The Seahawks' release of wide receiver Stephen Williams was surprising to some people, but it really should not have been.
With Bruce Irvin coming back from his suspension, the Hawks had only two or three options for moves.
Defensive end Benson Mayowa seemed like the most likely move, especially since he plays a similar spot and had been inactive the past two weeks. But Williams has not been very involved either. He played just nine snaps at Houston and has not been much of a special-teams contributor.
The fact that the Hawks retained center Jason Spitz means Max Unger might not play again this week. He is listed as questionable with the triceps injury that forced him to miss the Houston game.
The Hawks put a bit of a pinch on their roster when they picked up rookie quarterback B.J. Daniels earlier in the week. He is certainly a luxury for a team that has struggled with injuries to linemen (both sides of the ball) all season. But they liked him late in the draft in April.
“We evaluated B.J. at length and really liked him and wanted to see if we could get him on the club," coach Pete Carroll said Friday. "And then he got chosen earlier than we had an opportunity to pick him. So we’ve had an eye on him the whole time.
"He was a guy that brings a lot of versatility," Carroll said. "He’s played a lot of football in college, done a lot of cool stuff. He can throw it and run it and really … was the focal-point guy for four years. So we really just liked everything about him. So when we had the chance we to grab him, we did.”
The Hawks released rookie linebacker John Lotulelei to pick up Daniels. With Williams now gone, they have released five players from the 53-man roster since the season started.
Linebacker Allen Bradford and offensive tackle Mike Person were let go after Week 1, replaced by tight end Kellen Davis and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald. Defensive tackle D'Anthony Smith was let go for offensive lineman Jason Spitz last week, although Smith was signed to the practice squad today.
Bradford was picked up by the New York Giants, Person was signed by St. Louis and Lotulelei was claimed by Gus Bradley's Jacksonville Jaguars.
