The Seattle Seahawks operate differently than when Pete Carroll was running the on-field product of the organization. Carroll was an overly loyal person who hurt his team by holding onto players and coaches when sometimes he shouldn't have. Head coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider have proven they will make quick, needed changes.
Carroll used to have full control over the roster as well as being the head coach. Macdonald is the coach now, but Schneider has roster control. The pair works in tandem to make sure the team has what it needs to succeed.
One player that Macdonald and Schneider have decided they no longer need is cornerback Derion Kendrick. He was a sixth-round draft pick for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, had some off-field issues, and never proved to LA that he needed to be a long-term part of the team.
Seattle Seahawks see no need to keep Derion Kendrick around any longer
Seattle signed him after the cornerback was released ahead of this season, and he played pretty well in spot duty in a couple of games. His issue came in Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans. With the Seahawks still comfortably ahead, Seattle punted, Tennessee punt returner Chimere Dike caught the ball on his own 10, began running, and got around the corner.
That was where Kendrick was supposed to be to force Dike out of bounds or keep him contained, but Kendrick took a terrible angle. This let Dike break free and eventually score a 90-yard punt return. While Kendrick's poor play didn't crush the Seahawks in Week 12, the same form could in future, and more meaningful, games.
Macdonald and Schneider didn't want to take that chance. The team waived Derion Kendrick ahead of Week 13.
Seattle has made similar moves this season, many with the hope of re-signing the player, but that is probably not the case with Kendrick. Macdonald didn't name him directly when speaking about the punt return after the game, but Kendrick was clearly not the head coach's favorite player.
Macdonald said, "(Dike) likes to go around the edge, and we had no edge. That's the gunner's responsibility, and it's our net's responsibility, so we've got to play that better." Kendrick was the gunner on the play.
Derion Kendrick has probably played his last down for the Seattle Seahawks. He did play well enough defensively this season that some other team will probably pick him up. Let's just hope for his sake that he plays a more fundamentally sound brand of football.