The Seattle Seahawks are releasing free safety Tedric Thompson and tight end Ed Dickson in a pair of salary cap moves, the team announced on Monday.
The moves were first reported by Josina Anderson of ESPN and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, respectively. Thompson is subject to waivers as he is not a fully vested veteran.
The two moves collectively save the Seahawks over $5 million against the cap, per OverTheCap.com. According to Field Yates pf ESPN.com, the Seahawks had just $11.3 million in available cap space on Monday following their previous additions in free agency.
Thomspon, a former fourth-round pick, lost his starting job to Quandre Diggs last season when Diggs was acquired in a trade from the Detroit Lions midseason. While Thompson was touted for his ball-hawking ability coming out of the University of Colorado, the propensity for big plays didn't particularly carry over to the NFL. He did come up with a crucial interception late in last season's win over the Los Angeles Rams at home on a deflected pass that Thompson was able to keep off the turf with a diving grab. However, he also had two fairly prominent instances where he was beaten over the top for touchdowns on misplayed balls against the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens.
Thompson had qualified for a performance-based pay incentive that raised his base salary to $2.133 million for the 2020 season. The Seahawks will save that entire amount against the cap with a nominal charge of $168,003 left as a dead cap hit.
Dickson was signed as a free agent by Seattle in 2018 and struggled to get on the field due to knee injuries. He missed the first half of the season in 2018 while on the physically unable to perform list and all of the 2019 season on injured reserve. He appeared in just 10 games in total for Seattle over two seasons. He was activated from the injured reserve list in November only to be placed immediately back on the list days later to end his season.
Dickson caught 12 passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns in 2018. Dickson's release saves Seattle $3 million with $400,000 in per-game roster bonuses off the table as well.
The release of both players had become expected. Dickson wasn't going to factor into the teams plans after the injury problems and Thompson had reportedly asked for a trade or release earlier in the offseason after losing his job to Diggs last year. Both players were entering the final year of their contracts with the team.
The moves give the Seahawks some needed additional flexibility should they still be able to sign Jadeveon Clowney, Everson Griffen or other higher-priced defensive end options that remain on the free agent market.
Photo Credit: CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 13: Odell Beckham Jr. #13 of the Cleveland Browns catches a pass over the defense of Tedric Thompson #33 of the Seattle Seahawks during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)