smith has missed practice due to what coach Pete Carroll has referred to as a “personal issue.” This personal issue was enough to make Smith expendable. And in today’s world, I am not sure I really want to know what Smith’s problem was.

This is a player who was worth taking a first-round pick when the Philadelphia Eagles did it in 2015. Smith didn’t do much with Philadelphia. But Seattle thought enough of him to sign him in 2017 and re-sign him in 2018.

In 2017, Smith played in 14 games and had two-and-a-half sacks. With the losses of Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril this offseason, Smith was re-signed with the expectation he would help a pass rush that was in need of a few good players.

12s know that Seattle needs healthy and productive defensive ends. Frank Clark is the only player on the roster who has been consistent and shown ability to be play nearly every game. Dion Jordan has never stayed healthy, yet the Seahawks re-signed him this offseason. Jordan has yet to participate in training camp or the preseason.

Which makes the release of Smith even more surprising. And sad. Because whatever the reason or reasons were for letting Smith go, one thing seems certain: He has some off the field issues to take care of. And to be honest, I am not sure I want to know how bad or deep Smith’s issues go. But as far as the Seahawks go, they are now worse off in a position of need.