The 2026 NFL preseason is over for the Seattle Seahawks, and now the focus for this weekend is to trim their roster from 91 players to 53 by Sunday at 3 pm PT. For the bulk of players who are let go, they will have to go through the waiver wire, during which period they can be claimed by another team and placed on their active roster.
But not everybody is subject to waivers during cutdown day.
The ‘vested veteran’ rule
For NFL players with at least four accrued seasons in the league, they are considered vested veterans and
can be released outright and immediately hit free agency. They are NOT subject to waivers until after the trade deadline.
How accrued seasons are calculated
An accrued season is earned for any player who is on full pay status for at least six games in a single season. This includes being on the 53-man active roster, injured reserve, or the PUP list.
For roster cuts, that means a team like the Seahawks could, say, “release” a vested veteran in order to get someone who is subject to waivers safely onto the active roster. Then they would be free to bring the vested veteran back at a later date and let someone else go.
There are 25 vested veterans on the Seahawks who would not hit the waiver wire if let go by Sunday.
Seattle Seahawks vested veterans who won’t go through waivers if cut
- QB Sam Darnold
- QB Drew Lock
- WR Cooper Kupp
- WR Rashid Shaheed
- TE Eric Saubert
- TE Nick Vannett
- OL Charles Cross
- OL Abraham Lucas
- OL Bobby Hart
- OL Josh Jones
- DL Leonard Williams
- DL Jarran Reed
- EDGE DeMarcus Lawrence
- EDGE Uchenna Nwosu
- EDGE Dante Fowler Jr
- ILB Ernest Jones IV
- ILB Chazz Surratt
- CB Trevon Diggs
- CB Noah Igbinoghene
- CB Josh Jobe
- S Julian Love
- S D’Anthony Bell
- S Rodney Thomas II
- P Michael Dickson
- K Jason Myers
Of course, most of these listed Seahawks are firmly on the roster and are in no danger of being released. The players who could be released (either for musical chairs reasons or just to part ways) are Nick Vannett, Bobby Hart, Chazz Surratt, Trevon Diggs, Noah Igbinoghene, D’Anthony Bell, and Rodney Thomas II.
