Seahawks early cuts include a surprise: DeShawn Shead

The Seahawks began the cutdown to 53 players yesterday. You could see most of these weeks ago, but DeShawn Shead was a major surprise.

Today is cut day for the Seahawks. Naturally, every team in the league has to drop down to a 53-man roster. To me, it’s the absolute worst day of the season. 37 players who dreamed of making the Hawks will be told they just weren’t good enough. At least, not this time for this team. Therein lies a spark of hope. Seattle will undoubtedly pick up a few players that were cut by other teams. They just have to hope no other team picks up their most surprising cut so far, DeShawn Shead.

For the few that don’t know – aka newly minted 12s – Shead is family for the Seahawks. He played in Seattle for six seasons. The played for the Lions last season only because Seattle allowed him to test the free agent market after his injury in 2017. General Manager John Schneider could have tendered a contract to their veteran cornerback. As Keith Myers explained in the article, this was just as much about saving the team some guaranteed money as it was about giving Shead an opportunity.

Deja vu, 12s. The Seahawks have released DeShawn Shead again, likely because of guaranteed money. It certainly wasn’t based on his performance this preseason. He had a spectacular pick-six versus the Vikings for Seattle’s only touchdown. In the first game of the season, he sacked Broncos quarterback Drew Lock for a safety. He was also finished third in tackles among all defensive backs this preseason.

So, why is he getting the axe? Shead was slated to make $930,000 this year per spotrac.com. That money would have been guaranteed if Shead was on the initial 53-man roster. As you can see from the strike-through, he’s now slated to get nothing. If no other team makes a play for him, it’s extremely likely that Seattle will bring him back. It could possibly be for even a bit more money, just not fully guaranteed.

One thing that isn’t a surprise is the class Shead showed in his reaction to the news. As he says, “The grind don’t stop”. Check out his tweet here:

Shead has been a team captain and a long-time fan favorite in Seattle. He’s been a first-class player, sure, but that isn’t what the love is about. He’s always been a first-class human being. That’s why the 12s have loved this guy. That’s why we hope he’ll be back on the roster. And it doesn’t hurt that he can play anywhere in the backfield, either. We wish you the best no matter where you end up, Mr. Shead.