Seahawks 53-man roster projection prior to preseason game one

Linebackers

Starters: Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright

Backups: Mychal Kendricks, Cody Barton, Ben Burr-Kirven and Shaquem Griffin

Cuts: Barkevious Mingo, Austin Calitro, among others

This group is the best in the NFL. The Seahawks have three good to great players who could start in Wagner, Wright and Kendricks. In fact, Seattle’s defense now revolves around this group. Not too long ago, Seattle had the LOB and excellent pass rushers on the defensive line and the linebackers were there to eat up tackles. No more. This unit is by far the strength of the defense.

Seattle admitted to as much when they chose to extend Wagner for another three years beyond this one last week. Wagner is a future Hall of Fame inductee and the best player at his position in the league.

Wright has been playing beside Wagner since 2012 and they know how to play off each other. Wright is good but made better by Wagner. Seattle signed Kendricks last year when it was obvious Wright would be out some time with a knee injury and Kendricks was great. But Kendricks got to play for just four games because he was suspended by the NFL for insider trading.

My feeling is that this year the Seahawks get very creative with their linebackers and find a way to use them in the pass rush a lot more. It is very possible that Seattle finds a way to play Wagner, Wright and Kendricks all at the same time and that is not a bad thing.

Mingo probably gets cut as Seattle would have to pay him a bit north of $4 million and that is a lot for a guy who basically plays special teams. Plus, Barton has been fantastic in offseason drills and can simply replace Mingo.

Griffin got moved to strongside linebacker this offseason and has been much better. His skill set fits there.