Seahawks receiver Dee Eskridge suspended: Seattle should simply release him

Per multiple reports, Seattle Seahawks receiver D'Wayne Eskridge has been suspended for the first six games of the 2023 season due to violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. For the record, no reports have cited what Eskridge did. The implication is likely some force of domestic assault or abuse, but we don't know if that is the case. But for most six-game violations, it is normally due to some kind of domestic incident.

Eskridge can still participate in Seahawks practices and the preseason, but must sit out regular season games to begin 2023. But Seattle doesn't need to wait for Eskridge to come back to play in game 7. The team should release Eskridge now.

Dee Eskridge should have been a cut candidate anyway. He was Seattle second-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft and he has been either awful while playing or injured for his entire career. By many accounts, Eskridge was having a great training camp, but he was also going to be no better on the depth chart than WR4.

Seattle Seahawks should release Dee Eskridge

The Seahawks drafted Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the 2023 NFL draft and that automatically pushed Eskridge down the depth chart. Eskridge was in a battle for the WR4 spot with second-year pro Dareke Young and undrafted receiver Jake Bobo, among others. But releasing Eskridge simply makes sense because expecting him to ever be good is a leap of faith because he hasn't been good in two years yet.

Releasing Eskridge would have saved the Seahawks $778,771 before the suspension. Now Eskridge doesn't get paid for the first six games so Seattle isn't paying him anyway. At least, not a portion of his base salary of $1,201,228 (about $423,000 for those six games, most likely). Eskridge will still get paid his prorated signing bonus of $422,457 no matter what.

But Eskridge was just taking up a valuable roster spot before the suspension. Seattle could release him and pick up a veteran receiver on the veteran's minimum, if the team wanted. But they already have Eskridge's built-in replacement in Young.

But after he is now suspended for a third of the season (and I am sure the facts of what happened will come out eventually), there's no reason for the Seahawks to stay with him. Seattle should move on and count their losses for using a second-round selection on a receiver that never worked out.

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