RENTON, Wash. — In another shake-up to their inside linebacker corps, the Seattle Seahawks waived starter Tyrel Dodson on Monday.
The move comes as the Seahawks are returning from their bye on the heels of five losses in the past six games that dropped them to 4-5 and into last place in the NFC West. First-year head coach Mike Macdonald said last week that everything would be “on the table” as the team self-scouted over the bye.
That included another change at inside linebacker, where the Seahawks previously swapped out Jerome Baker for Ernest Jones IV. Baker had been playing weakside linebacker, but Dodson moved there for the past two games to allow Jones to slide into the middle after Seattle acquired him from the Tennessee Titans for Baker and a fourth-round pick on Oct. 23.
Dodson, 26, started all nine games for Seattle, having signed a one-year, $4.26 million deal in March after spending his first five seasons with the Buffalo Bills. A $1 million signing bonus was the only guaranteed money in his contract with Seattle, which also included a $2.25 million base salary, $760,000 in per-game roster bonuses and a $250,000 workout bonus.
In nine games with the Seahawks, Dodson recorded a team-high 71 tackles to go along with 2.0 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble and a pair of passes defensed. He is now subject to waivers, as is any other player released after last week’s trade deadline.
Moving on from Dodson clears the way for the Seahawks to play rookie fourth-round pick Tyrice Knight and/or second-year player Drake Thomas at weakside linebacker.
The Seahawks signed cornerback Josh Jobe from their practice squad to replace Dodson on the roster.
In other moves Monday, the Seahawks placed safety K’Von Wallace on injured reserve and claimed nose tackle Brandon Pili off waivers from the Miami Dolphins.
Wallace, Seattle’s third safety, hurt his ankle in Week 9. He’ll have to miss at least the next four games.
Pili, undrafted out of USC in 2023, recorded four tackles in 12 games over the past two seasons with the Dolphins. He was waived by Miami on Saturday.
The Seahawks also signed veteran tight end N’Keal Harry to their practice squad.