Seahawks releasing Carlos Dunlap was right thing to do

The Seahawks released Carlos Dunlap on Monday. As much as Dunlap contributed to the end of 2020, saving the $14 million he was owed in 2021 was what Seattle needed to do. As much as I would like to see Dunlap in a Seattle uniform this coming year – and there is still a chance Seattle could re-sign him for less – I would rather see Seattle free up some cap space. The release of Dunlap was no surprise.

Seattle now has about $17 million in cap space for the coming year. That still isn’t much but it is a lot better than it was on Sunday. Some of that space might go towards re-signing Chris Carson as Seattle also needs to replenish its running back room this offseason.

And let’s be honest, while Dunlap was really good after coming over from the Bengals in a trade before week 9 he is also an aging player and as the season wore on Dunlap became less productive and some of that was because he suffered a foot injury.

Carlos Dunlap released by the Seahawks

Dunlap had 5 sacks between weeks 9 and 15 last year and he missed week 14 because of his foot injury. He had 10 quarterback hits in those six games. But from week 16 on (including one game in the playoffs), Dunlap had zero sacks and 4 quarterback hits. He also had no tackles-for-loss in those last few games.

Dunlap’s production, while he still was better than most other Seahawks last year, is not worth the $14 million he was owed. Would I be good with Seattle re-signing Dunlap for $9 million a season? Yes. And then Seattle could find a way to spend the $5 million elsewhere.

I am really hoping Seattle finds a way to bring Dunlap back, especially since his market will be lowered due to a reduced salary cap in the NFL for 2021 but I don’t have high hopes Seattle will offer him the best price. And that’s OK because Seattle needed the $14 million they saved by releasing Dunlap.