Seattle Seahawks 2020: Players who could get cut before ever playing a snap
By Lee Vowell
Carlos Hyde
“What?”, you might rightfully ask. Am I insane? Why would the Seahawks sign Carlos Hyde – a 1,000-yard rusher in 2019 – only to release him before week one? The Seahawks probably won’t, but there is also a small chance they could. Here is why.
Hyde‘s best season was in 2019. This was also only one of two seasons that he has been able to play a full 16 game schedule. And while Hyde likes running up the middle, he had not rushed for a better-than-4 yards a carry average before 2019 since 2016. Hyde is also costing Hyde close to $4 million.
Hyde is good but he isn’t great. He also isn’t potentially as good as Rashaad Penny. The question here is how quickly Penny can get on the field in 2020. He will be coming off an ACL tear and likely will miss the first part of the season. But what if he is able to be back by week 2 or 3?
In 2021, Seattle will need to find the money to re-sign Chris Carson. That is if they want to. Carson is a free agent after 2020. But either way, Hyde is not a long-term solution to who the starting tailback is in Seattle. This means Seattle might want to hold onto rookie DeeJay Dallas, if he flashes in preseason. As well as second-year pro Travis Homer. Plus, I doubt Penny is going anywhere.
If Seattle keeps just four running backs on their roster this season, Hyde could be the one to go. While this is unlikely to happen, it is not impossible.