Seahawks Camp — Aug 31: Charbonnet Shelved, Price Untested

The Seahawks placed Zach Charbonnet on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list at Sunday's cutdown, per Charean Williams at Pro Football Talk, which rules the running back out for at least the first four games — and the injury got named along the way: a knee, reported by Andrew Destin at The Athletic as a torn anterior cruciate ligament, suffered, per Williams, on his fifth carry of January's divisional-round playoff game, at the end of a 730-yard, 12-touchdown regular season. That hands the defending champions' backfield to Jadarian Price, and our last episode owes a correction. Last week we closed watching for Price's first live carries, "today in Nashville or in the finale." The answer was neither. The first-round rookie went unmentioned in Cameron Van Til's recaps of both games at Seattle Sports, and he made the initial 53 without taking a preseason carry — so that watch item resolves to Week 1, and the lead job belongs to a rookie who missed roughly two weeks of camp and has never taken a live NFL handoff. Behind him, George Holani and Emanuel Wilson both made the 53, per Seattle Sports' staff roster piece, while Jacardia Wright — whose 69-yard touchdown run came in the 19-16 preseason loss in Nashville — was waived.

The Trevon Diggs signing lasted 11 days. Seattle released the cornerback Sunday despite his interception in the preseason finale — an underthrown ball intended for Xavier Worthy in the first quarter, per Van Til — and John Schneider explained the move himself. "He came in a little bit late and he's kind of just getting going... just getting ramped up as you saw the other night, just getting his legs under him," the general manager said, per Ari Horton at the team's website, adding of cornerback that "you can never have enough guys all the way through." As a vested veteran, Diggs became a free agent the moment he was released, and Schneider said the plan is to re-sign him to the practice squad Monday, per Gregg Bell at The News Tribune — part of what Bell describes as a plan to bring up to five released veterans back, safety D'Anthony Bell and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene among them, treating the roster as effectively 70 players rather than 53. None of that exists until the waiver wire clears and the squads form; for now the only fact is the release. The battle Diggs was signed into resolved without either veteran audition: the depth behind Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe is Nehemiah Pritchett and rookie Julian Neal, per John Boyle at the team's website; Igbinoghene was released too.

The thinnest spot on the roster is where the front office spent a pick. Rookie safety Bud Clark's ankle injury in the Nashville game — expected to sideline him multiple months, per Van Til, and characterized as season-ending by Bob Condotta at The Seattle Times — plus the releases of D'Anthony Bell and Rodney Thomas II left the initial 53 with only three safeties in Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada, per Boyle's position-by-position breakdown. Seattle's cutdown-day answer was a trade: a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Chargers for undrafted rookie cornerback Avery Smith, to shore up the cornerback and nickel depth, per Destin. Schneider, per Horton: "Phenomenal preseason... we liked him as a smart, tough, reliable guy, very instinctive... he's a system fit." Clark was one of what Mike Macdonald called "three heartbreakers this week," per Van Til on August 23, alongside Jake Bobo's knee and backup lineman Mason Richman's long-term injury — and fullback Robbie Ouzts went to season-ending injured reserve the same week. Emmanwori is the other half of last week's physically-unable-to-perform watch item: off the list and on the 53, but as of Saturday he had "yet to practice," per Condotta, with the expectation he'll be ready "sooner rather than later, even if not for Week 1."

Cornerback Terrion Arnold was placed on the commissioner's exempt list. He faces eight felony charges in Florida, per Gregg Bell at The News Tribune, including kidnapping and armed robbery per Destin.

The finale, briefly: a 9-9 tie with the Chiefs in Kansas City on Friday night, per Boyle. Jalen Milroe went 16-of-26 for 223 yards with a touchdown to Nick Vannett and no interceptions, adding seven carries for 20 yards — a performance Boyle reports secured the third quarterback spot behind Darnold and Drew Lock. Jason Myers missed a 52-yard would-be game-winner as time expired and finished the preseason 2-of-5 on field goals — a live concern the beat is tracking into Week 1, per Van Til. Bubble receivers Cody White (three catches, 69 yards) and rookie Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (three catches, 58 yards) both had strong finales; neither made the 53, per Van Til.

The full ledger ran to 28 players waived and eight vested veterans released, by Seattle Sports' staff count, and it included four of Seattle's eight 2026 draft picks — Henderson, a sixth-rounder, among them — per Bell. The fifth receiver spot went instead to Montorie Foster Jr., a year removed from being out of football and working as a substitute teacher and real estate agent in Cleveland, per Destin. Schneider, per Horton: "It's hard to remember a player at the receiver position that's improved as quickly as he has." Linebacker Patrick O'Connell made a 53 for the first time in four training camps after seven tackles in the finale, per Bell, and receiver Irv Charles went to injured reserve with a designation to return, eligible in Week 5, per Destin.

Back in July we previewed the defending champions as the strangest sentence in football — a 14-win Super Bowl winner priced behind the team it beat in January — with the case resting on Darnold's repeatable core and a defense that kept both of its architects, and the backfield flagged as the one soft spot. Cut day turned that flagged spot from a worry into paperwork: Charbonnet is out at least the first four games, and the lead back enters the opener without a live carry. The core of the read held, but the back end of the defense now runs three safeties deep, per the team's own roster breakdown, and the one weakness July flagged has a start date.

What to watch next: where the cut names land — whether Schneider's stated plan for Diggs, Bell and Igbinoghene survives the waiver wire and the practice-squad signings, which is the next episode's job — and whether Emmanwori gets onto the practice field before the opener. Myers' kicking sits right behind both. We'll check back once the claims and the practice squads are in.

_Data via nflverse._