In 2020, the Seattle Seahawks concluded an impressive performance in the regular season with a 12-4 record to top the stacked NFC West. However, they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round to get eliminated out of the postseason.
Heading to their 2021 campaign, the Seahawks are now eager to bounce back after successfully mending their relationship with QB1 Russell Wilson. However, they still have work to do regarding their roster as they aim to keep their best talents on the team before Week 1 of the upcoming season.
Here are the three cut candidates for the Seahawks entering 2021 training camp.
3. Tre Flowers
Tre Flowers played the safety position during his four-year stint with Oklahoma State in the amateur ranks. He was then picked by the Seahawks with the 146th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he switched to the cornerback position in the pros.
The position change hasn't gone as planned, as Flowers has had a hard time defending opposing wide receivers, especially in man-to-man coverage. Last season, he sustained a hamstring injury and missed four games. His production dipped to a total of 47 combined tackles, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble.
Flowers' continuous inability to contain his matchups could eventually serve as a liability for the team's secondary moving forward. He is currently signed to a four-year, $2.76 million contract. Even though it's a cheap deal, the Seahawks are still better off using that money to acquire a better talent instead.
2. Rashaad Penny
Another 2018 draftee in running back Rashaad Penny also didn't have a smooth transition to the pros. In Week 14 of the 2019 season, the San Diego State product suffered a torn ACL injury, which abruptly ended his sophomore campaign.
Penny's long recovery carried over to the 2020 season, as he only managed to appear in a total of three games. He recorded meager numbers of 34 rushing yards on 11 touches and a touchdown for the Seahawks last year.
In his first three seasons in the league, Penny only notched a total of 823 rushing yards, 17 receptions, and five touchdowns scored. Certainly enough, those numbers are far from what the Seahawks expected him to produce, especially as a first-round pick back in 2018.
Realistically speaking, the 25-year-old rusher doesn't hold much trade value, which will lead the Seahawks to consider cutting him instead.
1. Aldon Smith
Veteran defensive end Aldon Smith got back on track with his career when he suited up for the Dallas Cowboys last season after a two-year absence. He managed to appear in all 16 games and tallied 48 combined tackles, two pass deflections, and 5.0 sacks in 2020.
Smith then relocated to the Seahawks during the offseason, but he was only signed to a one-year, $1,127,500 contract. The former Pro Bowler then encountered another hurdle when he was booked for a second-degree battery charge in Louisiana and turned himself in back in late April. After a busy offseason, Smith then had to excuse himself from the Seahawks' mandatory minicamp because he felt that he wasn't in the best condition to participate yet.
Despite being a well-known veteran, Aldon Smith is still not guaranteed a final roster spot with the Seahawks. They can eventually choose to cut him from the team, especially as they await the result of his impending arraignment set in mid-July.
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