The Seattle Seahawks are not done with their roster moves, this time releasing starting defensive tackle Tony McDaniel to help their salary cap recover after signing quarterback Russell Wilson and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner to huge extension deals.
McDaniel was set to earn $2.5 million in base salary for the 2015 season and would have been a free agent in 2016, according to ESPN.
John Clayton of ESPN tweeted, "Releasing DT Tony McDaniel freed up $3 million of cap room for the Seahawks. They save on his $2.5 million base and $500,000 roster bonus."
The release of the 30-year-old veteran is a bit surprising since he was doing well with the Seahawks and was starter since joining the team in 2013.
In the past two seasons, McDaniel started in 29 of their past 32 regular season games and had five starts in six playoff games.
Despite being cut by the Seahawks, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times believes teams will be very interested in the veteran free agent and he will not need to wait long to get signed.
Defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin will likely be taking the starting role McDaniel left.
Rubin signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks last March after spending all seven seasons of his professional career with the Cleveland Browns.
The release of McDaniel gives the Seahawks' salary cap breathing room after they gave Wilson a four-year, $87.5 million extension deal which was followed by another four-year extension pact worth $43 million for Wagner.
Wilson's new deal makes him the second highest-paid player in the National Football League (NFL) just behind Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Meanwhile, Wagner became the highest-paid middle linebacker in the league after signing his new contract.
Both were 2012 draft picks by Seattle and were really expressive about their desire of having new deals during the offseason before being signed by the Seahawks.
